Hi Steve,
Bethulah means "virgin".
Na'arah neans "young woman" - either unmarried or
betrothed but unconsumated.
Ahasuerus collected "na'aroth bethuloth" "young
virgins", kept them in his harem, but only consumated his "marriage" to them
after a year - up to that point, they were still virgins. So that in 2:17,
Esther is compaired to the other "women" and "virgins".
2:19 seems to be a problem, since afetr their first night with the king, the
women were no longer virgins. Might it mean that he had a second round of
collectng virgins; maybe this was why Mordecai was worried - he thought that
Esther had failed at her mission!
Joel 1:8 compares Israel to a betrothed virgin whose husband died before
consumation.
Deut. 22:19 uses both terms to reffer to her previous status, since that is
what the husband is challenging.
Yigal
----- Original Message ----- From: "Steve Miller" <smille10 AT sbcglobal.net>
To: <b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org>
Sent: Wednesday, October 12, 2005 4:22 AM
Subject: [b-hebrew] bethulah equals virgin?
I came across this in my daily reading:
In Esther 2:17, 19, the Hebrew word betulah seems to refer to married
women:
In 2:2 and 2:3 the king's advisors advise to gather naaroth bethuloth
נְעָרֹות בְּתוּלֹות for the king. The word naaroth leaves no doubt that
the women are unmarried.
In 2:4, 7, 8, 9, 12, 13 before the consumation of the marriage, the young
women are just called naaroth נְעָרֹות by the Bible narrative.
In 2:14-16 their marriages to the king are consumated
In 2:17, & 19 they are called בְּתוּלֹות but never again נְעָרֹות by the
Bible narrative.
The Septuagint translates bethuloth in 2:14 as parthenos. 2:19 does not
exist in the Septuagint.
These go along with Joel 1:8 & Deut 22:19.
-Steve Miller
Detroit
Archive powered by MHonArc 2.6.24.