Almāh a single misinterpreted word completely changed religious history

 This is one of the clearest cases in history where a single Hebrew word, filtered through translation and oral interpretation, redirected an entire religion.

The word is עַלְמָה (ʿalmāh) — Isaiah 7:14.

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How ʿalmāh changed history

The verse (Hebrew context)

Isaiah 7:14 (Hebrew Bible):

“Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign:
behold, the ʿalmāh is pregnant and will bear a son,
and she shall call his name Immanuel.”

Everything turns on ʿalmāh.

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1. What ʿalmāh actually means (Hebrew usage)

In Biblical Hebrew, ʿalmāh means:

a young woman of marriageable age

Crucially:

• It does not mean “virgin”

• It does not specify sexual status

• It refers to age and social category, not biology

When Hebrew does want to say “virgin,” it uses:

• בְּתוּלָה (betūlāh)

Isaiah knew this word.
He did not use it.

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2. How Isaiah’s original audience would have understood it

Isaiah 7 is set in a specific political crisis (Syro-Ephraimite War, 8th century BCE).

The “sign” is:

• Immediate

• Local

• Time-bound

The child’s birth marks a countdown:

before he is old enough to know good from evil, the threat will pass

This only works if:

• The woman is already known

• The birth is soon

• No miracle is required

➡ For Isaiah’s audience, nothing supernatural is implied.

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3. The translation that changed everything: the Septuagint

Around the 3rd–2nd century BCE, Jewish translators rendered Isaiah into Greek.

They translated ʿalmāh as:

παρθένος (parthenos)

In Greek:

• parthenos usually means “virgin”

• But can occasionally mean “young woman”

This choice was:

• Linguistically possible

• Contextually risky

At the time:

• No doctrine of virgin birth existed

• No messianic reading was attached

• No one imagined the consequences

But the seed was planted.

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4. Christianity inherits the Greek, not the Hebrew

When the Gospel of Matthew is written:

“All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet…” (Matt 1:22–23)

Matthew:

• Quotes the Greek Isaiah

• Reads parthenos as biological virgin

• Applies it to Jesus’ birth

This creates:

• Virgin birth doctrine

• Fulfilled prophecy claim

• Messianic reinterpretation of Isaiah

➡ The theology depends entirely on the Greek word, not the Hebrew one.

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5. Why Judaism never accepted this reading

From a Jewish perspective:

• The Hebrew text is authoritative

• ʿalmāh ≠ virgin

• Isaiah 7 is not messianic

• The “sign” already happened in Isaiah’s time

Therefore:

The Christian claim is based on a translation-driven reinterpretation, not Scripture as written.

This is not stubbornness — it is philology.

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6. Why this one word mattered so much

If Isaiah had used betūlāh:

• Judaism would have had to grapple with it

• The debate would be different

But he didn’t.

Christian theology thus rests on:

• A Greek translation

• Read through Christian oral theology

• Applied retroactively to the Hebrew Bible

This is why:

• Jews say Christianity reads into the text

• Christians say Jews “miss” the prophecy

• Both are internally consistent within their systems

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7. Timeline summary (cause → effect)

1. Hebrew prophet uses ʿalmāh (young woman)

2. Greek translator renders it parthenos

3. Christian author reads Greek literally

4. Virgin birth becomes doctrine

5. Isaiah is reclassified as messianic prophecy

6. Judaism and Christianity permanently diverge

One word → two religions.

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8. Bottom line

Christianity did not arise from the Hebrew Bible alone.
It arose from the Hebrew Bible as translated, interpreted, and re-told.

ʿAlmāh did not “predict” Christianity.
Christianity re-activated ʿalmāh through a new interpretive lens.

This perfectly illustrates above point:

• Scripture without its native oral-linguistic world does not remain neutral

• Meaning shifts

• History follows