Biblical Hebrew Forum

["Liz Fried" <lizfried AT umich.edu>]

Where is the evidence that women previously married
are called virgins?
Liz

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Shoshanna Walker [mailto:rosewalk AT concentric.net]
> Sent: Sunday, January 28, 2001 5:40 PM
> To: Liz Fried
> Cc: b-hebrew AT franklin.oit.unc.edu
> Subject: RE: BETHULAH - virgin
>
>
> Betula refers to a woman who has not been previously married.
>
> Shoshanna
>
>
>
>
> >Dear George,
> >You say "actually" as if you have data for this.
> >What's your data?
> >Liz
> >
> > > -----Original Message-----
> > > From: George Athas [mailto:gathas AT globalfreeway.com.au]
> > > Sent: Sunday, January 28, 2001 3:50 PM
> > > To: Biblical Hebrew
> > > Subject: BETHULAH - virgin
> > >
> > >
> > > | [...]
> > > | 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)
> > > :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
> > > Tel Dan Inscription Website
> > > http://members.nbci.com/gathas/teldan.htm
> > > :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
> > >
> > >
> > >
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