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As for Jewish Scholars, they never claimed that alma meant anything other than virgin untilthey wanted to deny the virgin birth of Jesus. How do I know this?

1. None of the ancient languages or versions gives any evidence to show that alma ever meanta young married woman. It more likely means something like the English maiden that is, a

young woman of marriageable age and in Israel these were assumed to be virgins, especiallywhen it is described as a woman of good moral character.

2. A nara may not have always been thought of as a virgin. Otherwise it would scarcely have been necessary to define her five times by the word bethulah (virgin). Thus an alma musthave been presumed to be a virgin since it is never modified by bethulah.

3. Since the Septuagint version was made in the case of Genesis 280 years B. C. and in the caseof Isaiah 200 years B. C., it is to be presumed that their rendering of alma by parthenos(virgin) in Genesis 24:48 and Isaiah 7:14 was in their minds a justifiable rendering. So far as wehave any evidence, the citation of Isaiah 7:14 in Matthew 1:23 is thus justified by the Jewish

interpretation up to the time when Matthew was written and only objected to AFTER peoplerealized that it affirmed Matthews narrative.

4. Since the Peshitto Syriac version of the Old Testament was also probably made by Jews, their rendering of the word alma by bethulah in Isaiah 7:14 must have been considered proper even as late as the second century A. D. So in other translations of the OT into other languages,the common word to translate it was whatever that languages word for virgin was.

5. Jerome, who studied Hebrew under Jewish rabbis of his time (about 400 A. D.), still thought it possible to render alma by virgo (virgin) in Genesis 24:43 and Isaiah 7:14.

6. The rendering ulemta of the Targum to Isaiah 7:14 cannot possibly argue in favor of themeaning young married woman in view of the following three facts: a) Alma in the O.T.never has this meaning anywhere else. b) Ulemta translates not merely alma but alsonara, yolda, and bethulah, none of which means young married woman. c) Ulemta isused of Rebecca when she came to the well and met Eliezer; of Miriam when she was set towatch the infant Moses; of the 400 virgins of Jabesh Gilead (Judges 21:12); of Esther and theother virgins who were selected for the choice of Xerxes as wife.

7. All the versions of the Greek parthenos (virgin) Coptic, Armenian, Ethiopic,Harklensian, Syriac, and Arabic render the word in both Isaiah 7:14 and Matt. 1:23 by the

best word for virgin which they possess.

8. The evidence that Mary was a virgin does not after all depend on the meaning of the wordsalma and parthenos alone; for it is said, also, of Mary that she had not known man. This

phrase is used in the Old Testament of Rebecca a virgin that had not known man (Gen. 24:16);of Jephthahs daughter (Judges 11:39); and of the virgins of Jabesh Gilead (Judges 21:12).Thus we can see that Jews and their scholars had no problem with alma meaning virgin(because it universally did) until the Christians started to point to Is. 7:14 and they foundthemselves wanting to deny the virgin birth.

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And these are just a few examples.