John Trapp on Isaiah 7:14

Ver. 14. Therefore the Lord himſelf ſhall give you a ſign] Give it you, ingratiis veſtris, without your leave, of his own proffer. If we believe not, yet God remaineth faithful, 2 Tim. 2.13. Rom. 3.3. The Houſe of David was as it were great with child with Chriſt, and with Gods promiſes in him; therefore (to be ſure) it could not be rooted out (as theſe two Kings deſigned) before Chriſt were come into the world. Hence his wonderfull Conception and Birth is made here a Sign of his peoples Safety here, and Salvation hereafter. And had Ahaz and his people believed this latter, they would not have much doubted of the former; but rather argued with St. Paul, Having given us his Son, Rom. 8.32. how ſhall he not with him give us all things alſo?

A ſign] A ſingular ſign, a ſign both from above and from beneath: for he joyned lumen ſuae aeternitatis limo tuae mortalitatis, Bern. the light of his Eternity to the mud of thy mortality, as a Father hath it, Joh. 1.14. Phil. 2.6.7.

Behold] A Note of attention and admiration. One compareth it to the ſounding of a Trumpet before ſome notable Proclamation: Another to a hand in the Margent, pointing to ſome remarkable matter: ſo doth this Ecce to Chriſts incarnation as a thing in Gods Decree, and to his peoples Faith already preſent.

A Virgin] Hagnalmah that famous Virgin, ſo long ſince ſpoken of,Haec ſimul eſt genitrix, filia, ſponſa Dei. Tot tibi ſunt dotes Virgo, quot ſidera caelo. Gen. 3.15. that female glory, the Virgin Mary, with whom the Angel ſpake concerning mans ſalvation, Matth. 1.18, 23. Luke 1.27, 35. as the Devil before had done with the firſt woman, concerning the means of his deſtruction. Of this Virgin-Mother the Sibulls are ſaid thus to have propheſied alſo, Virginis in corpus voluit dimittere caelo Ipſe Deus prolem, cum nuntiat Angelus almae Matri, quae miſeros contractâ ſorde levabit.

See more in Virgils 4th. Eclog. and Aug. de civ. Dei, lib. 10. cap. 27. Some tell us that when this bleſſed Virgin brought forth, there was ſeen at Rome about the Sun, the likeneſs of a woman carrying a child in her arms, and a voyce heard, ſaying, Pan the great God is born into the world.

Shall conceive and bear a ſen] Shiloh, the ſon of her ſecundine, Gen. 49.10. the true Melchiſedeck; as man without father, and as God without mother, Heb. 7.5. See Luke 1.35. But how blank were the Jews when they ſaw the iſſue of their late Jewiſh Virgin turned to a Daughter? and how ſilly is that ſaying of theirs in their Talmud, For our ſins which are many, the coming of the Meſſiah is deferred?Sanhed. cap. 11. Jachiades upon thoſe words, Dan. 12.4. would have us believe that God ſealed up the time of Chriſts coming, revealing it to Daniel only. But why take they not notice that the very time of Meſſiah the Prince his coming is ſet down by Daniel, chap. 9. and ſith that time is long ſince paſt, let them either condemn the Prophet of vanity, or elſe confeſs with us that Chriſt is come already.

And ſhall call] Or, Thou (Virgin) ſhalt call; as having the right of nomination.

His Name Immanuel] That is, God with us, as Matth. 1.23. See the Note there. Cujus nomen illius numen facile declarabit. Chriſt indeed was not called by this name Immanuel, that we anywhere read of (as neither was Solomon by the name of Jedediah, 2 Sam. 12.25, 26.) unleſs it be chap. 8.8. but the import of this name is moſt truly affirmed and acknowledged to be fully made good in him.