Does the book of Isaiah say anything about Jesus of Nazareth?

[SarahM32]

44. Petrushka, that's just more Apologetics, and ...

As for the links you provided, I have to say that Christian Apologists trying to defend and prove the legitimacy of the theology and doctrines (like the virgin birth story) summarized in the Nicene Creed are not correct according to the modern son of man.

Perhaps rather than try to explain myself, I should quote a relevant excerpt from his article on The Virgin Birth Story:

“ ... consider the writings of those who knew. As has been mentioned, James the brother of Jesus didn't say anything about a virgin birth, and later John didn’t even mention it. In fact, in John 1:45 he refers to Jesus specifically as "the son of Joseph."

But of course, the biggest reason that most Christians regard the virgin birth story as reality is because of what was written in the later book of Matthew - that it was to fulfill Isaiah's prophecy that "a virgin shall conceive and bear a son called Immanuel." There is even a corroborating phrase tacked on in the book of Matthew that says an angel had come to the "virgin" Mary and said she would miraculously bear the son of God, to be called Jesus.

However, the reference in the book of Matthew to Isaiah 7:14 about Immanuel is not accurate or appropriate, so the author or later revisionist of those words we now see in the book of Matthew was simply in error about that prophecy in Isaiah. The seventh chapter of Isaiah is actually about a dispute over land, leadership and domain, and it took place during the lifetime of those involved, and during the time Isaiah wrote about it.

Before the child Immanuel in the book of Isaiah was old enough to discern for himself what was good and what was not (Isaiah 7:16), the Assyrians would conquer the lands of Aram and Israel, which they did in 733-732 B.C., led by Assyrian King Tiglath-Pileser II, only a year or two after the prophecy was given and 733 years before Jesus was even born. So, that would mean that the actual child named Immanuel lived and died hundreds of years before the time of Jesus.

Moreover, Isaiah 7:14, which the author or editors of the book of Matthew as we know it used to claim Jesus was born of a "virgin" to fulfill Isaiah's prophecy, does not even speak of a virgin.

The Hebrew word "almah" in Isaiah 7:14 actually means “young woman,” but it was erroneously translated as "virgin" in the Greek (Septuagint) translation of the Hebrew Bible or Tanakh, which is why Christians writers, translators and later editors focused on that. And, while some Christians rationalize that the word almah could also mean virgin, they ignore the fact that there is a Hebrew word that actually does mean "virgin." It is "bethulah," and it is used in Isaiah 23:12, 37:22, 47:1, and 62:5). Therefore, the author of the book of Isaiah was well aware of the word for virgin and yet purposely did not use it in Isaiah 7:14.

Even so, because the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Hebrew Tanakh (Old Testament), does use a word meaning virgin, Paul, Matthew and the others used it in their search for "evidence" that Jesus fulfilled prophecies. In fact, the Greek translation has always been the preferred text in the theology of Christian Apologetics that attempts to prove Jesus was born by “immaculate conception” and is therefore "God Himself," or "God Incarnate."

However, with modern scholarship and understanding, we can acknowledge that the idea of virgin births are the stuff of myths, such as the virgin birth myths about Mithra, Gautama the Buddha, Hercules, Osiris, Bacchus, Hermes, Prometheus, Perseus and Horus."

.