The 'Virgin'

As Ed Oxford pointed out in the sermon yesterday, there’s always a tension in translating languages. Whenever you go from one language to another, you miss some of the nuance, some of the meaning. And since most of us don’t read Greek or Hebrew, that means we’re relying on the interpretations of others to render our sacred texts into English.

Ed pointed out the controversy over the translation of the Greek and Hebrew word for ‘virgin'.’ The Hebrew almah is used in the prophecy from Isaiah: “… a young woman shall conceive a son and shall give him the name Emmanuel” (Isaiah 7:14). But the Greek parthenos is used of the retelling of that exact prophecy in Matthew 1:23, and it’s translated as ‘virgin.’ There’s nothing inherently wrong with the Greek New Testament’s translation of the Hebrew word almah - but it’s just that: a translation.

So when it comes to the English translation, should we use ‘virgin’ or ‘young, unmarried woman’? Both have value. Both are ‘biblical.’

For some, as Brenna pointed out in the message, ‘virgin’ has a layer of patriarchy built in because it’s assumed that’s primarily about a woman’s relationship to a man and about sexual purity. That can complicate our relationship to the text. For some of us, that makes it hard to hear God in it.

In some ways, that’s why it was such a gift to have Bella play Mary in the little skit before the sermon - because she is truly a ‘young, unmarried woman.’ Bella is 14 years old. That’s probably about the age of Mary when she got pregnant with Jesus. And having her stand courageously in front of us yesterday was such a reminder of what it meant for God to speak to one of us - just a teenager - and to envelop her in the process of the salvation of the world.

As you ponder these things today, what’s standing out to you? Talk with Jesus honestly about what’s on your heart and mind.