Long before Bethlehem, the Hebrew prophets described a coming figure in terms no Israelite could have applied to a merely human king. A child would be born who bears the name Mighty God. A ruler would come out of Bethlehem whose goings forth are from eternity. A king would be addressed as God by God. A son of man would receive the universal worship that Israel reserved for YHWH alone.

These are not vague foreshadowings read back into the text by later Christians. They are specific, and in several cases the Jewish translators of the Septuagint and the pre-Christian rabbinic tradition read them messianically before there was any Christian interest to serve. This post examines seven such passages.

Isaiah 7:14 — The Sign of Immanuel

Isaiah 7:14

"Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, a virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will call His name Immanuel."

Context and Historical Background

Isaiah 7 is set during the Syro-Ephraimite crisis (ca. 735 BC), when King Ahaz of Judah faced an invasion by the allied forces of Syria (Aram) and the northern kingdom of Israel. God commanded Isaiah to offer Ahaz any sign he desired. Ahaz refused in false piety, claiming he would not test God. In response, the LORD declared He would give a sign of His own choosing — one that would transcend the immediate political crisis and point to the ultimate divine intervention in history.

Key Words

‎עַלְמָה (ʿalmāh; BDB 761; HALOT 834) — "young woman, virgin." This Hebrew term occurs seven times in the OT (Genesis 24:43; Exodus 2:8; Psalm 68:25; Proverbs 30:19; Song of Solomon 1:3; Song of Solomon 6:8; Isaiah 7:14). In every occurrence, the woman is unmarried and of marriageable age — in the ancient Israelite context, this presupposes virginity. The Septuagint (LXX), translated by Jewish scholars ca. 250–150 BC — before any Christian theological interest could influence the rendering — chose παρθένος (parthenos; BDAG 776), the unambiguous Greek term for a woman who has not had sexual relations. This ancient Jewish translation decision powerfully supports the virginal conception reading of the passage. The claim that ʿalmāh merely means "young woman" without any implication of virginity contradicts the Jewish translators' own interpretive judgment.

‎עִמָּנוּאֵל (ʿimmānûʾēl; BDB 769) — "God with us." This is not merely a symbolic name; it is a theological declaration. The compound עִמָּנוּ (ʿimmānû, "with us") + אֵל (ʾēl, "God") proclaims the divine presence in the most intimate and personal sense. This name points forward not just to God's assistance but to God's literal, personal presence in the person of Jesus Christ (cf. Matthew 1:23; John 1:14).

Commentary

John Oswalt ^[1] notes: "Whatever its immediate historical referent, the LXX translators understood this as pointing to a miraculous birth. Matthew's inspired citation confirms that its ultimate fulfillment was the virginal conception of Jesus of Nazareth — the sign is not merely the birth of a child but the manner of birth, God providing the miraculous" ^[2].

Gary Smith [^12]: "The name Immanuel — 'God with us' — is the theological core of this prophecy. Isaiah repeatedly uses Immanuel to frame the larger section (7:14; 8:8,10), but its fullest meaning is only unlocked in the New Testament, where it describes the divine nature of the one who will be born."

Matthew's fulfillment citation (Matthew 1:22–23) is explicit: "Now all this took place to fulfill what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet: 'Behold, the virgin shall be with child and shall bear a son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,' which translated means, 'God with us.'" The angel's declaration that Mary's child was "of the Holy Spirit" (Matthew 1:20) and that He "will save His people from their sins" (Matthew 1:21) establishes that Immanuel is not a secondary name but the defining description of who Jesus is: God personally present in human flesh.

Historical Note: The medieval Jewish commentator Rashi (Rabbi Shlomo Yitzchaki, 1040–1105 AD) argued the sign referred solely to Isaiah's contemporaries. However, this interpretation was not universal in ancient Judaism. The Dead Sea Scrolls (4QIsa) preserve the Isaiah 7:14 text without variant, and the Targum Jonathan (an Aramaic paraphrase, ca. 1st c. BC–2nd c. AD) treats the broader Isaiah 7–9 cluster messianically. The Jewish Encyclopedia acknowledges that Isaiah 9:5–6 (immediately following 7:14) was read messianically in pre-Christian Judaism. (Jewish Encyclopedia: "Messiah")

Isaiah 9:6–7 — Mighty God, Eternal Father

Isaiah 9:6–7

"For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; And the government will rest on His shoulders; And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace. There will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace, On the throne of David and over his kingdom, To establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness From then on and forevermore. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will accomplish this."

