Hello I'm dustandashes, one of several Christian users on this website. Feel free to ask me literally anything.
I'm dust and ashes. Ask me anything
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What is your take on the translation of almah in Yeshayahu 7:14?
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@David
So, as we've discussed before, I don't speak Hebrew. However, there are three major reasons (beside the New testament) that I believe almah is best translated virgin.
1. The LXX has Parthenos, which means virgin.
The translation of the Septuagint was done by 70 Jewish scholars before the time of Christ. They had no Christian influence and were not biased to anything but Judaism, they translated the Hebrew word to mean virgin still. I think if we're being honest, I think it reflects the fact, in my option, that pre Christ Judaism had no problem doing this because they weren't trying to avoid a conclusion they didn't like.
2 . Even young woman could still mean virgin.
Since Judaism has strict sexual purity codes, it is completely reasonable to believe a young woman during the time of Isaiah could be a virgin.
3. The context determines it.
The whole passage is about a miracle occurring. There's nothing miraculous about a young woman giving birth. They do that all the time... Unless they're virgins.
So that's basically it. Those are my reasons, hopefully that answers your question. Good question
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@Dustandashes
1. The LXX is unreliable. At best we can say that the LXX mistranslates this passage. There are good reasons to believe this that I will go into later.
2. And.,..there are many instances where it can't mean virgin such as in Mishle 30:18-20
There are three things which are too wonderful for me, for which I do not understand: 19the way of an eagle in the sky, the way of a serpent on a rock, the way of a ship in the middle of the sea, and the way of a man with a young woman [b’almah][/b’almah]. 20This is the way of an adulterous woman: she eats and wipes her mouth, and says, “I have done no wrong.”
Obviously cannot be a virgin.
3. Actually, the opposite is true! The next two Hebrew words show the woman is already pregnant. Also, what good is a sign that no one can see? No one saw that Mary was a virgin when she was conceived. Literally, no one saw this! What then is the sign? The sign is first in the child's name (Immanuel being a prophetic name) and that the timing of his birth will give the king a timeline for when his fears will be over.
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@Dustandashes
Why are you a Chrisitan?
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@David
I think we'll just have to agree to disagree on this one. ;)
The LXX was used for centuries by the Jews, it may not be perfect, but I from what I understand, it was good enough for Philo and Josephus.
In regards to the verse on Proverbs you cited, I don't see anything precluding this verse from speaking about the courtship process between a man and his betroth, before their consummation. I think it's just a matter of presuppositions here.
In regards to the future tense of Isaiah 7:14, the same syntax is shared by Judges 13:5 yet it is a future pregnancy.
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@TheRealNihilist
Very good question.
I always like to tell people I'm a Christian because God wanted me to be one. ;)
However, to give you a more in depth answer, I was raised by a Christian parent but didn't really understand it besides just a surface level familiarity. I truly turned to Christ in my late teen years when I started seeing things in the world line up with Bible prophecy, particularly eschatology which at the time I was obsessed with.
My understand of Christianity has without a doubt grown and changed since then, but I'll always be that obsessed kid combing through the book of Revelation like a mad man.
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@Dustandashes
Your profile says you are a conservative. Are you left wing on anything?
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@Alec
As far as politics go I'm an conservative independent. As far as I know I don't lean left on too many issues, if any. I support a free market economy and am pretty conservative on social issues
38 days later
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@Dustandashes
Do like sparkling water?
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@Dustandashes
Have you ruled out the possibility that this is confirmation bias?when I started seeing things in the world line up with Bible prophecy, particularly eschatology which at the time I was obsessed with.
Basically it just so happens the very thing you believed in also goes in line with what you were fond off.
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@Dustandashes
The Old Testament that we use in the Orthodox Church is the LXX, and translations we use are from this. The texts we use for the new testament are slightly different from, but probably closest to the textus receptus that The King James and New King James are translated from.
So what do you know about Orthodox Christianity?