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b-hebrew - Re: Alma, Parthenos, Virgin

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Subject: Biblical Hebrew Forum

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  • From: "Joe A. Friberg" <JoeFriberg AT email.msn.com>
  • To: "B-Hebrew" <b-hebrew AT franklin.oit.unc.edu>
  • Subject: Re: Alma, Parthenos, Virgin
  • Date: Thu, 28 Oct 1999 10:29:28 -0500


----- Original Message -----
From: Eric Rasmusen <erasmuse AT indiana.edu>


> Peter Kirk wrote:
>
> Proof texts like Isaiah 7:14 relate only to the
> Greek translations, where Christians preferred
> the LXX "virgin" (parthenos) but Jews preferred
> "young woman" (neanis) as in other Greek
> translations, but the only attested Hebrew (at
> least according to BHS) is `alma.
>
> This sounds reasonable.
> Does anyone have an idea of why the
> Septuagint translators chose Parthenos (virgin)
> to translate Alma (young woman or virgin)?
> Is that a better (or worse) translation than
> Young Woman, theology aside?
> Could it be that the Septuagint
> translators thought the passage made more sense
> as prophesying a miracle, and therefore chose
> Virgin?

Alternatively, had the sense of Alma changed between the writing of Isaiah
and its translation in the LXX? That is, could the more contemporary usage
of Alma correspond more closely to 'vigin' even though the older sense was
simply 'young woman'?

Joe Friberg







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