Partial Transcript of Bart Ehrman’s YouTube “What Kind of a Text is the King James Bible?” here.
“…more important case is in the book of Isaiah chapter 7 verse 14. So this takes a little bit longer to unpack. So the deal is this Isaiah was a man living in the eighth century BCE who was a prophet who was a kind of advisor to the king… you read King Ahab is upset because two foreign countries have attacked him. The northern country of Israel and the country of Syria have attacked Judah and have laid siege to Jerusalem. Isaiah (Chap. 7 vs 14) tells the king that he doesn’t need to worry about these two Kings that had attacked him because God is going to take care of the situation. The king says how will I know and Isaiah says that God will give you a sign. A virgin shall conceive and bear a son and you shall call him Immanuel that’s how that’s the King James translation of it and then he goes on to say before the child is is very old to be able to eat honey and curds, these two kingdoms will go back and not bother you anymore. Now the point of this passage is that some women going to get pregnant or is pregnant already and is going to give birth and before the child gets very old the problems will pass away okay. But in the King James translation it’s translated a virgin shall conceive that gets quoted in the New Testament by the Gospel of Matthew as a reference to Jesus a virgin shall conceive and bear a son ye shall call them Emmanuel. In the book of Matthew in the New Testament chapter seven, now this is complicated, but when Matthew is quoting Isaiah he’s not quoting the Hebrew of Isaiah he’s quoting the ancient Greek translation of Isaiah which does use the word virgin but the Hebrew Bible that is the base of the Greek translation doesn’t say virgin in the Hebrew Bible. It says a young woman has conceived and will bear a son. The Hebrew word is Paloma, a young woman, it’s not thula which means a virgin and so there’s nothing in this passage about the woman being a virgin. She’s the young woman and that makes perfect sense in the context of Isaiah. A young woman will conceive or has conceived and by the time her son is old enough, these kings are going to disappear. Well, the King James translators are being influenced by their knowledge of the quotation of this passage in Matthew and we buy their belief that Jesus was born of a virgin and so they put it back on to Isaiah even though it wasn’t originally there. See what I mean? So, it’s a bias of the translator that’s affecting the translation and so in most modern translations today Isaiah will be translated a young woman will conceive or has conceived and will bear a son whereas in Matthew courts attract a virgin because that’s the word liqu used it allright. So, that’s a case where you’re not really seeing what Isaiah had to say because the translator’s bias has gotten in the way finally the textual basis of the translation…”
Isaiah chapter 7 from https://www.biblegateway.com/
NIV
14 Therefore the Lord himself will give you[c] a sign: The virgin [footnote, young women] [d] will conceive and give birth to a son, and[e] will call him Immanuel.[f]15 He will be eating curds and honey when he knows enough to reject the wrong and choose the right, 16 for before the boy knows enough to reject the wrong and choose the right, the land of the two kings you dread will be laid waste. 17 The Lord will bring on you and on your people and on the house of your father a time unlike any since Ephraim broke away from Judah—he will bring the king of Assyria.”
NRSVue
14 Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Look, the young woman is with child and shall bear a son and shall name him Immanuel.[e]15 He shall eat curds and honey by the time he knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good. 16 For before the child knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good, the land before whose two kings you are in dread will be deserted. 17 The Lord will bring on you and on your people and on your ancestral house such days as have not come since the day that Ephraim departed from Judah—the king of Assyria.”
ASV
14 Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: behold, [c]a [d]virgin [footnote is “maiden”] [e]shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name [f]Immanuel. 15 [g]Butter and honey shall he eat, [h]when he knoweth to refuse the evil, and choose the good. 16 For before the child shall know to refuse the evil, and choose the good, the land whose two kings thou abhorrest shall be forsaken. 17 Jehovah will bring upon thee, and upon thy people, and upon thy father’s house, days that have not come, from the day that Ephraim departed from Judah—even the king of Assyria.