Biblical Hebrew Forum

["sdavis" <sdavis AT inter.net.il>]

I was surprised to see the use of the old practise of using incorrect
translations of Hebrew to indicate possible Christian references in the
Old Testament. The forum rules state: "Debate that forces particular faith
or doctrinal perspectives onto a reading of the text is not appropriate
subject matter for this forum".

I would like to make a number of rebuttals regarding Dan's arguments to
Isaiah 7:14:

1. Isaiah 7:14 is in the present tense. HNH behold is used, which usually
does not imply any future or prophetic meaning. The word HNH is so
numerous is the Bible I suggest forumists flip through a concordance - see
examples at Genesis 20:15, Isaiah 3:1 and many more. (Alternatively,
Gesenius-Kautzsch (p. 360) note that the participle can be used  to:
"announce the event as imminent or at least near at hand" "especially
often when the subject is introduced by HNH" and cites Isaiah 7:14 as an
example.)

Isaiah says in verses 7:16, 17 that King Ahaz himself will see an event
before the child can differentiate between good and bad (approx age 10?)
so the woman must have been pregnant at that time or near about. The
prophet orders Ahaz to call the new born a certain name implying that Ahaz
would be there to name him.

2.      )OT  usually means sign, see Genesis 4:15 or Isaiah 66:19 and many
more, and not necessarily miracle. Mopeth is more commonly a miracle in
and Bible.

3. (ALMAH means young woman in the Bible (and in later Hebrew). The word
in the singular feminine form occurs just 4 times in the Bible and none of
them conclusively mean virgin. There is a specific Hebrew word for virgin
and Isaiah did not use it in 7:14!

In Aramaic there is another meaning to this root (LM - strong (see Targum
to Psalms 27:14). Perhaps youth is connected to strength.

BeTHULAH is almost only used for virgin and no other word, this word
occurs many times in the Bible and in Isaiah (see 62:5). (As to Dan's
examples: Joel 1:8 is a difficult verse and the idiom could refer to a
woman who had not had sex for a long time. Esther 2:17 refers to those who
were virgins (in the first round of the Miss Persia contest) see Esther
2:3. How does Job 31:1 prove that BeTHULAH cannot mean virgin?)

5.      HA(ALMAH has the definite article to indicate a specific person, often
thought to be the King's wife.

This forum is  intended for the study of Biblical Hebrew and not religion.
Let's keep it like that. The Hebrew Bible should be translated and
interpreted in its historical and literary context and not in any other
way.

Saul Davis
Beer-Sheva, Israel