Jefus ofNazareth the only True and Promi fed 1 ofiah. Zz t Hierom, penitus ignora, which he could not fay of the way of natural generation. And by this means, She who is called r70V a Virgin, v. 59. is made rimuc riot,: an Harlot, v. 2o. and become impudent in finning. Aman having by fubtle wicked waies prevailed againfi her chaflity, and corrupted her Virginity, the afterwards becomes a common proftitute. And this Itake to be the genuine meaning of the place, though it benot altogether improbable, that the wife man in the v. zo. proceedeth Mato ano- ther efpecial inflance of thingsfecret and hidden in an adulterous Woman, p fignify- ing as muchas, f alf, which it doth in fandry other places. . And thefe are all the places befides that of the Prophet under conlideration, where- in the word is uféd in the Old Te(}ament. So that as its rife, its confiant life allo will admit ofno other fignification, but only that of an u4otted Virgin. Betides, the LXX. render it in this place erago'sv&aVirgin, and the Targum tsrelp which the other Targums exprefs a Virgin by, Gen. 24. 24, 59. Efih. 2. z. ch0p.4.4. Ruth2. 23. I Sam. z5. 42. Neither is any word in the Scripture fo con(tantly and invariably nfèd tó exprefs an incorruptedl Virgin as this is. rt7Vi hath retied only unto Age, and fìgnifies anyone married, or úúniarrieil,a Virgin, or one deflowred, fo (hebe young. í141R] alto is tired for one corrupted, Deut. 22. 23, 24. As alto for a Widdow, Joel I.8. So that by this word, a Virgin is precifely fignificd, or the Hebrews have no word denoting exadly that date and condition. And lafily, the prefixingof 71 in this place rin'tur makes the denotation of the word the more lignal. It is but twice more fö prefixed, Gen. 24. and Exod. 2. In both' which places the Jews themlélves will not denybut that unfpotted Virgins are intended. Further, There are other confiderations offering themfelves from the context, undeniably proving that it is the conceptionof a Virgin. which is here intended and foretold. For firft, it is plainly home marvelous thing, above, and contrary unto the ordinary courfe and operation of nature that is here fpoken of. It is called rtas a fignaó prodigie, and is given by God himfèlf in the room of, and as Come- thing greater, and more marvelous than any thing that Ahaz could have asked ei- ther in Heaven above, or in the Earth beneath, had he made his choice according un- to the tender made unto him. The Lord God himfèlf fhall give you a fign. TheEm- phafis ufed in giving the promife, denotes the marveloulnefs of the thing promifed. Now certainly it was no Inch great matter that the Wife of Aház, which had before born him a Son whowas now eightyears of age, or the Wife of the Prophet, whowas the MotherofShearja/hub then prefent withhis Father, or any Virgin then prefent im- mediately tobe married, fhould bear a Son, fo as to have it called a Prodigie, an emi- nentfign of Gods giving a thing that Ire fhould take upon his own power to perform, when within the fame (pace of time hundreds of Sons were born to other Women in the fameCountry. And it is ridiculous what the Jews pretend, namely, that it was great in this, that the Prophet fhould foretell that Conception, as allo that it fhould be a Son that fhould be born, and not a Daughter; for the work and fign intimated loth not confit at all in the Truth of the Prophets prediéì'ion, but In the Geeatnefl of the thing it fell that was foretold. The Jews cannot affign either Virgil-Tor Son that is here intended. Some of them affirm that Alma was the Wife of Ahad, and the Son promifed Hezekiah ; but this is rejected by Kimchi himCelf, acknowledging that Hezekiah was now eight years old, be- ing born four years before his Father came to the Kingdom, in the fourth year of whole Reign this promife was given unto him. Others would have theAlma to be the Wifeof the Prophet, and the Sonpromifed to be MZkerfhalal-haabaz, whore birth is mentioned in the next chapter. , But neither bath this any more colour of realms : For betides that, his Wife is conftantly called. n+íí 2, the Propbetefl, and could on no account be termed riinp a Virgin, having a Son force years old at that time accom- panying his.Father, thatSon ofhers in the eighth chapter, is promifed as a fign quite to another purpofe, nor could for any reafon be called 47Ní np Immanuel, whole the Land fhould be, which is raid to belong unto this promifed child. And for what they, laftly, add concerningfame Virgin then ltandìng by, who was fhortly after to be mar- ried, it is as fond as any other of their imaginations ; for brfides that the Prophet layes not rtr rn5ÿr this Virgin, as he would have done, had he dirclhed his fpeech unto any one perlonally prefent ; it is a more arbitrary invention, no way coun- tenancedfrom the Text or Context ; (itch as if tnen may be allowed iu; it is eale for them to pervert the Cede of holy Writ at their pleafitre. On all which confiderations it appeareth, that none can poilibly in this promile be intended, but he whole birth was 0. 27
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy OTcyMjk=