What is the meaning of Isaiah 7:14?

Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign

• God takes the initiative with King Ahaz, who is wavering under threat from Syria and Israel (2 Kings 16:5–7).

• “The Lord Himself” underlines divine authorship; the sign does not arise from human ingenuity (Isaiah 37:30 shows a similar God-given sign).

• Scripture often pairs a sign with assurance of deliverance—think of Gideon asking, “Show me a sign that it is You” (Judges 6:17). Here, even Ahaz’s reluctance cannot cancel God’s gracious promise.

---

Behold, the virgin will be with child

• “Behold” invites Judah—and us—to pause and marvel.

• The virgin conceiving marks a supernatural event, fulfilled literally in Mary (Matthew 1:22-23; Luke 1:26-35).

• This moment echoes the earliest gospel promise: a woman’s seed would crush the serpent (Genesis 3:15).

• God works in what seems impossible, so that the glory is unmistakably His (Romans 4:17-21).

---

and give birth to a son

• The gender is specified: a son. Isaiah later amplifies this: “For unto us a child is born, unto us a Son is given” (Isaiah 9:6).

• Mary “gave birth to her firstborn Son” (Luke 2:7). The incarnation places the eternal Word in human flesh (John 1:14).

• The Son carries royal and redemptive significance—He is the heir to David’s throne and the Lamb who takes away sin (Psalm 2:7; John 1:29).

---

and will call Him Immanuel

• Immanuel means “God with us.” Matthew applies the name directly to Jesus (Matthew 1:23), affirming His deity.

• God’s presence, once housed in tabernacle and temple, now dwells in a Person (Colossians 2:9).

• The promise stretches to the end of the age: “Surely I am with you always” (Matthew 28:20) and culminates in, “the dwelling place of God is with man” (Revelation 21:3).

• Isaiah himself repeats the reassurance a chapter later—“God is with us” (Isaiah 8:10)—showing the title’s ongoing comfort for the faithful remnant.

---

summary

Isaiah 7:14 announces a divine sign rooted in history yet reaching its full brilliance in the birth of Jesus. The Lord personally gives the sign; a virgin conceives; a Son is born; He bears the title Immanuel. The verse assures Judah then—and believers now—that God keeps His promises, intervenes supernaturally, and comes to dwell with His people in the person of His Son.