Vulgate in Use: A Lexical Approach
Why talk about the virgin in Isaiah 7:14?
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.25788/vidbor.v3i0.193Keywords:
Jerome, alma, alamot, virgo, puella, adulescentula, vestal practices, virginAbstract
The book of Isaiah has a particularly rich imagery that is a challenge to any translation. In verse Isaiah 7:14 of the Denkschrift of Isaiah the Hebrew word alma refers to the meaning "young woman," "girl," or "servant." Jerome chooses the word virgo, the virgin, although this is not equivalent to the Hebrew word, and although Latin has several other ways of rendering the Hebrew meaning. A look at the Septuagint and the Greek vocabulary, which is manifold in this case, makes this passage even more widely arguable, far beyond the realm of the text into the theological interpretation.
