Who prophesied to Mary?

Answer 1

The prophet, Isaiah (see Isaiah 7:14).

B: The Holy Spirit revealed to Isaiah that his prophecy pointed forward to Jesus (John 12:41). It was not until after the miraculous virginal conception and birth of Jesus more than six hundred years later that it became entirely clear that the near fulfillment of Isaiah's prophecy was a type, the archetype of which is Jesus the Messiah (Matthew 1:22-23). While Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz signified temporal salvation for Judah, Jesus Christ, the literal "Immanuel", embodied eternal salvation for true Israel. The prophecy in Isaiah chapter 7 was a predictiveprophecy fulfilled in Isaiah chapter 8. Looking back at the Old Testament through the lens of the New, we see Isaiah's prophecy also as a typological prophecy fulfilled in Jesus. Atheists point to this prophecy in order to show proof that The Bible is not credible when Isaiah makes clear this prophecy was fulfilled when Isaiah "went to the prophetess, and she conceived and gave birth to a son" named Maher-Shalah-Hash-Baz (8:3).

Answer 2

A:

Isaiah wrote (Isaiah 7:14), "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 'prophecy' was for a young woman about whom Isaiah was speaking and about a child to be called Immanuel, so clearly was not a reference to Jesus. The young woman in question had her child just a few verses later in Isaiah's book.

Isaiah never wrote of a virgin birth, but a mistranslation in the Septuagint, a flawed early Greek translation of the Hebrew scriptures, does say: "Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel." Eager to associate this in some way with Jesus, Christian church leaders have treated Immanuel (or Emanuel) as yet another name for Jesus.

Answer 3

No one foretold the birth of Jesus. Christians cite Isaiah 7:14 as supposed proof that Jesus was prophesied as born of a virgin. In the Septuagint, used by the author of Matthew, Isaiah 7:14 says, "Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel." However, the Hebrew original actually says, "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." In the correct reading of Isaiah 7:14, there is no mention of a virgin and certainly no mention of Jesus. And a few verses later in the Book of Isaiah, the young woman did indeed have a baby.