In a message dated 7/8/2007 7:15:34 PM Central Daylight Time,
klriley AT alphalink.com.au writes:
Does the prophecy really work with a generic young woman? If the child is
the sign, and it is specifically his age that is important as the end-point
of the prophecy, wouldn't we need to know which child, and therefore which
young woman?
Kevin Riley
JW:
This would seem to be, as the Brit Melahs say, "the cruncher". In order for
Isaiah's immediate audience to be able to recognize prophecy fulfillment they
would need to know the identity of the young woman. This than would support
use of the definite article in 7:14 as confirming that the young woman was
known to Isaiah and his immediate audience and therefore an English
translation
of "the" is likely.
Intellectually though, all the available evidence should be looked at before
making a conclusion.
Joseph Wallack
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