Virgin is denoted by two
words in Hebrew (Merrill Unger, Unger's Bible Dictionary, Moody
press, 1971):
-
bethulah: a virgin maiden, as seen in Gen.
24:16; Lev.
21:13; Deut.
22:14, 23,28; Judges
11:37, 1
Kings 1:2; and Joel
1:8. Joel 1:8 is, according to Unger, not an exception because it "refers
to the loss of one betrothed, not married."
-
almah (veiled): young woman of marriageble age. This is the
word used in the original Hebrew in Is.
7:14.
Virgin is denoted in Greek by:
-
parthenos: a vigin, marriageable maiden or young married woman,
pure virgin. This is the word used in Mat.
1:23; 25:1; Luke
1:27; Acts
21:9; 1
Cor. 7:25,28,33; and 2
Cor. 11:2.
Some have argued that since the word almah appears in the original
Hebrew and that since it means "a young woman of marriageable age," then
Isaiah does not necessarily predict a virgin birth. However, parthenos
appears in Is. 7:14 in the Septuagint,
the Greek translation of the Hebrew scriptures.
Recall that the Septuagint was translated around 282 BC, long before
the birth of Christ. Long before translators might have had an "axe to
grind." Its translators chose parthenos -- the one word that
best "combined the ideas of virginity and marriageable age" to describe
the "prophetic aspect centering in a virgin-born Messiah."
To them and to the Jews who came ofter them, before and after Jesus
was born, the Messiah would be born of a virgin.
Source: McDowell, Josh. (1972) Chapter 9: The Messianic Prophesies
of the Old Testament Fulfilled in Chirst. In: Evidence
that Demands a Verdict. Campus Crusade for Christ, Inc. p.150,
152. |