The Four Throne Names

Isaiah 9:6 attributes four divine throne names to a child-son who will be born. Two of the four names are explicitly and unambiguously divine:

‎פֶּלֶא יוֹעֵץ (Peleʾ Yôʿēṣ, "Wonderful Counselor") — פֶּלֶא (peleʾ; BDB 810; HALOT 927), "wonder, miracle" — is consistently a descriptor of God's extraordinary deeds in the OT (Exodus 15:11: "Who is like You, majestic in holiness, awesome in praises, working wonders?"; Judges 13:18: the angel of the LORD whose name is "Wonderful"—the same root). The Messiah's counsel is not merely advisorial but divinely wondrous — the wisdom of God clothed in flesh (cf. 1 Corinthians 1:24: "Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God").

‎אֵל גִּבּוֹר (ʾĒl Gibbôr, "Mighty God") — This is the most direct divine name in the fourfold title. אֵל (ʾēl; BDB 42; HALOT 50) is the common Hebrew word for God. גִּבּוֹר (gibbôr; BDB 150) means "mighty, powerful warrior." The exact phrase ʾēl gibbôr appears again in Isaiah 10:21 referring unambiguously to YHWH Himself: "A remnant will return, the remnant of Jacob, to the mighty God" (ʾēl gibbôr). This deliberate intertextual connection within Isaiah itself eliminates any possibility that the title is merely a poetic epithet for a powerful human king. The child of Isaiah 9:6 bears the same divine name as YHWH in Isaiah 10:21. John Oswalt states definitively: "It is difficult to escape the conclusion that Isaiah intends this child to be identified with God Himself. The term El Gibbor is a divine name — not a poetic epithet but a theological assertion. This child is the Mighty God in human form" ^[3].

‎אֲבִי עַד (ʾĂḇî ʿaḏ, "Eternal Father" or "Father of Eternity") — עַד (ʿaḏ; BDB 723), "perpetuity, eternity." This title describes the Messiah's relationship to time and to His people. He is the Father of the eternal age — the one who brings the new age into being, who perpetually sustains it, and who stands as the enduring source of life for all who belong to Him. This is not a claim that the Son is the Father within the Trinity (that would be Modalism), but rather a royal title declaring His eternal sovereignty and fatherly provision over His kingdom and people. Gary Smith [^14]: "'Father of eternity' presents the Messiah as one who has an eternal existence and who exercises fatherly care over His people forever."

‎שַׂר שָׁלוֹם (Śar Šālôm, "Prince of Peace") — שָׁלוֹם (šālôm; BDB 1022; HALOT 1538) encompasses not merely the cessation of hostilities but wholeness, flourishing, completeness, and well-being in every dimension of life. The Messiah is the one who embodies and establishes this total shalom — reconciling humanity to God (Romans 5:1: "we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ") and ultimately restoring creation itself (Colossians 1:20: "through Him to reconcile all things to Himself, having made peace through the blood of His cross").

Verse 7 — The Eternal Davidic Kingdom

The government rests on "the throne of David...forevermore" — explicitly grounding the Messiah within the Davidic covenant (2 Samuel 7:12–16) while extending His reign infinitely beyond what any human king could fulfill. Luke's Annunciation narrative directly connects this passage to Jesus: "The Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David; and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and His kingdom will have no end" (Luke 1:32–33).

The Targum Jonathan (Aramaic paraphrase, ca. 1st century BC–2nd century AD) reads for Isaiah 9:6: "His name has been called from of old: Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, He who lives forever, the Messiah, in whose days peace shall increase upon us" — a clear messianic reading in ancient Jewish tradition, before the Christian era.

