My Mor(m)on Musings

Comparison Of Mathew 1:23 and Isaiah 7:14

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Compare these two greek texts. 'Ἰδού, ἡ παρθένος ἐν γαστρὶ ἕξει καὶ τέξεται υἱόν, καὶ καλέσουσιν τὸ ὄνομα αὐτοῦ Ἐμμανουήλ, ὅ ἐστιν μεθερμηνευόμενον, Μεθ' ἡμῶν ὁ θεός' and 'διὰ τοῦτο δώσει Κύριος αὐτὸς ὑμῖν σημεῖον· ἰδοὺ ἡ παρθένος ἐν γαστρὶ λήμψεται καὶ τέξεται υἱόν, καὶ καλέσεις τὸ ὄνομα αὐτοῦ Ἐμμανουήλ' Show me where they differ and are the same.



Thought for a few seconds

Here’s a side‑by‑side look at the two passages, with identical stretches in bold, and differences called out below:

Passage A (Matthew 1:23 LXX-like)Passage B (Isaiah 7:14 LXX)
Ἰδού, 
— (no “because of this the Lord…” preface) 
ἡ παρθένος ἐν γαστρὶ 
ἕξει καὶ τέξεται υἱόν, 
καὶ καλέσουσιν τὸ ὄνομα αὐτοῦ Ἐμμανουήλ, 
ὅ ἐστιν μεθερμηνευόμενον, Μεθ’ ἡμῶν ὁ θεόςδιὰ τοῦτο δώσει Κύριος αὐτὸς ὑμῖν σημεῖον·
ἰδοὺ ἡ παρθένος ἐν γαστρὶ λήμψεται καὶ τέξεται υἱόν, 
καὶ καλέσεις τὸ ὄνομα αὐτοῦ Ἐμμανουήλ 

1. Shared (Verbatim) Segments

  • ἡ παρθένος ἐν γαστρὶ (“the virgin in [her] womb”)
  • τέξεται υἱόν (“will bear a son”)
  • καὶτὸ ὄνομα αὐτοῦ Ἐμμανουήλ (“and … the name of him Immanuel”)
  • 2. Divergences

    FeaturePassage A (Matt.)Passage B (Isa.)
    Introductory clauseἸδού, (“Behold,”)διὰ τοῦτο δώσει Κύριος αὐτὸς ὑμῖν σημεῖον· (“Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign;”)
    “Behold” particleἸδούἰδοὺ (lower‑case after the sign-clause)
    Future “conceive” verbἕξει (from ἔχω “have,” lit. “will have [in womb]”)λήμψεται (from λαμβάνω “take/receive,” lit. “will receive [in womb]”)
    Future “call” verb & subjectκαλέσουσιν (3 pl. “they will call”)καλέσεις (2 sg. “you will call”)
    Appended glossὅ ἐστιν μεθερμηνευόμενον, Μεθ’ ἡμῶν ὁ θεός 
    (“which is translated, ‘God with us’”)— (none) 

    3. Summary of Variants

  • Matthew’s citation expands Isaiah with an explanatory gloss (“which is translated…”) and shifts the subject of “call” to “they,” plus it uses ἕξει for “will conceive.”
  • Isaiah’s original begins with the prophetic context (“therefore the Lord will give you a sign”), uses λήμψεται for “will conceive/receive,” and directly addresses “you” for naming the child.
  • This shows how the evangelist adapts the LXX prophecy for his narrative context.