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    qircumstanees relating to that are mentioned merely to designate the child intended ; the son of the prophet Isaiah and of the prophetess , who might still be a young woman , if the predicted child were even not her first child . Nor is there any thing to

    oppose this latter supposition , for Shearjashub might be his son by another wife , who was now dead , and the prophet might then be about to marry , if he had not just then betrothed , this other wife ; and he might even have possibly taken Urijah the priest , and Zechariah the son of Jeberechiah to

    be witnesses of this his marriage with the prophetess . The particular circumstance which constitutes the sign to Ahaz , is that mentioned ch . vii . ver . 16 , and ch . viii . ver . 4 , the death

    of the two kings and the desolation of their countries taking place before this particular child should know to cry my father and my mother , or to refuse the evil and to choose the good .

    II . The objections which may be urged against this interpretation are next to be considered . 1 . The difference of the names of this child may be objected by some . In ch . vii . ver . 14 , he is called Iminanuel ; in ch . viii . ver . 4 , Mahershalal-hash-baz . The same difficulty

    will occur in applying ch . vii . ver . 14 , to Jesus Christ , for the name Iminanuel occurs only thrice in the Old and New Testament—Isa . vii . 14 , viii . 8 , and in Matt . i . 23 , which is a quotation of the former text . In the second

    passage , it seems to refer , as shewn above , to the child who should be the sign to Ahaz , and of whose birth mention was made in ch . viii . ver . 3 , and whom the prophet seems to apostrophize in the 8 th verse , as hath been already stated .

    Besides , it was not uncommon among the Jews for the same person to have two different names ; especially when the sacred name of God occurred in one of them . The child , in such a case , was generally called

    by the other name , that they might avoid mentioning lightly and frequently the name of the Most High . This was the case in the present instance . But again , in ch . vii . ver . 14 , it is not said that the child should be called

    Immanuel , nor was any direction given to < name : him so ; but only that his molher would call him so . And by

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    this name the prophetess , may have called him at first , till the JLord , after his birth , speaking again to Isaiah , called him by the name which was then specified , a name signifying , as

    in the margin of the Bible , making speed to the spoil , he hasteneth to the prey ; impl y ing in how short a time the king of Assyria would come and carry away the riches of Damascus and the spoil of Samaria .

    2 . Another objection may be urged from the mother being called a virgin . But this does by no means imply that she had not known man till after the birth of this child . It may justly be said of a female conceiving her first child , that a virgin shall conceive . But

    the Hebrew term here used , nfc ^ rurT , does not necessarily signify one who still retains her virginity . It may signify merely a young woman . Agreeably to this observation , the Septuagint translate this word sometimes by irop-Oevoq , and more ^ frequently by vtaviq .

    TIap 6 evo <; it is acknowledged , is the Greek word which properly signifies a pure , undented virgin . But veavn ; cannot be made to signify more than a young woman , corresponding with veocyuzq , a young man , and peavurKog , the diminutive of the other and the

    proper term for a youth . But it may be objected that the Septuagint , in the present passage under discussion , translate by * 7 nzp 0 £ vo < , a virgin , and , therefore , we should understand the term in the strict sense . It may , however , be replied , the old fable of Aristeas is now too

    well exploded by Hody and others for it to obtain credit in the present day . We no longer consider those translators as inspired men , and , therefore , are not bound to look on every letter of their version as infallibly just ; notwithstanding in some cases it may elucidate , and in others its authority

    may determine the extent of meaning which particular words will bear . For this latter purpose its authority is now produced , while we reject its guidance in the specific instance in question , for the reasons alleged above , why the context requires an explanation that does not admit or need such

    a on . 3 . But this leads us to another objection . Though the authors of the Septuagint Version were not inspired , the Evangelist Matthew was , accord-

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    504 Mr . 8 . Freeman on the Prophecies of fsaiah , ch . viL

• Citation
  • Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Sept. 2, 1823, page 504, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1788/page/8/