D. A. Carson, commenting on the Matthew 1:23 fulfillment, observes: "When Isaiah 9:6 names the coming ruler 'Mighty God' and 'Eternal Father,' it is doing something unprecedented in OT royal theology. No human king is ever given a divine name like 'El Gibbor' — the connection with Isaiah 10:21 is unmistakable. The prophetic tradition anticipated a Messianic figure who would not merely represent God but embody Him" ^[4].

Micah 5:2 — The Eternal Origin of the Messiah

Micah 5:2

"But as for you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, Too little to be among the clans of Judah, From you One will go forth for Me to be ruler in Israel. His goings forth are from long ago, From the days of eternity."

Key Words

‎מוֹצָאֹתָיו מִקֶּדֶם מִימֵי עוֹלָם (môṣāʾôtāyw miqqedem mîmê ʿôlām) — "His goings forth are from long ago, from the days of eternity." This is the critical phrase. קֶדֶם (qedem; BDB 869; HALOT 1000) refers to "ancient time, primordial era, the east / the primeval past." עוֹלָם (ʿôlām; BDB 761; HALOT 798) indicates "a long duration, everlasting, eternity." The two terms together — miqqedem (from of old) and mîmê ʿôlām (from the days of eternity) — describe the most remote imaginable past. The identical phrase "days of eternity" (yĕmê ʿôlām) occurs in Micah 7:14; Isaiah 63:9; and Amos 9:11 in contexts describing the primordial acts of God. When applied to the Messiah's origins, it asserts His existence before time itself — not merely that He descends from an ancient dynasty, but that He Himself is of eternal origin.

This passage establishes that the one born in Bethlehem is not simply a great human king — He preexists His birth. His incarnation in Bethlehem is the entering into time of One who has existed from eternity. This is exactly what John 1:1–3 declares: the pre-existent Logos who "was in the beginning with God" and "became flesh" (John 1:14).

Bruce Waltke [^16]: "'From the days of eternity' (mîmê ʿôlām) cannot be reduced to mean merely 'the distant past' of the Davidic lineage. The phrase, in combination with miqqedem ('long ago, primordial'), points to the eternal, pre-existent nature of the one whose earthly birth is predicted. The Targum renders this as pointing to a ruler whose name was established before the creation of the world — consistent with pre-Christian messianic expectation of a heavenly, pre-existent Messiah."

Matthew's Gospel confirms the fulfillment: when the Magi inquired about the birthplace of the King of the Jews, the chief priests and scribes cited Micah 5:2 as the answer (Matthew 2:4–6).

Psalm 45:6–7 — The King Addressed as God

Psalm 45:6–7

"Your throne, O God, is forever and ever; A scepter of uprightness is the scepter of Your kingdom. You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness; Therefore God, Your God, has anointed You with the oil of gladness above Your companions."

Context

Psalm 45 is a royal wedding psalm (mizmor, a šîr yĕdîdōt — a "song of love") celebrating the marriage of a Davidic king. The psalmist directly addresses the king in verse 6 with the vocative אֱלֹהִים (ʾĕlōhîm, "God, O God"; BDB 43; HALOT 52) — the full generic Hebrew term for God. Some interpreters attempt to translate verse 6 as "your throne is God's forever," but the Septuagint, the ancient Jewish translators, rendered it as a direct address: "Your throne, O God, is forever and ever" (ὁ θρόνος σου, ὁ θεός, εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα τοῦ αἰῶνος).

The New Testament removes all ambiguity: Hebrews 1:8–9 explicitly quotes this Psalm as addressed by the Father to the Son: "But of the Son He says, 'YOUR THRONE, O GOD, IS FOREVER AND EVER....'" The author of Hebrews thus confirms that this Psalm speaks of Jesus, and that the Father Himself addresses the Son as "God."

Key Observation: The Distinction Within the Psalm

Verse 6: God addresses the Son as "God" — "Your throne, O God..."
Verse 7: The Son is said to have "God, Your God" — "God, Your God, has anointed You"

This remarkable structure shows two divine persons — one addressing the other as "God." This is not Modalism (one person playing different roles) but genuine personal distinction within the Godhead. The Father addresses the Son as God, while the Son has God as His God in His mediatorial, incarnate role. F. F. Bruce [^17]: "The fact that the Son is addressed as 'God' by One who is Himself God shows that the term is used of the Son in the fullest sense. The psalm is here pressed into service as testimony to the Son's divine nature and eternal kingship."

