It may have not needed any qualification then but nobody really understands the entire usage of the word today.Originally posted by skanwmatos:
I disagree. Naarah and B'thuwlah do not always mean virgin, but can mean widow. God did not use either of these words to describe the appointed carrier of His Holy One. Both Naarah and B'thuwlah, when the intended meaning is a true physical virgin, require qualifying language, IE; Gen. 24:16, Judges 21:12....God used Almah because it needed no qualification. (See Matt 1:23 for the Holy Spirit Inspired Translation of the Hebrew 'alma.')
But there is even debate on the uses of ‘lmah as well. The studying I have done on the word ‘lmah does not make it so clear as you suggest.
The LXX is inconsistent in translating ‘lmah. Twice it uses parthenos (Gen. 24:43; Is. 7:14)and eslewhere neanis. (TDOT, Vol. XI, 160)
With respect to the semantic definition of ‘lmah, Isa. 7:14 presents great difficulties, because the exegesis of v.14 depends critically on the analysis and interpretation of the chapter as a whole. (TDOT, Vol. XI. 161)
In Prov. 30:19 it is not translated virgin but often maid.
Look at the following usages of ‘lmah and see how different the translations are.
Gen. 24:34
Ex. 2:8
Psa. 68:25 (vs. 26 MT)
Psa. 46:1
1 Chron 15:20
Song of Solomon 1:3; 6:8
Prov. 30:19
From WBC Vol. 24, Isaiah 1-33, pages 99 and 101
Song of Solomon 1:3 and 6:8 use ‘lmah to speak of the beloved; Prov 30:19 "the way of a man with an ‘lmah is followed in the next verse with "the way of the adulterous woman." This leads Brunet (Essai, 49) to conclude that almah has dishonorable meanings as well as the honorable references to Miriam and Rebecca. This dishonorable reference is connected in Proverbs and in a related word alomim in Isa 54:4 to sterility.
This word study suggests that ‘lmah had two different and contrasting semantic implications which provide an invitation to double entendre. The one implies the spotless candidate for marriage. The other implies a type of available sexual partner not condoned by Yahwistic norms or the Law. The common meaning signifies one who is sexually mature. It is difficult to find a word in English that is capable of the same range of meaning. "Virgin" is too narrow, while "young woman" is too broad.
The second question is: to whom does the prophet refer? Interpreters continue to differ in answering. The traditional answer of the Christian community points to Mary, the mother of Jesus (cf. Excursus: Isa 7:14 and the Virgin Birth). But the context in its primary meaning requires a sign that will be fulfilled in the immediate future ("before the boy knows . . . the land will be laid waste," v 16).
In seeking an answer it is important to determine the nature of the sign. Is it a positive promise of blessing? Or does it reflect Isaiah's impatience with Ahaz and have the same ironic or sarcastic tone which appears in the following oracles? The answer probably depends upon which of the two meanings of almah is understood to be operative here.
The answers which interpreters have given to this question are legion. Wildberger (290-91) and Brunet (Essai, 55-100) have made exhaustive surveys of these opinions. These range from the view that "the virgin" is identified with Mary, mother of Jesus, to the one that "the virgin" is the cult figure of the bride in the ritual sacred marriage, a cult prostitute, chosen to fill the role with all its mythological overtones. Other views which tend toward "the marriageable young woman" identify her as the young queen or a consort of the king, the prophet's wife, an unidentified young woman in the crowd, or a collective sense of all those who will be brides in this year. In these, the meaning of the prophecy turns on the time span until the child is born and on the mood of the times reflected in the choice of names.
Wildberger (291) is surely right when he says, "If we have difficulty in solving the mystery of the ‘lmah, that does not mean that the prophecy was a riddle for those who heard the prophecy (or originally read the book). It is not characteristic of prophetic oracles that they cannot be understood." M. Buber (Glaube der Propheten [Zurich: Manesse Verlag, 1950], 201) noted that the almah had to be someone known to the king. Steinmann (90) identifies her as a princess who has just entered the household of Ahaz, possibly Abia, the daughter of Zechariah, a friend of the prophet (cf. 2 Kgs 18:2), who would become the mother of Hezekiah.
It is entirely possible in large royal households that the mother would give the child its name. Some have objected that Hezekiah must have been older by this time for him to assume the throne when he did. But the chronologies of this period are very uncertain, so no sure statement can be made. The view that the child to be born is a royal heir, and that his mother belongs to the king's household doesjustice to the evidence, fits the context, and provides the potential of messianic intention that is needed.
Page 101
Excursus: Isaiah 7:14 in Context
What then is the meaning of the verse and the sign? Laken "therefore" relates to v 13 in which God shows his impatience with Ahaz's timidity and vacillation. So the Lord himself will give them, the House of David, a sign. The position of the royal house and its succession (vv 4-9) is established.
The announcement is of a birth. The Queen (ha'alemah) is either pregnant or soon will be. She will bear a son, potential heir to all the promises to David. She will name him Immanuel. The sign is specifically a birth (the assurance of an heir to the throne) and a name (the assurance of God's faithfulness to his promise to be "with" the sons of David).
The announcement is continued with the description of the child's well-being in v 15 and the explanation in v 16 which comes full circle to relate the whole to the events of vv 1-2 and the prophecy "It will not happen!" of vv 4-9.
