Biblical Hebrew Forum

["Will Pratt" <prattw AT nevada.edu>]

> From: "sdavis" <sdavis AT inter.net.il>
> Sent: Saturday, January 27, 2001 9:00 PM
>
> Subject: Isaiah 7.14
> X-Message-Number: 2
>
[snip]
> I would like to make a number of rebuttals regarding Dan's
> arguments to
> Isaiah 7:14:
[snip]

I'd like to add to this.  There exists a Christian semitic-language
translation of the Bible, the Peshitto, which is in Aramaic.  In such
critical texts as Matt. 1:23, the Peshitto translates the Greek
parqenov as b:toltah (= Heb. b:tw.lah) rather than `almatah (= Heb.
`almah).  That is, in a passage where parqenov is unquestionably meant
to read "a virgin", Christians who were native speakers of a semitic
language used b:toltah/b:tw.lah to translate it.  They oviously did
_not_ consider `almatah/`almah to mean "virgin".  The postion that it
was `almah that meant virgin would seem to be untenable, since
Christians of the early Common Era did not use it that way.

Will

Will Pratt
prattw AT nevada.edu