Psalm 110:1–2 — The LORD Speaks to His Lord

Psalm 110:1–2

"The LORD says to my Lord: 'Sit at My right hand Until I make Your enemies a footstool for Your feet.' The LORD will stretch forth Your strong scepter from Zion, saying, 'Rule in the midst of Your enemies.'"

The Most Quoted OT Passage in the NT

Psalm 110 is quoted or alluded to more times in the New Testament than any other Old Testament passage — approximately 33 times (Hebrews 1:3, 13; 5:6; 7:17, 21; 8:1; 10:12–13; 12:2; Matthew 22:44; 26:64; Mark 12:36; 14:62; Luke 20:42–43; 22:69; Acts 2:34–35; 7:55–56; Romans 8:34; 1 Corinthians 15:25; Ephesians 1:20; Colossians 3:1; 1 Peter 3:22; Revelation 3:21; etc.).

Key Words

‎נְאֻם יְהוָה לַאדֹנִי (nĕʾum YHWH laʾdōnî) — "The LORD (YHWH) says to my Lord (ʾādôn)." The psalmist David (cf. Matthew 22:43: "David in the Spirit calls Him 'Lord'") refers to a figure who is both David's descendant (implied by the Davidic covenant context) and David's Lord — a logical impossibility for any purely human king. אָדוֹן (ʾādôn; BDB 10; HALOT 13) in this context is a title of supreme authority and honor used for a superior. David calls this figure his Lord — placing this individual in a category above David himself, the greatest king of Israel.

Jesus used this very puzzle to confound the Pharisees: "If David then calls Him 'Lord,' how is He his son?" (Matthew 22:45). The only coherent answer is that the Messiah is both David's biological descendant (human) and David's divine Lord (God). The incarnation alone resolves the paradox.

Verse 4 — The Eternal Priesthood

Psalm 110:4: "The LORD has sworn and will not change His mind, 'You are a priest forever According to the order of Melchizedek.'" The combination of eternal kingship (v. 1–2) with an eternal priesthood after the order of Melchizedek is extraordinary — it describes a figure who transcends both the Aaronic priesthood and the Davidic kingship. The book of Hebrews builds its entire Christology on this Psalm, arguing that only Jesus, as the eternal Son of God, can fulfill the Melchizedekian priesthood (Hebrews 7:1–28). His priesthood is "indestructible" (ἀκατάλυτος, Hebrews 7:16) — only possible if He possesses divine, eternal life.

Peter's Pentecost sermon quotes Psalm 110:1 directly and applies it to the resurrected, ascended Jesus: "For David did not ascend into the heavens, but he himself says: 'THE LORD SAID TO MY LORD, SIT AT MY RIGHT HAND...' Therefore let all the house of Israel know for certain that God has made Him both Lord and Christ—this Jesus whom you crucified" (Acts 2:34–36). The apostolic proclamation from the very beginning was that the exalted Jesus occupies the position of YHWH's right hand — the seat of divine authority.

Jeremiah 23:5–6 — YHWH Our Righteousness

Jeremiah 23:5–6

"'Behold, the days are coming,' declares the LORD, 'When I will raise up for David a righteous Branch; And He will reign as king and act wisely And do justice and righteousness in the land. In His days Judah will be saved, And Israel will dwell securely; And this is His name by which He will be called, 'The LORD our righteousness.'"

Key Words

‎יְהוָה צִדְקֵנוּ (YHWH Ṣidqênû, "The LORD our righteousness"; BDB 841) — This messianic name is explosive in its theological content. The Messiah who will come from the line of David is Himself called by the covenant name of YHWH. He is not merely "righteous" (an adjective) or "the one through whom YHWH provides righteousness" — He is YHWH our righteousness. His very identity is equated with the covenant name of God. No human king in the OT was ever given a name compounded with the divine name YHWH as a personal title.

