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14 Therefore the LORD himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin "shall conceive, and bear a son, And 'shall call his name Immanuel.

15 Butter and honey shall he eat,

"That he may know to refuse the evil, and choose the good. 16 For before the child shall know

To refuse the evil, and choose the good,

The land that thou abhorrest

Shall be forsaken of both her kings.

17 The LORD shall bring upon thee,

And upon thy people, and upon thy father's house,

Days that have not come,

From the day that Ephraim departed from Judah;

Even the king of Assyria.

18 And it shall come to pass in that day,

That the LORD shall hiss

For the fly that is in the uttermost part of the rivers of Egypt,
And for the bee that is in the land of Assyria.

19 And they shall come, and shall rest all of them

In the desolate valleys, and in the holes of the rocks,

And upon all thorns, and upon all "bushes.

20 In the same day shall the LORD shave 'with a razor that is hired, Namely, by them beyond the river, by the king of Assyria,

The head, and the hair of the feet:

And it shall also consume the beard.

21 And it shall come to pass in that day,

That a man shall nourish a young cow, and two sheep;

22 And it shall come to pass,

For the abundance of milk that "they shall give he shall eat butter:
For butter and honey shall every one eat

That is left in the land.

23 And it shall come to pass in that day,

That every place 'shall be,

Where then were a thousand vines at a thousand silverlings,
It shall even be for briers and thorns.

24 With arrows and with bows shall men come thither;
Because all the land shall become briars and thorns.
25 And on all hills that shall be digged with the mattock,
Then shall not come thither 'the fear of briers and thorns:
But it shall be for the sending forth of oxen,

And for the treading of lesser cattle.

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On ver. 10.

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TEXTUAL AND GRAMMATICAL.

occurs again in Isaiah only viii. 5. | 15 sqq.). The LXX. VULG., PESCH., ARAB. have it, and it On ver. 11. The words 11 pyn admit of several commends itself in point of sense very much. For explanations. But that must be excluded at once which when it says. "Descending deep into hell, or mounting reading (with the tone on the ultima) takes the up to the height," both members correspond admirably word as substantive. For "request" is, and both in respect to sense and to sound. But this construction is dubious. For the examples cited by EWALD there is no reason for assuming that the Masorets punctuated falsely. The explanation is very old that 93, a, 3, rest all of them on this, that an existing or possible form with a may be chosen in pause for the form takes as a pausal form for 7 (Gen. xxxvii. with o in accordance with the law of variation. For 35; xlii. 38; xliv. 29, 31; Num. xvi. 30, 33; Ezek. xxxi. there is no such thing as an o changed into a in pause.

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שְׁאָלָה refore take 1 סְעָרָה ;19 .Dan. ix שְׁמָעָה סְלָחָה ;11 עֲמֵק Then

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as imperative (comp. For this form is still to be found Gen. xxxiii. 11; Exod. v. 16 (?); Lev xxv. 21; xxvi. 34; Deut. xxxi. 29; Jer. xiii. 19; xliv. 23; 2 Kings ix. 37 (K'thib); Ps. cxviii. 23. It is seen that the form occurs most frequently in the Pentateuch, while Jer. xliv. 23 is a verbatim quotation from Deut. xxxi. 29; and 2 Kings ix. 37, there exists likely an error of the pen, thus leaving only two instances not in the Pentateuch beside our verse. The form occurs nowhere else in Isaiah.

(xxix. 15; xxx. 33; xxxi. 6) 227 (Ps. xiii. 5) are inff.abs. with a gerund sense: going deep ask or mounting up high."

On ver. 12. ¡DIN-N a paratactic construction.
On ver. 13. The construction by means ori-
nally "is it from you out (from your point of view) a
Etle?" The has a causal sense: because ye insult
y God. One sees that to insult men is a small matter,
1 unsatisfying indulgence to your haughtiness. Comp.
um. xvi. 9; Job xv. 11; Ezek. xxxiv. 18.

