Biblical Hebrew Forum

["Harold R. Holmyard III" <hholmyard AT ont.com>]

Dear Ian ,

You write:

>The young woman in Is 7:14, as has been pointed out, is already with child,
>so I can see no way to claim that the verse says that she was a virgin at
>the time. Being pregnant normally suggests that she was no longer a virgin,
>and none of the other examples of `lmh contributes anything to suggest the
>contrary.

Delitzsch, in his commentary on Isaiah, says the following:

Isa 6:14 "Therefore the Lord, He will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin
conceives, and bears a son, and calls his name Immanuel.

. . . Moreover, the condition of pregnancy, which is here designated by the
participial adjective HFRFH ("conceives") (cf. 2 Sam 11:5), was not an
already existing one in this instance, but (as in all probability also in
Judg 13:5, cf. 4) something future, as well as the act of bearing, since
HIN."H ("behold") is always used by Isaiah to introduce a future occurrence.

                                Yours,
                                Harold Holmyard