The name of this sign in the Hebrew is Bethulah, which means a virgin, and in the Arabic a branch. The two words are connected, as in Latin—Virgo, which means a virgin; and virga, which means a branch (Vulg. Isa. xi. 1). Another name is Sunbul, Arabic, an ear of corn.
In Gen. iii. 15 she is presented only as a woman; but in later prophecies her nationality is defined as being of the stock of Israel, the seed of Abraham, the line of David; and, further, she is to be a virgin. There are two prominent prophecies of her and her seed: one is connected with the first coming in incarnation, Isa. vii. 14 (quoted in Matt. i. 23.)
“Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a son,
And shall call his name Immanuel.”
The other is connected with His second coming, leaping over the sufferings and this present interval of His rejection, and looking forward to His coming in glory and judgment, Isa. ix. 6, 7 (quoted in Luke ii. 11 and i. 32, 33)—
“For unto us a child is born,
Unto us a son is given;[20]
And the government shall be upon His shoulder;
And His name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor,
The Mighty God, The Everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.