On ver. 15. That is not: "until his knowing," appears from this, that the Prophet would in that case say that from his birth on to the years of discretion the boy would be nourished with butter and honey, and then no longer. Thereby, too, the prospect of a brief period of desolation for the land would be held out, which plainly is not the meaning of the Propbet. For Isaiah had in mind the periods of exile, both the Assyrian and the Babylonian, and neither comprises in itself and in the Prophet's representation so short a period. That the latter is so is seen in the way he expresses himself (ver. 17 sq.) on the occasion and extent of the desolation. Therefore ny means: "toward the time of his knowing; or about the time." Comp.

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On ver. 14. Regarding hy it may be considered ettled that directly and properly it can never signify a arried woman. It may, perchance, be used of a young arried woman, whose youth or youthful looks one would especially emphasize, like Ruth (ii. 5, 6) as a oung wife is called. But in point of fact no uch form of expression occurs in the Old Testament. on the other hand a virgin, as such, (as virgo illibata) is, i, Ps. xxx. 6; Job xxiv. 14; Gen. iii. 3; viii. ever called phy. For the proper term for virgin is 14; xlix. 27, etc.-D is "thick milk," lac spissum, (Gen. xxiv. 16; Lev. xxi. 3, 13, 14; Deut. xxii. 14, (comp. Gen. xviii. 8; Judg. v. 25; Prov. xxx. 33), 9, 20; Jud. xix. 24; 2 Sam. xiii. 2, 18) and virginity is (Deut. xxii. 15, 17; Judg. xi. 37 sq.; Ezek. xxiii. hphy is fem. of hy (1 Sam. xvii. 56; xx. 22) and has nothing to do with y "to conceal.", however, is from a root hy, kindred to hay (trans. sugere, potare, intr. redundare, succulentum, vegetum esse). occurs in Hebrew only in the words ohy, anhy, o'phy (ætas juvenilis of women Isa. liv. 4, of men Ps. lxxxix. 46; Job xx. 11; xxxiii. 25) more common in the dialects, where it has the meaning of becoming fat, thick, strong, mature, manly.”

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עָלַם The latter

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Ps. xlvi. 1; 1 Chron. xv. 20) six times: Gen. xxiv. 43; Exod. ii. 8; Prov. xxx. 19; Ps. lxviii. 26; Song of Sol. i. 3; vi. 8. In none of these passages can it be proved to have the sense of virgo illibata or conjux. Especially from Song of Sol. it appears that the third class of the occupants of Solomon's harem comprised the nin Was virginity characteristic of them? Prov. xxx. 19 is difficult. According to all the foregoing it seems to me certain that every ning is indeed a

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but not ,עַלְמָה is the time of youth עֲלוּמִים as בְּתוּלָה

עַלְמָה every

is the עלמה could not be said of men) then בְּתוּלִים)

generally, and may be used of men as well as of women,

young woman, still fresh, young and unmarried, without regard to whether still a virgin in the exact sense.-

, that these words may be read: "behold, the virgin is pregnant," is owned by every one. The expression occurs twice beside. Gen. xvi. 11 the angel says to Hagar, who was already pregnant:

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On ver. 18. Xinn D1'2 m, this formula occurs vers. 21, 23; x. 20, 27; xi. 10, 11; xvii. 4; xxii. 20; xxiii. 15; xxiv. 21; xxvii. 13, and not again. In this formula D' does not designate only a day in the ordinary sense, but, according to circumstances, an undetermined period, like we use the word "period."— only here in Isaiah.-—— - is an Egyptian word (comp. on xix. 6) which, however, has become naturalized in Hebrew. It is partly appellative, and as such means "ditches" (Exod. v ii. 1; Isa. xxxiii. 21) and rivers (Nah. iii. 8; Dan. xii. 5); partly a proper name, and as such means the Nile (xix. 7, 8; xxiii. 10). The ''' (comp. xix. 6; xxxvii. 25; 2 Kings xix. 24) are the canals of the Nile (Exod. viii. 1).

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On ver. 19. nina is am. Aey. If it is kindred to (v. 6) which is most probable, it means abscissum praeruptum, the steep side of a wady.-P'p? (found

beside only Jer. xiii. 4; xvi. 16) is, as appears plain from Jer. xiii. 4, "the cleft."-- (again only lv. 13) is "the thornbush; (from Exod. xv. 13; Isa. xl. 11; xlix. 10; li. 18, to lead to pasture ") pascuum, the pasture, grazing ground.

