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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadJames Hastings Dictionary of the Bible: Virgin
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VIRGIN usually represents (a) Heb. bĕûlâh, an unmarried maiden. The word is frequently applied to countries, often with the addition of ‘daughter,’ e.g. Israel (Jer_18:13, Amo_5:2), Zion (2Ki_19:21, Lam_2:13), Babylon (Isa_47:1), Egypt (Jer_46:11). In Joe_1:8 it is used of a young widow. Deu_22:23 ff. has laws for the protection of virgins; Deu_22:13 insists on the importance of virginity in a bride. (b) In Isa_7:14 a rare word ‘almâh is used (RVm [Note: Revised Version margin.] ‘maiden’). The OT usage is indecisive as to whether it is confined to the unmarried (e.g. Exo_2:8, Son_1:3; Son_6:8; masc. 1Sa_17:56; 1Sa_20:22). The Arab. [Note: Arabic.] root means ‘to be mature,’ and the Aram. [Note: Aramaic.] does not connote virginity. The word apparently means ‘one of marriageable age,’ and is certainly not the word which would naturally be used if ‘virginity’ were the point to be emphasized. LXX [Note: Septuagint.] has parthenos (‘virgin’); so Mat_1:23; but the complaints of Justin and Irenæus against the later Jewish tr. [Note: translate or translation.] neânis (‘damsel’) are hardly justifiable. A modern view holds that Isaiah was adopting the language of a current mythological tradition, and intended the word to convey the idea of a divine mother (note ‘the virgin,’ RVm [Note: Revised Version margin.] ). (c) Rev_14:4 uses the word of men, probably metaphorically, implying chastity, not celibacy; cf. 2Co_11:2. Act_21:9 is probably the germ of the later ‘order’ of virgins. For ‘Virgin-birth’ see pp. 589b, 705a.
C. W. Emmet.