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NASB | Isaiah 7:14 "Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, a virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will call His name Immanuel. |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | Isaiah 7:14 "Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Listen carefully, the virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and she will call his name Immanuel (God with us). [Is 9:6; Jer 31:22; Mic 5:3-5; Matt 1:22, 23] |
Subject: Stripping the Bible of Virgin |
Bible Note: Greetings GBennett76, The verse that you speak of is Isaiah 7:14. This verse has traditionally been understood as 'Messianic.' The Hebrew word used for "virgin" here is 'almah' (al-maw' feminine of 5958; a lass (as veiled or private):--damsel, maid, virgin. see HEBREW for 05958). (1) The NASB, NIV, KJV, ASV, Amplified, ESV, NKJV, CEV, 1889 Darby Bible, Douay-Rheims, MKJV, LITV, 1898 YLT, 1833 Webster Bible, The World English Bible, GOD'S WORD, HNV, RNKJV, Rotherham Bible, ACV, and the AKJV all translate 'almah' in this passage as "virgin." The RSV, 1965 Bible in Basic English, NRSV, TEV and the Jewish Publication Society OT translate the word 'almah' as "young woman" in this verse. I believe that this verse is Messianic and should retain the English word "virgin" in this passage, since the child that is mentioned will be named "Immanuel" which means, 'God with us.' The Greek equivalent to 'almah' is "parthenos", which means "of unknown origin; a maiden; by implication, an unmarried daughter:--virgin." (1) And we must not forget the book of Matthew itself, which renders this very same passage as "virgin". (Matthew 1:23) However, the Hebrew word 'almah' is used in many places: Genesis 24:43, Exodus 2:8, Psalm 68:25, Proverbs 30:19, Song of Solomon 1:3, 6:8, and of course, in Isaiah 7:14. (2) And by using whichever Bible version that you prefer, you can see a variety of English words that are used in each passage for the Hebrew word "almah." Sometimes it reads 'maiden', other times it reads 'virgin', or even 'damsel.' So I come to the conclusion that the translators of the RSV, NRSV, The Bible in Basic English, TEV, and the Jewish Publication Society OT were striving more for 'consistency' in translating this Hebrew word, rather than adhering to the tradition. However, I say this even while I fully agree that Isaiah 7:14 is Messianic. But even if we only had the RSV to go by, we still know without any doubt that Jesus was born of a virgin by reading Luke 1:26-38 and Matthew 1:18-25. Blessings to you, Makarios Sources: (1) Strong's Exhaustive Concordance, (2) Blue Letter Bible (http://www.blueletterbible) - this excellent online utility contains a Search function where you can find all occurrences of ANY Greek or Hebrew word in the Bible. Note: MKJV - Modern King James Version, ACV - A Conservative Version, CEV - Contemporary English Version, AKJV - American King James Version, RNKJV - Restored Names King James Version, HNV - Hebrew Names Version of the World English Bible, TEV - Today's English Version |