Regarding the passage Mt 2:13-18. Joseph flees to Egypt with Jesus and Mary after being warned by an angel that Jesus’ life is in danger. Herod then kills all the male children less than 2 years old in and around Bethlehem (8 miles *south* of Jerusalem). Matthew calls this tragic event the fulfillment of Je 31:15: > A cry is heard in Ramah… Rachel weeps for her children… for her children are gone. However, OT verses and sources from bibleatlas.org point to Ramah being 8+ miles *north* of Jerusalem. How can the verses in Matthew and Jeremiah refer to the same place if they are 16+ miles apart? What am I missing?

There are a handful of prophecies that Christians consider as having "dual fulfillments" - one at the time, and one in the future. Matthew 24, Isaiah 7:14, etc. are examples. Where did this method of interpretation originate, and more importantly upon what foundation / first-principles does it rest? One could say, let's give it three interpretations, or let's say it was a failed prophecy, or let's say the original prophecy was fulfilled - but in a different way, etc. but instead Christians choose to utilize this Dual Fulfillment method on many prophecies. The explanation I've come across typically goes something like: "the first prophecy did not fully come about, so we'll see it fully happen sometime in the future." But, that's an obvious False Dilemma , as there are many other ways to explain the first prophecy not being "fully fulfilled". Would appreciate someone with more expertise chiming in.

### Isaiah 7 Background Isaiah 7:14 is famously quoted by the Gospel of Matthew (Matt 1:23) as a prophecy about Jesus’s birth: > She will bear a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” All this took place to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet: “**Look, the virgin shall become pregnant and give birth to a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel**,” which means, “God is with us.” - Matthew 1:22-23 (NRSV) Many Christian apologists recognize that the events of Isaiah 7 and the prophecy of the birth of the child had an application in the time of Isaiah during the Syro-Ephraimite war , with the maturation of the child marking the victory of Judah over Syria: > 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. He shall eat curds and honey by the time he knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good. **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**. 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.” - Isaiah 7:14-17 (NRSV) Those who believe that there was an immediate context and fulfillment of this prophecy believe that it was later re-fulfilled in the birth of Jesus as a “dual-fulfillment ”, such as Dr. Michael Brown . ### Two Virgin Births? Do Christians who believe in a dual-fulfillment of Isaiah 7 believe that there were two virgin births? If so, do they believe that the first virgin born child was some kind of divine figure like Jesus? If there were not two virgin births, how was this prophecy fulfilled twice?