Commenting on the LXX rendering the Hebrew
הָעַלְמָ֗ה as ἡ παρθένος in Isa 7:14, Rodrigo F.
De Sousa wrote:
As for עלמה, one
must note Barr’s assertion that the simple identification of עלמה as “young
woman” is misleading, as it “fails to take account of the rarity of the
word and the very limited range of usage that is relevant for
elucidation of the Isaiah passage” (J. Barr, “The Most Famous Word in the
Septuagint,” in Studia Semitica: The Journal of Semitic Studies Jubilee
Volume [ed. P.S. Alexander et al.; JSSSUP 16; Oxford: Oxford University
Press, 2005], 59-72 [66]). In fact, the root עלם occurs only ten
times in the MT. The singular עלמה occurs only four times, namely, in Gen
24:43; Exod 2:8; Isa 7:14, and Prov 30:19. In the first three examples, we find
the articular form העלמה. In Exod 2:8, העלמה refers to the maidservant of pharaoh’s
daughter. Although the text does not mention anything regarding her sexuality
or marital status, it is reasonable to assume that she was single and thus
probably expected to be a virgin. In Gen 24:43, the term appears in the context
of the mission of Abraham’s servant to find a suitable wife for Isaac. In the
text, a variety of terms referring to women is used. Rebekah is described as אשׁה but most
often as נערה (five times: 24:14, 16, 28, 55, 57), once as בתולה (24:16), and once as
עלמה (24:43).
My survey of the uses of עלמה does not enable us to perceive anything
particularly significant about the term, apart from the already mentioned connotations
of youth and, conceivably, subordination and virginity. Interestingly, at Gen
24:43, עלמה is also
rendered by παρθενος. (Rodrigo F. De Sousa, Eschatology and Messianism in LXX Isaiah 1-12 [Library
of Hebrew Bible/Old Testament Studies 516; New York: T&T Clark, 2019], 74)
Commenting on James Barr’s article, De
Sousa noted the following, adding further support to the plausibility of עלמה being
rendered as “virgin,” not simply “young lady”:
[Barr, p.
63] reckons nine cases, leaving Ps 9:1 out. In Pss 9:1; 46(45)1 and 1 Chr 15:20
it appears in the technical musical term עלמות, which is irrelevant
for the present purposes. In Ps 68;25, עלמות is the plural of עלמה and
refers to players of tambourines. In Song 1:3 and 6:8, the plural עלמות clearly
refers to young women. In 1:3, in the context of the praises of the groom
anointed with fragrant oil, we read that the עלמות love (or desire)
him. In 6:8, the groom is exalting his object of desire above all other women
who, presumably, were “available” to him. While Barr argues that the erotic connotation
of these verses speak against the meaning “virgin,” it has to be stressed that
the use of the term in 6:8, in distinction to פילנשׁים (“concubines”),
makes the connotation “virgin” quite possible. Besides the question of the
virginity of the עלמות, the use of the term in these verses seem to evoke youth, and to
designate some kind of “official” or recognized social category of courtly
servants (see the use of בתולות in Ps 45:14). (Ibid., 74 n. 17)
