To: "George Athas" <gathas AT globalfreeway.com.au>, "Biblical Hebrew" <b-hebrew AT franklin.oit.unc.edu>
Subject: BETULIM
Date: Tue, 30 Jan 2001 15:24:24 -0000
I had understood BETULIM to refer to the cloth spread on the marriage bed
which was supposed to become stained with blood as evidence that the bride
had been a virgin. That is still the custom in the Middle East today.
Peter Kirk
-----Original Message-----
From: George Athas [mailto:gathas AT globalfreeway.com.au]
Sent: 29 January 2001 13:56
To: Biblical Hebrew
Subject: Re: BETHULAH - virgin
BETULIM and BETULAH, although related words, have slightly different
connotations, but
there is still a huge amount of overlap (as is to be expected of related
words).
BETULIM implies "virginity" the same as we would see it -- that is, someone
who has had no
previous sexual experience - someone who is physically a virgin.