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Re: parthenos



On 2 Aug 1994, STEVE SCHAPER wrote:

> 
> In a message dated 07-26-94  scott wrote to Steve Schaper:
>  s>   I am aware that the word translated "virgin" in the passage in
>  s> Isaiah does not actually mean chaste.

I have been watching this discussion with great interest.  Though the
context of Isaiah 7:14 probably makes the discussion pointless,
nonetheless the use of the term in the OT is interesting, and perhaps not
as clearly defined as some would think.

For example, consider the following in Genesis 34:1-4:
"And Dinah, the daughter of Leah, whom she bore to Jacob, went out to
observe the daughters of the inhabitants.  And Sychem the son of Emmor the
Evite, the ruler of the land, saw her and took her, lying with her, and
humbled her.  And he was joined to the soul of Dinah, the daughter of
Jacob, and he loved the girl (_thn parthenon_) and spoke kindly to the
girl (thes parthenou auth).  Sychem spoke to Emmor his father, saying,
take this girl (_ten paida tauthn_) for me as wife."

The impression here is that Dinah, after sex, was still referred to as
_parthenos_, and that the term is equated somewhat with _paida_.  I
am, of course, open to any views to the contrary. 
David



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