Of
the nine occurrences of ‘almâ those in 1 Chronicles 15:20 and the title
of Psalm 46 are presumably a musical direction but no longer understood. In
Psalm 68:25; Proverbs 30:19 and Song of Solomon 1:3 the context throws no
decisive light on the meaning of the word. In Genesis 24:43 and Exodus 2:8 the
reference is unquestionably to an unmarried girl, and in Song of Solomon 6:8
the ‘alāmôt, contrasted with queens and concubines,
are unmarried and virgin. Thus, wherever the context allows a judgment, ‘almâ
is not a general term meaning ‘young woman’ but a specific one meaning
‘virgin’. It is worth noting that outside the Bible, ‘so far as may be
ascertained’, ‘almâ was ‘never used of a married woman’.
Genesis
24 is particularly important as proving a direct comparison of ‘almâ and
betûlâ. Abraham’s servant’s prayer (24:14) is couched in terms of
a ‘girl’ (na’arâ), of marriageable age (betûlâ)
and single (‘no man had ever lain with her’). The qualifying words indicate
that by itself betûlâ is not specific. In the light of this
accumulating knowledge of Rebekah, verse 43 finally describes her as ‘almâ,
which is clearly a summary term for ‘female, marriageable, unmarried’. There is
no ground for the common assertion that had Isaiah intended virgo intacta
he would have used betûlâ. ‘almâ lies closer to this
meaning than the other word. In fact, this is its meaning in every explicit
context. Isaiah thus used the word which, among those available to him, came
nearest to expressing ‘virgin birth’ and which, without linguistic impropriety,
opens the door to such a meaning. (Alec Motyer, The Prophecy of Isaiah [Leicester:
Inter-Varsity Press, 1993], 84-85)