The Hebrew word for virgin is betulah.
H1330
בתולה
be-tu-lah’: A feminine noun meaning virgin. (WordStudy)
[note: This blog is part 2 of the “male-child series; For greater understanding please read “Male child, Who Are They?” first.]
Betulah
In Torah Rebekah (at 10 years old)Â is introduced as a girl, a virgin whom no man had known.
“Now the girl [nah-ar-Raw – a girl from infancy to adolescence] was very beautiful to behold, a betulah [בתולה, virgin]; no man had known her. And she went down to the well, filled her pitcher, and came up.” (Gen_24:16)
Judges gives the story of 400 young virgins, who had not known a man intimately.
“So they found among the inhabitants of Jabesh Gilead four hundred young betulah [בתולה, virgins] who had not known a man intimately; and they brought them to the camp at Shiloh, which is in the land of Canaan.” (Jdg 21:12)
Yehovah, speaking sarcastically to each man individually who “says” he is His (but who still serves in Babylon), says this:
“Come down and sit in the dust, O betulah [בתולה, virgin] daughter of Babylon; sit on the ground without a throne, O daughter of the Chaldeans! For you shall no more be called tender and delicate. Take the millstones and grind meal. Remove your veil, take off the skirt, uncover the thigh, pass through the rivers. Your nakedness shall be uncovered, yes, your shame will be seen. I will take vengeance; and I will not arbitrate with a man.” (Isa 47:1-3)
In other words, this man has always been the daughter of Babylon; he has never been Yehovah’s; he has always served other elohim, other lawmakers and judges.
Yehovah wants to marry (master) a man who is as a betulah (virgin).
“For as a young man marries [יבעל, ba’-als, masters], a virgin [בתולה”, betulah], so shall Thou marry [ba’-al, master] Thy sons; and as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, so shall Thy Elohim rejoice over thee.” (Isa_62:5)
But now the question becomes “How can a man become a virgin after he has been defiled with other elohim (other lawmakers and judges) while he was in Babylon? The answer to that question is found in understanding where the Ezrach (the man who has become as one born in the land, born anew) comes from. You can learn about this man in my “Born Again” series.
There are many Hebrew words for a “young man” or “youth” in Hebrew; one of them is the word עלם (eh’-lam); meaning a young man of sexual maturity at the prime age for work.
H5958
עלם
eh’-lem: Youth, A young male at the prime age for work. (Ancient Hebrew Lexicon of the Bible)eh’-lem: A masculine noun meaning a young man. Its feminine counterpart is found in the word al-mah’ . The focus of this term is probably sexual maturity. It connotes an individual who has gone through puberty and is therefore sexually mature. Thus, eh’-lem is the picture of an individual who has crossed (or is crossing) the threshold from boyhood to manhood, and, as such, is of marriageable age. (WordStudy)
As we just saw, in the WordStudy definition above, the feminine form of עלם (eh’-lem) is עלמה (al-mah’). She is a sexually mature woman at the prime age for work.
H5959
עלמה
al-maw’
Feminine of H5958; a lass
(Strong)
H5959
עלמה
eh’-lem: Youth, A young female at the prime age for work.(Ancient Hebrew Lexicon of the Bible)Almah
The Hebrew word עלמה (al-mah’) is often erroneously translated as “virgin.” A betulah’ (virgin) can be an al-mah (young sexually mature woman) and vice versa; but these two words are not synonymous! A betulah’ is not necessarily a young woman and a young woman is not necessarily a virgin.
We have already read that Rebekah was a virgin (בתולה, betulah) who had not known a man.
“Now the girl [Rebekah] was very beautiful to behold, a virgin [בתולה, betulah]; no man had known her; and she went down to the well, filled her pitcher, and came up.” (Gen_24:16)
But, when Eliezer recalls his story to Rebekah’s father (Bethuel), he calls Rebekah a young woman (עלמה, al-mah’), a sexually mature woman at the prime age for work, because he was not privy to her actual sexual status.
