8 Facts and 10 Questions

“Behold a virgin (Hebrew: הָעַלְמָ֗ה transliterated “hā·‘al·māh”) shall be with child . . .” (Isaiah 7:14)

“And the damsel was very fair to look upon, a virgin, (Hebrew: בְּתוּלָ֕ה transliterated “be-thu-lah”) neither had any man known her:” (Genesis 24:16)

It is sometimes argued that the English translators mistranslated the Hebrew word alma in Isaiah 7:14 as virgin when it should have been translated as young woman (as in the RSV and NRSV). And that the normal word for a virgin in Hebrew is bethulah. So if Isaiah had meant for his prophecy to have been about a virgin, he would have used bethulah and not alma. But since he uses alma, he was only talking about a young woman.

Let’s see how this stacks against the facts concerning both words, and ask some questions relating to those words.

There is some truth about this position, but there is also some major misunderstandings.  It is true that alma can be translated as young woman.  It is also true that bethulah is more commonly used and is translated as virgin.  This does not mean, however, that translating alma as virgin is a mistranslation.

Here are some facts that are often ignored in the faulty mistranslation argument.

FACT

Alma can be translated as young woman, maid, maiden, or virgin. It refers to a woman of a certain age (from puberty through teenage years).  It appears 8 times in the Old Testament including the plural form).  Bethulah can be translated as virgin, maid, or maiden and appears in this same form 7 times, and in related forms another 43 times.

QUESTION 1

Since alma means a woman (or virgin) of a certain age, while bethulah does not have an age associated with it (thus a female child is a bethulah or an older woman who has not had sex is also a bethulah) if Isaiah wanted to convey that this virgin was of a certain young age, which word would he have used?

FACT

Alma and bethulah are used interchangeably in Genesis 24.  In verse 16 the word bethulah is used and is emphasized as a bethulah who “neither had any man known her” (that is she had not had sexual intercourse).  Yet, when recounting the event in verse 43 the word alma is used: “Behold, I stand by the well of water; and it shall come to pass, that when the virgin (alma) cometh forth to draw water, and I say to her, Give me, I pray thee, a little water of thy pitcher to drink;” (Gen 24:43).

QUESTION 2

If alma does not mean virgin and is a mistranslation as some have claimed then why does the same passage use both words to describe the same woman?

QUESTION 3

If bethulah is understood as strictly a virgin, then why was the additional phrase “neither had any man known her” used? Wouldn’t this be redundant?

FACT

Although bethulah most certainly is correctly translated as virgin it is also associated with married women in Joel 1:18 “Grieve like a young woman dressed in sackcloth, mourning for the husband of her youth.” (CSB, HCSB, CEV).  

Adam Clarke, who was a British Biblical scholar, states: “Verse 8. Lament like a virgin – for the husband of her youth. — Virgin is a very improper version here. The original is בתולה bethulah, which signifies a young woman or bride not a virgin, the proper Hebrew for which is עלמה almah.” 

QUESTION 4

Shouldn’t the association of the word bethulah with married women be something to consider when discussing the differences and similarities between these two Hebrew words?

FACT

Bethulah appears 51 times in the Hebrew Old Testament.  Of these it is translated as maiden rather than virgin 31 times in the NJPSV (New Jewish Publication Society Version) of the Old Testament (the Tanakh).

QUESTION 5

If bethulah can only mean virgin then why does the NJPSV usually translate it as maiden?

FACT

In Esther 2:17-19 the Hebrew word bethulah appears twice: once before the bethulah slept with the king and again after the bethulah slept with the king.

QUESTION 6

If bethulah can only mean a woman who has not had sexual intercourse then why is bethulah used for women both before and after they they had sex?

FACT

In Deuteronomy 22:19 a married woman after her wedding night is called a bethulah of Israel.

QUESTION 7

If bethulah strictly means virgin, how is this young woman still a virgin after she has had sexual relations with her husband?

FACT

The Greek Septuagint (LXX) was translated by Hebrews before the time of Christ.  Therefore, the translators of the Greek LXX would have no bias in translating the Hebrew alma as either virgin or young woman. However, they used the Greek word παρέχειν (transliterated as parechen) which definitely means a virgin, a woman who has not had sex but is of the age of marriage.  The LXX only uses parechen 3 times, and one of those is in Isaiah 7:14.

QUESTION 8

If alma does not mean virgin then why did the Hebrew translators of the Greek LXX use a Greek word that specifically means virgin in their translation of Isaiah 7:14?

FACT

The Gospel of Matthew is clearly written from a Hebrew/Jewish perspective. Some have even suggested that Matthew was originally written in Hebrew (although we do not have any manuscripts to support this). Yet Matthew, a Jew who could write both Greek and Hebrew, quotes from the LXX when citing Isaiah 7:14 and applying it to Mary in Matthew 1:23.

QUESTION 9

If alma does not mean virgin then why does Matthew make a point of using a translation that most certainly does mean virgin?

QUESTION 10

Since Matthew’s audience was Jewish and would have known the Hebrew texts, why didn’t they correct his use of virgin in Matthew 1:23?

Conclusion:

While alma can most certainly be translated as young woman it should be understood as a young woman who has not yet had sexual intercourse.  While, one the other hand, bethulah can mean virgin of any age as well as a young woman who has recently had sexual intercourse.  

Therefore, we have just reason to conclude that alma as given in Isaiah 7:14 and applied by Matthew in Matthew 1:23 is speaking of the virgin birth.