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passage has, moreover, so much resemblance to ours that we must suppose that it was in the Prophet's mind. Judg. xiii. 5, 7, it is at least very probable, considering ver. 12, that the wife of Manoah was already pregnant. The form in the original passage, Gen. xvi. 16, is 2 pers. fem. In our passage it may also be 3 pers. fem.

subs. abstractum (conductio), but may be also fem. of (conductus, "hired ") occurs nowhere else. This razor is to be had an "ay. 7 without article,

like Mich. vii. 12, and Jer. ii. 18 (which passage, moreover, looks back to ours), is the Euphrates. The y are the two sides of the Euphrates; for alone may mean the territory on the hither side as well as the further side (comp. Josh. xxiv. 2, 3, 14, 15; 2 Sam. x. 16; 1 Chr. xix. 16, with 2 Kings v. 4; Ezra viii. 36; Neh. ii. 7, 9'; iii. 7), and D`Y are the sides generally: Exod. xxxii. 15; 1 Kings v. 4; Jer. lviii. 28; xlix. 32.——— is euphemistic, like Deut. xxviii. 57; Isa. xxxvi. 12 K'ri. Comp. Jud. iii. 24; 1 Sam. xxiv. 4. proves that the Prophet uses as fem., which usually is masc. Thereby the adjective construction of is confirmed as the correct one. Regarding the usus loquendi, comp. xiii. 15; xxix. 1; xxx. 1.

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EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL.

1. Moreover the Lord- -tempt the Lord, vers. 10-12. When Isaiah says: "Moreover the LORD spake," he puts himself quite in the background. He gives prominence only to the proper author of the address, as ver. 3, he reports only the words of Jehovah to himself, and passes over the performance that was his, a man's work, as a matter of course. Though Ahaz was a backslider, the divine love on its part does not let him go. The LORD says still to him: I am thy God. De jure He is so, though de facto so no longer. Because Jehovah still loves Ahaz, He seeks to reclaim him, coming to him half way, and holding out His hand in order to make return as easy for him as possible. That is, the LORD demands no unconditional faith from Ahaz, but He permits him to attach his faith to any condition that he will. If Jehovah fulfils the condition, then that is security, or the sign, that Jehovah deserves to be believed, that He is therefore the God He gives Himself out to be.

There is no other instance of submitting to a man's choice what the sign shall be. It may be fearlessly said that for Isaiah to propose to Ahaz the choice of a miraculous sign is itself a sign. It is a pledge that he serves the true, living, and almighty God; that therefore there is such a God, who not only can do miracles, but who, under circumstances, will do them. Had Isaiah offered Ahaz this choice without possessing the power to perform what he promised, he would have been either a deceiver or a crazed enthusiast. In the name of science, rationalistic expositors may be challenged to prove that Isaiah was a deceiver or an enthusiast. In any case the Prophet leaves it to Ahaz, from what part of the universe he will have a miracle.

The reply of Ahaz is hypocritical. He acts as if he still believed in Jehovah, and as if he declined the proposal only through fear, lest he should have the appearance of tempting God (Deut. v. 16). But he had already his own plans. He had already resolved to oppose to the gods and kings of Syria and Ephraim, not Jehovah, the God of Judah, but the gods and the king of Assyria.

[Ver. 11. "Ask it in the depth," etc. There may be an historical relation between this expression and Deut. xxx. 11-14, and Jno. iv. 1113, and Rom. x. 6-8, and comp. Ps. cxxxix. 6-10, that makes them useful for mutual interpretation.

