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Isaiah 7:10-14

The Sign of Immanuel

December 24, 2025

Madonna del Parto, Piero della Francesca
Madonna del Parto, Piero della Francesca, about 1455Museo della Madonna del Parto, Monterchi
Two angels in green and red pull back the sides of a brocade tent. Inside it a young woman stands alone in a plain blue dress, visibly pregnant, with one hand resting on her side and the other at the seam of the dress where it has been unlaced to make room.Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Look, the young woman is with child and shall bear a son, and shall name him Immanuel.Piero della FrancescaPiero della Francesca, who painted this in a country chapel near his mother’s village and made the most ordinary thing in the world look like an announcement.Museo della Madonna del Parto, MonterchiThe Museo della Madonna del Parto at Monterchi in Tuscany.Museo della Madonna del Parto, Monterchi
LSB Three-Year Lectionary
GospelMatt. 1:18-25Mt 1:18-25
Epistle1 John 4:7-161 Jn 4:7-16
Old TestamentIsa. 7:10-14Is 7:10-14
PsalterPs. 110:1-4Ps 110:1-4

Overview & Insights

“Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son.” (Isaiah 7:14)

The setting is the Syro-Ephraimite crisis of about 734 BC, with Damascus and Samaria allied against Judah and Ahaz weighing an appeal to Assyria. Isaiah offers him a sign of any dimension, from Sheol to the heights, and Ahaz refuses with a show of piety, declining to put the Lord to the test (v. 12), which in context is evasion rather than reverence. The sign is given regardless, and it is addressed to the house of David rather than to the king alone. The Hebrew almah denotes a young woman of marriageable age and does not itself specify virginity; the Greek translators chose parthenos, and Matthew 1:23 follows them. Within Isaiah the sign is double-edged, since the child’s growth in vv. 15-17 measures the short time before the land is stripped. The name Immanuel returns twice in the next chapter (8:8, 10), where God’s presence is ominous as well as consoling.

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Commentary

Isaiah 7 Commentary: Shear-Jashub and ImmanuelIs 7 Commentary: Shear-Jashub and Immanuel Enduring Word · David Guzik

David Guzik's verse by verse commentary on the sign of Immanuel given to King Ahaz.

Isaiah 7:10-16 CommentaryIs 7:10-16 Commentary Center for Excellence in Preaching

A Reformed reading of the Immanuel sign in its political and covenantal setting.

Isaiah 7 Commentary | Precept AustinIs 7 Commentary | Precept Austin Precept Austin

Verse by verse study notes, Hebrew word studies, and gathered quotations on Isaiah 7.

Isaiah 7:10 CommentariesIs 7:10 Commentaries BibleHub

Classic and modern commentaries compiled side by side for Isaiah 7:10.

Background & Word Study

Book of Isaiah - Enter the BibleBook of Is - Enter the Bible Enter the Bible

Luther Seminary background on the composition, setting, and themes of Isaiah.

Book of Isaiah Overview (Part 1)Book of Is Overview (Part 1) BibleProject

Animated overview video on the literary design of Isaiah chapters 1 to 39.

Isaiah 7:10 Interlinear BibleIs 7:10 Interlinear Bible BibleHub

Hebrew text of Isaiah 7:10 with parsing, transliteration, and Strong's numbers for word study.

Isaiah 7 on SefariaIs 7 on Sefaria Sefaria

The Hebrew of Isaiah 7 with Jewish commentaries and cross references alongside the English.

The Church Fathers

Isaiah 7 - Catena Bible & CommentariesIs 7 - Catena Bible & Commentaries Catena

A catena of the Church Fathers commenting verse by verse on Isaiah 7.

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