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Isaiah 7
Judah’s king is shaking. The Lord offers a sign: a child named Immanuel — God with us.
What happens in this chapter
Ahaz faces the Syro-Ephraimite threat (Isaiah 7:1–2; cf. 2 Kings 16). Isaiah meets him with a call to trust (7:3–9). Ahaz refuses to ask a sign; the Lord gives one anyway: the young woman will conceive and name the child Immanuel (7:10–17). The rest of the chapter describes coming judgment by Assyria under the image of razor, flies, and bees (7:18–25).
Isaiah 7:14
The verse has a near horizon in Ahaz’s generation and a far horizon Matthew names in Jesus’ birth (Matthew 1:22–23). Classic commentators argue about ‘almah and the Greek parthenos. Read the chapter first; then the commentary on fulfillment.