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2. And he said—-Immanuel, vers. 13, 14. It seems to me that this form of address, joined to the "moreover the LORD spake," ver. 10, intimates that the Prophet spoke these words, not on the spot mentioned ver. 3, but in the house of David, i. e., in the royal palace, and before the royal family, and that the contents of his address concerned very nearly the house of David as a family, (not merely as representative of the government). 8, "to weary," corresponds exactly to the French ennuyer, which means primarily the discomfort one experiences from anything that lasts too long, and then any sort of discomfort. Without doubt Ahaz had often enough made trial of human patience. But "to weary men” seems to point to the fact that in Ahaz's refusal lay an insult to the Prophet. For this refusal might be regarded as indirectly repelling an insane presumption on the part of Isaiah. Still, doubtless, the insult to his God is the chief matter to the Prophet. Notice that by "my God" here, he in a measure retracts the "thy God" of ver. 10. By this one word he lets Ahaz know that by his unbelief he has excluded himself from a part in the LORD. Full of this displeasure, the Prophet declares to the house of David: Because ye will have no sign, one shall be given to you. The sign must therefore be one that Ahaz could observe, and every meaning that ignores this, must from the outstart be regarded as mistaken. It is further clear that the sign which Ahaz must accept against his will must be of a character unpleasant to him. The whole connection shows this clearly. The unbelief, the desertion, the hypocrisy of Ahaz must be punished. Had he accepted the offer of the LORD, he might at will have chosen a sign from any sphere. But because he insolently declined the offer, he must put up with a sign that will appear in a very delicate quarter, and consist in a fact very unpleasant for him. Consider in addition that the Prophet, as we learned above, spoke these words in the royal palace, and before the royal family, and we obtain an important threefold canon for the exposition of the passage: the sign must have

a virgin to conceive this instant a boy as an emblem of his native land, the mother would name her babe like the land at that time must say: God was with us," EICHHORN, comp. J. D. MICHAELIS, PAULUS, STAEHELIN, ctc.). The arbitrariness of this exposition is manifest; the Prophet does not speak hypothetically, but quite categorically. This sign, too, would be neither observable, nor threatening.

Others find the key to the exposition (ROSENtion that Isaiah saw the Messiah Himself in the MUELLER, EWALD, BERTHEAU), in the snpposichild to be born, and that consequently we have before us, an erroneous hope and an unfulfilled Prophecy. But it is incredible that the Prophet, accompanied as he was by his son Shearjashub, filment of the Prophecy contained in his name. could have expected in so short a period the fulThe people must first become a remnant. Comp., the Prophet's inquiry vi. 10 and the reply ver. he is not necessarily therefore really Immanuel. 11. If the Alma does call her son Immanuel, manuel. And so, too, viii. 8, the land of ImIt may mean only that he signifies the Immanuel is not the land of the present, but of the future Immanuel, who only is the true LORD and Master of the land. In viii. 10 where is written separately as two words, can at most only a play on the name Immanuel be recognized. Moreover if Isaiah saw in the boy Immanuel the Messiah himself, then must certainly his mother be the legitimate wife of a member of the family of David. But it is incredible that

y

been for Ahaz, 1) recognized; 2) unpleasant, | bility, without reference to its realization ("were punishing; 3) of concern to his whole family. Behold the virgin, etc.-"Behold" has great emphasis. "It stands here as if the Prophet raised his hand, signed to all the world that they should be still and give hed to this the chiefest miracle of which he would now preach." (FOERSTER).—On yn see Text. and Gr. Who is "the virgin" here? To whom does the definite article point? We must at the outset exclude all those exposisions according to which the Alma" virgin is a purely ideal person, whether belonging to the present or the future. What sort of a sign for Ahaz could it be, if the Prophet in spirit saw in the remote future a virgin that bore the Messiah; even if, by means of an ideal anticipation, the wonderful child, which formed, as it were, the soul of the people's life, is construed as representative of the contemporaries of Ahaz (HENGSTENBERG)? It is no better when, by a figurative construction the Alma is made to mean Israel, out of which a people of salvation shall arise, which, after it has endured the consequences of the present ignorance, shall know to prefer the good to the bad (v. HOFMANN). It is the same with the explanation of W. SCHULTZ Prof. in Breslau, Stud. and Krit., 1861, Heft. IV.) who by comprehending under the Alma or virgin the Messiah and His mother, and all their typical forerunners, understands by this person "the quiet ones of the land, who needed not the king nor his co-operation." The canon we have set up as imperative, is equally violated by KUEPER (Die Proph. d. A. B. übersichtle dargestellt, Leipzig, 1870, p. 216): he admits that Alma does not necessarily mean a pure virgin, yet he lays especial emphasis on the virginity of the mother, because it may be inferred from the name Immanuel, which proves the piety of the mother; and he sees precisely in this virginity the threat against Ahaz, because it follows that Immanuel is to be born without co-operation of a man of the race of David. For it is impossible that Ahaz could infer this virginity thus from the words of the Prophet. Beside, there is nothing threatening in the promise that the Messiah shall be born as the Son of God in the sense of Luke i. 35, without co-operation of a man, of the race of David; it is rather the highest honor. The latest attempt at exposition, too, by ED. ENGELHARDT (Zeitschr. f. Luth. Theol. and K. 1872 Heft. IV.), does not satisfy. "The house of David cannot be destroyed before the promised deliver comes forth from it. The mother is therefore, yet to appear that bears Him, and this mother, determined by the word of the Prophecy, it is that the Prophet means here "(l. c. page 627)." How is it to be proved that hyn a standing expression for the mother of the Messiah? What, moreover, was there punitive in this? What in the text says that the house of David would be destroyed after the birth of the Messiah's mother? Moreover, how is this conceivable? To express what ENGELHARDT fancies is the meaning of the Prophet, the words must read: the Alma has not yet borne. What sort of a sign, would that be?

