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  • From: Shoshanna Walker <rosewalk AT concentric.net>
  • To: "Liz Fried" <lizfried AT umich.edu>
  • Cc: b-hebrew AT franklin.oit.unc.edu
  • Subject: RE: BETHULAH - virgin
  • Date: Sun, 28 Jan 2001 17:39:57 -0500


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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