Question on Genesis 34:3 LXX
Carl W. Conrad
cwconrad at artsci.wustl.edu
Wed Nov 6 05:36:40 EST 2002
Forwarded for George Somsel <Polycarp66 at aol.com>
Date: Tue, 5 Nov 2002 22:06:26 EST
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In a message dated 11/5/2002 8:39:28 AM Eastern Standard Time,
rmeyers5 at charter.net writes:
>My question is: I am given to understand by numerous commentators
>that parthenos means emphatically a virgin. However, it is used
>twice in Gen. 34:3 LXX seeming to contradict this. (It is used
>twice of Dina, there, *after* she had been violated.)
>
>I am anxious to learn:
>
> a. Are the commentators wrong about parthenos?
>
> b. Did the meaning of parthenos change between the LXX and
> the NT (where it does seem to emphatically mean a virgin)?
>
> c. Are there textual variants on this?
>
> d. Could there be a figurative play on words at Gen. 34:3 about
> her previous virginity?
>
Mark Wilson wrote:
...The LXX translator(s) who later translated the Book of Isaiah into Greek
sometime between the second and first century b.c., however, rendered the
Hebrew term by the more specific Greek word PARQENOS which does mean
"virgin" in a technical sense. This is the Greek term that also appears in
the citation of Isa 7:14 in Matt 1:23. Therefore, regardless of the meaning
of the term in the OT context, in the NT MatthewÄôs usage of the Greek term
PARQENOS clearly indicates that from his perspective a virgin birth has
taken place.
I forward a posting of Dr. Ann Nyland regarding this from another list.
gfsomsel
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To: <Bible-Translation at kastanet.org> (BibleTranslation discussion list)
From: "Ann Nyland" <accuratebibles at ozemail.com.au>
Subject: [b-trans] Re: Matthew 25:1
Date: Tue, 5 Nov 2002 11:01:53 +1100
PARQENOS, "unmarried woman/girl", "girl of marriageable age" not parthenios,
PARQENIOS, "virgin" (of either gender). PARQENOS carries no connotation of
virginity. For PARQENOS clearly as girl oif marriageable age, see IG XIV
(1890) 1648 ll. 1-10. See also discussion of the word in Spicq, NLNT
111.516-25 which provides a number of documentary references. See also
discussion in G.R. Horsley, (not the American Horsley) New Documents
Illustrating Early Christianity, Vol. 4., p. 222. Sure, virginity may have
been expected, but the word does not require that connotation, and bear in
mind that most girls were married at the age of 12-14. People seem upset by
this simple lexical fact, but to put their minds at rest, the rest of the
text does make it clear that Mary was a virgin - she is quoted as saying
that to the angel. In other words, translating the text correctly doesn't
take away from Mary herself saying she is a virgin. However, the Greek word
PARQENOS does not say that.
Ann Nyland
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