was

Others adopt an ideal construction in the sense that they regard the birth of a son from the Alma, at the time indicated, as an idea, a possi

alone without any qualification, can mean married women.

The ancient Jewish explanation, according to which the Alma was the mother of Hezekiah, that Abi, daughter of Zachariah (2 Kings xviii. 2), was shown by JEROME even to be impossible, inasmuch as Hezekiah at the time Isaiah spoke these words was already 12 years old. The later Jewish explanation ranks among its supporters FAUSTUS SOCINUS, JOH. CRELLIUS, (Socinian), GROTIUS, (who in his Dever. religionis Christ. still presented the orthodox view, but afterwards went over to CRELLIUS' views), JOH. LUDWIG VON WOLZOGEN (Socinian), JOHN ERNST. FABER (in the Anm. zu Harmar's Beobachtungen über den Orient, etc., I. S. 281), [Put DR. BARNES here: only that he includes a reference to Messiah, according to Matth. i. 22.-TR.] GESENIUS, HITZIG, HEUDEWERK, KNOBEL. etc. According to this view the Alma is the wife of the Prophet himself, either the mother of Shear-jashub, or a younger one, at that time only betrothed to him. But this is wrecked on the impossibility of referring hyn to the wife or the betrothed of the Prophet without any nearer designation and without the faintest hint of her being present. Beside, how should the family of the Prophet happen to have the Immanuel born in it? Were the promises to David to be transferred to Isaiah? KIMCHI and ABARBANEL modify this view by saying that by the ALMA must be understood the wife of Ahaz. But then, instead of something bad, the Prophet would rather have announced something joyful. Others again understand by

the Alma any virgin, not more particularly specified, that was present at the place of interview, and to whom the Prophet pointed with the finger.

For my part I believe, that in expounding our passage, it is an exegete's duty to leave out of view at first Matt. i. 23. We have only to ask: What, according to the words and context, did Isaiah in that moment wish to say, and actually say? How far his word spoken then was a prophecy, and with what justice Matt. i. 18 regards the fact recounted there as the fulfilment of this prophecy will appear from inquiry that must be made afterwards. Bearing in mind then the canon proposed above, and we obtain the meaning: Behold the (i.e. this) virgin (i. e. this yet unmarried daughter of the royal house) is pregnant, etc. After the indignant words of the Prophet, ver. 14a, that roll up like dark clouds, we must look for a sign that strikes the house of David like thunder and lightning. Doubtless Ahaz was not the only guilty person. While Joshua (xxiv. 15) had said: "I and my house will serve the Lord," Ahaz had said the contrary. If not, why did the Prophet, instead of addressing himself to the king with such emphasis, address the whole house? And did what was said iii. 16 sq. about the luxury of the daughters of Zion have no application to the women in the household of Ahaz? Therefore the whole house must with terror endure the shame of one of the princesses who was present being pointed out as pregnant. That is the bold manner of the prophets of Jehovah-a manner that is no respecter of persons-the "sackcloth roughness" of men that know that they have Almighty God for their support. Thus, for example, Jeremiah said to king Jehoiakim that he should be buried with the burial of an ass, drawn and cast forth beyond the gates of Jerusalem, Jer. xxii. 19.

