ProlepsisOpen in the graph →

Prophecy

“Shall a nation be born at once?” (Isaiah 66:7-9)

David Ben-Gurion proclaims the State of Israel in Tel Aviv, May 14, 1948: photo of the event to which some readers link this text.
Photo of the event David Ben-Gurion proclaims the State of Israel in Tel Aviv, May 14, 1948: photo of the event to which some readers link this text. — Rudi Weissenstein (Government Press Office, Israel), Wikimedia Commons · Domaine public

◆ Written before: a dated manuscript proves it

Written c. 740–680 BC according to tradition; 530–450 BC according to historians. Event: 1948 AD.

See the full entry: sources, objections, answers

In short

The announcement. In the book of Isaiah, attributed to the prophet Isaiah around 740-680 BC (historians date this part to after the return from Babylon), God asks: “Shall a land be born in one day?”. He describes Jerusalem as a mother who gives birth even before her labor pains.

What happened. On May 14, 1948, in Tel Aviv, the State of Israel is proclaimed, after the vote on the UN partition plan in November 1947. But this birth comes at the end of decades of immigration and is accompanied by a deadly war, which does not match the image of a birth without labor pains.

What is still debated. the text first describes the sudden return of the inhabitants to Jerusalem after the exile, and the link with 1948 was only made after the fact.

Why it is striking

A dated manuscript proves that the text comes more than two thousand years before 1948. But this connection, put forward by some readers after the fact, rests only on an image: Isaiah speaks of Zion giving birth without labor pains, and 1948 was a war.

Main objection (in French for now)

Le contexte est celui d’une mère, Sion, qui enfante sans douleurs (Es 66:7-9) : c’est une image du retour soudain et de la repopulation de Jérusalem après l’exil, non l’annonce d’un acte juridique.

The text (World English Bible)

“Before she travailed, she gave birth. Before her pain came, she delivered a son. Who has heard of such a thing? Who has seen such things? Shall a land be born in one day? Shall a nation be born at once? For as soon as Zion travailed, she gave birth to her children. Shall I bring to the birth, and not cause to be delivered?” says the LORD. “Shall I who cause to give birth shut the womb?” says your God.

Isa 66:7-9

Sources