Quote:
Originally Posted by sirbruce
But no one really knows what the "original" text was. Does a certain word mean "virgin" or "young woman"? Well in Greek at one time it mean one thing and at another time another. But if I replace "virgin" with "young woman", am I denying a holy truth about Mary? .
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Nearly.
It is the translation of the Hebrew word "almah" which is at issue. It was often used to mean "young woman." And young women were unmarried.
The Septuagint and the New Testament translate "Almah" as "Parthenos" - which means "virgin" and has the sense of intactness.
So, is the prophecy properly translated as "Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a son," or as "Behold, a young woman shall conceive..."?
"Pneuma" can also quite properly be translated as "breath." "Spirit" is not necessarily a bad translation. It is cognate with "inspiration" - which is related to breath.