Paul's theology of justification in Romans and Philippians 3:9 ("the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith") reflects this Jeremiah 23:6 reality: the righteousness by which sinners are declared righteous before God is not a human achievement but the very righteousness of God Himself, credited to believers through faith in Christ. Only if Christ is God can His righteousness count as the divine righteousness that satisfies God's holy demands.

F. B. Huey [^21]: "The messianic name 'YHWH our righteousness' is a bold theological assertion. In giving the Messiah the divine name, Jeremiah anticipates that the coming king will be far more than a human monarch — He will bear the very identity of Israel's God."

Daniel 7:13–14 — The Son of Man: Eternal Dominion and Universal Worship

Daniel 7:13–14

"I kept looking in the night visions, And behold, with the clouds of heaven One like a Son of Man was coming, And He came up to the Ancient of Days And was presented before Him. And to Him was given dominion, Glory and a kingdom, That all the peoples, nations and men of every language Might serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion Which will not pass away; And His kingdom is one Which will not be destroyed."

The Significance of the "Son of Man" Figure

‎כְּבַר אֱנָשׁ (kĕḇar ʾĕnāš, Aramaic, "one like a son of man"; BDB 1085) — The Aramaic form corresponds to Hebrew בֶּן אָדָם (ben ʾādām). This figure approaches the Ancient of Days "with the clouds of heaven" — a divine prerogative. In the OT, riding on or coming with clouds is consistently a theophanic description of YHWH (Psalm 68:4; Psalm 104:3; Isaiah 19:1; Nahum 1:3). The "Son of Man" comes in divine mode yet appears in human form — the perfect description of the incarnate Son of God.

Three divine attributes are granted to this figure:

• Dominion — absolute sovereignty over all nations
• Glory (כְּבַר = kĕḇôḏ, "glory/honor") — divine glory given to no creature
• Eternal Kingdom — "an everlasting dominion which will not pass away" — no human empire endures forever; this describes divine, eternal rule

‎יִפְלְחוּן (yiplaḥûn, "they will serve/worship") — The Aramaic verb פְּלַח (pĕlaḥ; HALOT Aramaic, 1950) means "to serve, to worship" — the same term used throughout Daniel for religious worship of God (cf. Daniel 3:12, 14, 17, 18; 6:16, 20). All peoples, nations, and languages are to worship this Son of Man — a prerogative belonging exclusively to God in the OT (cf. Exodus 20:3–5; Isaiah 42:8: "I will not give My glory to another").

Jesus used "Son of Man" as His most frequent self-designation — approximately 81 times in the Gospels. When Jesus stood before the Sanhedrin (Mark 14:62) and declared, "I am; and you shall see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of Power, and coming with the clouds of heaven," the high priest tore his robe and declared it blasphemy — because he understood that Jesus was claiming to be the divine Son of Man of Daniel 7:13–14, the one who receives eternal dominion and universal worship. The claim was unmistakable.

D. A. Carson [^23]: "The frequency with which Jesus applies Daniel's 'Son of Man' to Himself, combined with His claim to come 'with the clouds of heaven' before the Sanhedrin, demonstrates that He understood this title in its highest possible sense — as a divine figure who receives the glory and worship that belongs to God alone."

The Series

Part 2 of eight in the series Jesus is God: A Series on the Deity of Christ.

1. Part 1 - The Case for the Deity of Christ - How Scripture Makes the Claim
2. Part 2 - Messianic Prophecy and the Deity of Christ - Seven Old Testament Texts (this post)
3. Part 3 - YHWH Texts Applied to Jesus - The Old Testament's Boldest Claim
4. Part 4 - The Gospel of John and the Deity of Christ
5. Part 5 - The Synoptic Gospels and Acts - Jesus Claims and Receives What Belongs to God
6. Part 6 - The Epistles and the Deity of Christ
7. Part 7 - Revelation and the Deity of Christ - Worship at the Throne
8. Part 8 - Errors About the Deity of Christ - Arianism, Islam, Modalism, and More