Alleged Bible contradictions

Does Isaiah 7:14 say virgin or young woman?

You'll see in many modern English Bible translations that Isaiah 7:14 says young woman or maiden or something of the sort, while the older translations, like King James, Geneva, or Douay-Rheims, translate it as virgin. So which one is right?

Isaiah 7 (KJV)

14 Therefore the LORD himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.

Isaiah 7 (RSV)

14 Therefore the LORD himself will give you a sign. Behold, a young woman shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Imman′u-el.

Our dear rabbis, Jewish scholars and liberal critics of Christianity will tell us that there's no way that this is a prophecy of the virgin birth of Jesus, because the Hebrew word almah mainly means young woman, and if Isaiah wanted to emphasize that it's a virgin, he would've said bethulah.

Almah or bethulah?

While bethulah is used several times in the Bible to mean virgin, there are however times when its exclusive use as virgin is questionable. Let's look up some of the texts in question:
Genesis 24 (NKJV)

16 Now the young woman [ha na’ar] was very beautiful to behold, a virgin [bethulah]; no man had known her. And she went down to the well, filled her pitcher, and came up.

If bethulah exclusively means virgin, then the phrase no man had known her is completely unnecessary. The Bible is economical with words and does not waste space with redundant phrases. The implication of this added phrase is that bethulah on its own is not a strong enough word to mean that this young woman was definitely a virgin. Therefore her virginity, which is very important to her eligibility to be Isaac’s bride, has to be stated explicitly. Interestingly, almah is used of Rebekah later in the text (Genesis 24:43), by which time her virginity has been demonstrated.

Judges 21 (KJV)

12 And they found among the inhabitants of Jabeshgilead four hundred young virgins [bethulah], that had known no man by lying with any male: and they brought them unto the camp to Shiloh, which is in the land of Canaan.

Again it's emphasized that they had not known a man, supporting the view that bethulah alone is not enough to convey certainty of virginity.

Joel 1 (KJV)

8 Lament like a virgin [bethulah] girded with sackcloth for the husband of her youth.

? Are you sure that bethulah means virgin here?

Isaiah 47 (KJV)

47 Come down, and sit in the dust, O virgin [bethulah] daughter of Babylon, sit on the ground: there is no throne, O daughter of the Chaldeans: for thou shalt no more be called tender and delicate.

In this and other such passages (Isaiah 23:12, Jeremiah 46:11), bethulah is used to refer to pagan nations known for their immorality. These passages, in context, speak about all these nations facing judgement from God because of their impurity. The honest and proper meaning of bethulah here definitely isn't virgin, it'd rather be something like whore.

I have no doubt that if Isaiah had used bethulah in Isaiah 7:14, the Jew would be quoting these scriptures to demonstrate that the prophet should have used almah if he meant to stress the virginity of the young woman!

The Septuagint, a pre-Christian translation of the Hebrew scriptures into Greek by Jewish scholars, uses the Greek word parthenos to translate almah in Isaiah 7:14. Since parthenos only means virgin in Greek, this shows that the pre-Christian understanding of Jewish scholars was that this verse refers to a virgin being with child.

WIP


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Glory to the LORD

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Pub: 21 Jul 2022 23:52 UTC
Edit: 19 Dec 2022 17:28 UTC
Views: 126