As regards the sense, it remains essentially the same whetherp is translated "thou wilt call" or "she will call." For in any case the word is spoken in presence of the Alma. She herself takes note of what the Prophet announces in regard to the name to be given. Whether she is spoken to or spoken of, remains immaterial. If God, with no expression of disapproval, says "she will call him Immanuel," is not that as much as to say: "she shall so call him?" She would hardly have thought of that name herself. It was not a usual name. It is found only here in the Old Testament. It was a beautiful name, rich in consolation. The Lord would have spoken quite differently if the name had given Him displeasure. That such was not the case, we see from viii. 8, 10 very decidedly. If often occurs in Scripture that mothers give names to their children: Gen. iv. 25; xix. 37 sq.; xxix. 32; xxx. 6, 8, 11, 13, 18, 20, 24; xxxv. 18; 1 Sam. i. 20. Often the name is determined by divine command: Gen. xvi. 11; xvii. 19; Hos. i. 4, 6, 9; 1 Chron. xxii. 9; Matt. i. 21. Here, now, grave doubts arise. Is it conceivable that God has made a fallen woman the type of the cоTÓKOS, and an illegitimate child the type of the Son of God become man? The objections to our view, founded on the piety of the Alma (see above), disappear when we refer back the giving of the name to the announcement of the

divine will. For if the Alma does not name the child Immanuel self-prompted, she gives no proof of fearing God and faith in God. She did only what she could not have omitted to do without defying the divine will. But how is it conceivable that God should make such a child the bearer and symbol of His holy purpose of salvation, a child to which clung the reproach of illegitimate birth, that was therefore the fruit and the continual monument of sin, whose mother, in fact, in some circumstances, might have incurred the penalty of stoning, according to Deut. xxii. 21? How can this fruit of sin bear the holy name of Immanuel? Does this not involve the dangerous inference that God does not take strict account of sin? that in some cases He does not mind using it as means and instrument for His plans? To this I would reply as follows. The Prophet is extremely sparing in portraying the historical background of his prophecies. He indicates only what is indispensable. It is just this scantiness that makes our passage so difficult, and all efforts at expounding it suffer alike from this. there is not a single one against which it may not be objected that one explanatory statement or other is necessary to its complete establishment. It seems to me that the presence of the article in "the Alma" is easiest explained if, in the circle to which the Prophet addressed, there was only one person present that could be designated as Alma. In every language in such a case a more exact pronominal definition may be dispensed with. Besides, in Hebrew, the article in some cases has decidedly a demonstrative meaning, and can be used dɛiktikās (comp. Dyn, yn, nứa,

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The Prophet, as the servant of Jehovah, might come to the king unannounced. Though hated by the king, the king still dreaded him, and, according to ver. 12, Ahaz did not venture to express his unbelief openly, but only under the mask of reverence. Assuredly Nathan did not first request an audience and permission to deliver a message of Jehovah's to the king (2 Sam. xxiv. 11 sq.). And thus we may assume that the Prophet came to the palace at a time when the king was not surrounded by officers of state-at least not by these alone, but also by his family. And in the circle into which Isaiah stepped in the discharge of his prophetic disciplinary office there must have been one-but only one-daughter of the royal house who was indeed unmarried, but no longer a virgin. More than this we do not know. The Prophet writes no more than he said, perhaps out of compassion, or perhaps to avoid making the person in question the object of honors she did not deserve (possibly of idolatrous worship in after days). By revealing this secret to the dismay of the family, the Prophet had of course given a sign, a pledge of the credibility of what was promised ver. 7. For whoever knew that secret of the past and present could know also the secret things of the future. And the king could at once ascertain the verity of the sign that was given. Of course he might take measures to defeat the prophecy and render its accomplishment impossible. But what good would that do? The chief thing, that there was a boy in the body of the (supposed) virgin, he could not undo, and

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