The Messiah..born of a virgin...

[Steven Avery]

Hi Folks,

Vic Wrote:I am not sure what you mean by the 1st century beliefs concerning the expectation of the virgin birth.

Basically, was the man on the street who knew his Tanach expecting Messiah to be born of a virgin ? Before the event. I do not think we can make definitive statements that the true Bible understanding was commonly understood.

We can read the Targum Jonathan and see the Jewish expectations around Isaiah 53, basically the same as the disciples of the Lord Jesus, the establishing of a glorious kingdom. (Not so much an emphasis on the suffering of Messiah.) Also we can see similar in Midrash. On the virgin birth we don't have the same type of auxiliary commentary about the Isaiah verse, although there may be hints in that direction.

This is simply an attempt to look at "1st century Messianic expectations" (before the life of the Lord Jesus) as its own genre, which can be done at the same time that we fully understand the Isaiah and Matthew and Luke verses.

An attempt for historical perspective.
Hope that helps.

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New note:
Parthenogenesis can not be involved in the virgin birth, since that produces a female offspring. This is covered in the Arthur Custance (1910–1985) material, The Virgin Birth and the Incarnation, and The Seed of the Woman, which is on the net.

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What I wrote above regarding the connection of Isaiah 7:14 and Isaiah 9:6, being the same child, is an important element, however my mention of Matthew was a bit out of place, he simply quotes Isaiah 7:14. It is fair to say that Emmanuel is akin to Isaiah 9:6:

Isaiah 9:6
For unto us a child is born,
unto us a son is given:
and the government shall be upon his shoulder:
and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counseller,
The mighty God,
The everlasting Father,
The Prince of Peace.

however there is no direct combining of the verses in Matthew.

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Shalom,
Steven Avery