Biblical Hebrew Forum

["George Athas" <gathas AT globalfreeway.com.au>]

| [...]
| 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?)
| [...]


Actually, the word BeTHULAH does not denote "virgin" in the technical sense 
as someone who
has not had sex. Rather, the word indicates a woman who is marriageable, 
regardless of her
previous sexual activity. It is akin to our modern expression "single woman" 
-- that is, a
woman who is not currently married. Many women who had been married but whose 
husbands had
died without leaving children were considered "virgins" -- that is, they were 
eligible for
marriage (again).


Best regards,

GEORGE ATHAS
(Sydney, Australia)
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