Jerusalem, around 735 BC. Two armies threaten the Holy City to overthrow the dynasty of David. Ahaz, king of Judah, is consumed by fear and worry. Then the prophet Isaiah delivers his message: the 'alma is pregnant, she bears a son, and gives him the name Emmanuel.What is the meaning of the word 'alma? Without doubt more has been written on the interpretation of this term than on any other verse in the Old Testament. Is it a question of a virgin, as claimed by the fathers of the church, or of a young woman, as asserted by the majority of modern scholars?

Linguist Christophe Rico has a doctorate in ancient Greek and holds the French official accreditation to direct PhD research. Member of the Faculty of the University of Strasbourg, he is Professor of Greek Philology at the Ecole Biblique of Jerusalem. Since 2011, he directs the Polis Institute at Jerusalem where ancient languages (Greek, Latin, biblical Hebrew, Syriac, Coptic, classical Arabic) are taught through full immersion as living languages according to the Polis method.

Peter J. Gentry received his PhD from the University of Toronto in Septuagint and the ancient Near East in 1994; since 1999 he is Professor of Old Testament at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. He has edited Ecclesiastes for the Göttingen Septuaginta, co-authoredKingdom Through Covenant, and provides leadership for the Hexapla Institute.