What is the significance of the virgin birth in Matthew's Gospel?

Answer 1

A:

There are three points of significance in the virgin birth, as reported in Matthew's Gospel.

1. By the first century, Gentiles expected god-men to be born of a virgin, and Jesus fulfilled that expectation.
2. The then-great Zoroastrian religion of Persia prophesied that the Saoshyant would be born of a virgin and take part in the final battle against evil. Matthew's reference to the magi coming to worship the infant Jesus demonstrates that the author had this in mind, as the magi were actually priests of the Zoroastrian god, Ahura Mazda ('Wise Lord').
3. The virgin birth provided an opportunity to portray Jesus as fulfilling a prophecy in Isaiah 7:14 that Jesus would be born of a virgin. Matthew relies on the Septuagint, a flawed early Greek translation of the Hebrew scriptures. Although not actually mentioning Jesus, the Septuagint does say: "Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virginshall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel." However, what the prophet Isaiah actually wrote in the original Hebrew was, "Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, the young woman shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel." The young woman in question did have a child just a few verses later in Isaiah's book.