BREAKFAST BIBLE STUDY

Alma May Not Mean Virgin

Isaiah 7:14 (NRSVU)

1/4/26

“Christian nationalism is about power, nothing more.” – Christian Pecker

This year, Christian and Grace will have me choose the Bible passages I think prophesy about Jesus. In exchange, they need to find good passages in the Bible that Christian nationalists will not like. I think this is fair and easy for me because we just had Christmas, and the most famous Old Testament passage is always preached on Christmas Day: “Behold, a virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will call His name Immanuel” Isaiah 7:15.

“Cole, you’re predictable,” Christian said when he came down for breakfast Bible study.

“It proves it with this one passage,” I said.

“Virgin is an inaccurate translation,” he said.

“How do you know?”

“Grace?” Christian said.

“The Hebrew word is ‘alma.’ That word more accurately translates to ‘young woman,’” Grace said. “You can check other translations. Many have footnotes. The young woman may very well have been a virgin, but there are better Hebrew words to describe virginity.”

“So…it still could be a prophecy that Mary was a virgin, meaning Jesus was the son of God,” I said. “Just like Matthew and Luke say.”

“During his adult life, did anybody call Jesus Immanuel?” Grace asked.

“It means God with us,” I said. “It was literally who Jesus was.”

“Fair enough, but are you sure that one little verse—actually half a verse—wasn’t cherry-picked from a story that had a whole different meaning and context?”

“Yes.”

“Did you read that chapter in Isaiah?” Christian said.

“See, it was really hard,” I said. “It talked about Syria and stuff.”

“Did you read verse sixteen?” Christian asked.

“Before the boy was old enough, two kings fell?”

“Isaiah was talking about a child born in his lifetime,” Christian said.  

“I didn’t understand that part,” I said. “I thought it might have been a copyist error.”

“Did you read the next chapter in Isaiah?” Christian asked.

“No.”

“Three verses into the chapter, Isaiah has sex. The prophetess conceives a son,” Christian said. “A few verses later, his early prophecy seems to be fulfilled.”

“Oh,” I said. “He had a son named Immanuel.”

“His name was ‘swift is the booty, speedy is the prey,’” Christian said.

“So…not Immanuel?” I asked.

“Immanuel is referenced poetically in the next few verses,” Christian said. “This story is not about Jesus. Matthew was delving deep into the Old Testament to find verses that seemed prophetic. In my opinion, he was reaching and falling short because his Hebrew was limited.”

“Dual prophecy fulfillment is what Pastor Mercer once called it,” Grace said. “One child is born during Isaiah’s lifetime. Another child is born centuries later. Pastor Mercer calls it dual prophecy. Even if you argue that two kings somewhere in the world could have fallen while Jesus was growing up, I call it a stretch. Remember, the prophecy was ‘found’ by the gospel writers and referenced in the gospels long after Jesus died to serve as proof of his divinity.”

“But weren’t people reading the Old Testament and waiting for Jesus?” I asked.  

“Maybe some people were waiting for an earthly messiah,” Grace said, “but more Jews would have converted if they thought Jesus fit the bill. Matthew and Luke were making a concerted effort to convince their audience that Jesus was prophesied in the Old Testament. They were writing long after Jesus died, trying to justify their growing movement with sacred texts.”

“But Matthew and Luke and Mark and John had their own sacred texts right in front of them as they were writing the gospels,” I said.

“Christians made them sacred hundreds of years after the gospels were written,” Christian said. “My issue with this prophecy is that, in context, Isaiah is clearly referring to events in his own lifetime, not to events that would occur hundreds of years later.”    

“That’s just one passage about Jesus,” I said. “Jesus is prophesied a whole bunch.”  

“We’re going to have to go through these prophecies one by one, aren’t we?” Christian said. “Can’t you just read them in context and come to some conclusions by yourself?”

“It’s better when you explain,” I said, “but first, you need to find good passages that Christian nationalists won’t like. That’s for next week.”

“Easy enough,” Grace said. “Sermon on the Mount next week.”

In state legislatures across the country, Christian fundamentalists are passing laws meant to force the teaching of the Christian Bible in public schools. From the posting of textually inaccurate iterations of the Ten Commandments on the walls of classrooms to the incorporation of the “Trump Bible” across multiple pedagogical disciplines, these laws and mandates are sweeping the reddest parts of this nation.

The height of hypocrisy is banning books in the name of “protecting children” while mandating one particular book rife with numerous acts of sexual violence and scenes of graphic violence and genocide.

Book bans are dangerous. The Bible is worth reading and exists online and in public school libraries across the country, but proponents of mandating its formal teaching in public schools need to know what it actually says.

Some themes in my books below might not be appropriate for children.