“And this day I came to the well and said, ‘Yehovah Elohim of my master Abraham, if You will now prosper the way in which I go, behold, I stand by the well of water; and it shall come to pass that when the young woman [עלמה, al-mah’] comes out to draw water, and I say to her, “Please give me a little water from your pitcher to drink,” (Gen_24:42-43)
Many, I hope, will find all this interesting; but it is far more than just interesting if we want to tear down the doctrines and traditions of men which most have accepted as truth. It is essential that we understand the difference between these two words if we are going to crack the lie about the supposed “virgin birth” of Yeshua (aka Jesus). The key verse that most use for this false doctrine is a word from Yehovah through Isaiah to Ahaz King of Judah:
“Therefore my master [Yehovah] Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the young woman [העלמה, the al-mah’ – not betulah] shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel. Curds and honey he shall eat, that he may know to refuse the evil and choose the good. For before the male-child shall know to refuse the evil and choose the good, the land that you dread will be forsaken by both her kings.” (Isa 7:14-16)
Oh how we love our “Christian” sound-bytes and the doctrines and traditions of men that we have learned from our fathers and forefathers. We rip things right out of context to build our man-made theologies. As I said above, this prophecy was given to Ahaz, king of Judah and it was his son Hezekiah who sent letters to all Israel to invite them to keep the Passover, which is where the male child comes from.
And Hezekiah sent to all Israel and Judah, and also wrote letters to Ephraim and Manasseh, that they should come to the house of Yehovah at Jerusalem, to keep the Passover to Yehovah, Elohim of Israel. (2Ch 30:1)
The al-mah’, the mature woman ready for work who is giving birth to the male-child is as a “spiritual woman;” they are the the Ezrach men.
For as a young man marries a virgin, so shall your sons marry You. And as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, so shall your Elohim rejoice over you. (Isa 62:5)
“Gather “My saints” (khaw-seed – literally, “my kind”) together to Me, those who have CUT a CUTTING with Me by slaughter.” (Psa 50:5)
This mature bride of Yehovah are giving birth to seed after their own kind. Spiritual seed begat spiritual seed and no woman is involved in this process.
Again, my “Born Again” series will aid you in understanding who this male-child is and how they, as a nation, can be born in a day. The male-child is the plural he, Israel, who we talked about in Part 1; Yehovah’s born in the land sons, His servants, who will be sealed by Him in the last days.
Who will eat the curds and the honey? Those who are left in the land. The answer is 5 verses later:
“It shall be in that day that a man will keep alive a young cow and two sheep; so it shall be, from the abundance of milk they give, that he will eat curds; for curds and honey everyone will eat who is left in the land.” (Isa 7:21-22)
Yehovah says that they righteous will remain in the land and the wicked will be taken away from it, and this is exactly what happened.
The male-child who comes from the al-mah’ (the sexually mature woman) are also Ezrach men (often times referred to as Zion), Yehovah’s newly born son, Israel, who will feed in the wilderness on curds and honey, while the rest of the world is starving. It will happen again!
“Before she was in labor [the tribulation], she gave birth; before her pain came, she delivered a male-child. Who has heard such a thing? Who has seen such things? Shall the earth be made to give birth in one day? Or shall a nation be born at once? For as soon as Zion was in labor, she gave birth to her sons.” (Isa 66:7-8)
“She [Zion] bore a male-child who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron, and her child was set apart to Elohim and His throne. Then the woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by Elohim, so that she can be nourished for one thousand two hundred and sixty days.” (Rev 12:5-6)
Sometime soon we will look at the supposed “virgin birth” of Yeshua and ask ourselves, “If Yeshua is supposedly born of a betulah (בתולה, virgin) impregnated by Yehovah, how can he be “the son of David?” Genealogical lines ALWAYS come through men!
So much to learn, so little time!
Go to part 3 – The El Of The Earth