Biblical Hebrew Forum

[Isaac Fried <if AT math.bu.edu>]

Harold,

What I am saying is scripturally and legally of the utmost importance  
since it may mean the difference between life and death.
If you define virgin as a woman with an intact hymen, then I say the  
Hebrew bible has no use for it. A BTULAH is a woman not yet married,  
that's all. By tacit assumption she is also chaste. On her marriage  
contract, a Jewish woman, first married, is designated as a BTULAH,  
even without producing any certificate of virginity. So the most one  
can say about an (LMAH is that she is not yet married.

Isaac Fried, Boston University

On Jul 16, 2007, at 3:31 PM, Harold Holmyard wrote:

> Dear Isaac,
> > There is no, and there can not be, any reference in the Hebrew bible
> > to physical virginity as it MEANS NOTHING. We know, and the ancient
> > Hebrews certainly knew as well, that a girl may inadvertently lose
> > her virginity for no fault of her own. Some girls are born non
> > virgins, some girls need a certain medical intervention to facilitate
> > their blood flow during menstruation which may lead to virginity
> > loss, and a good number of girls loose their virginity by some common
> > non sexual activities. Lack of physical virginity is surely no
> > admissible evidence against any woman. You can rest assured that the
> > ancient Hebrews never stoned a woman to death for sheer lack of
> > virginity.
>
> HH: No one said they did. Virginity is a moral issue in the Bible and
> concerns pre-marital sex. It is these kinds of odd physical issues you
> bring up are nothing to Scripture.
>
> Yours,
> Harold Holmyard
> >
>
> _______________________________________________
> b-hebrew mailing list
> b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org
> http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/b-hebrew