The "Cultural Context" Excuse

[Crossless2.0]

*sigh*

The Bible is not speaking of literal people, here, either. It's a just-so story, Huggy. It's interesting that you are so eager to equate original sin with a sexual act, rather than willfulness and disobedience. As for Jesus, he was allegedly born of a virgin because the authors who spread that story came to their knowledge of Hebrew scripture by way of a Greek translation. If you don't know that, then you're the one with no business in such a discussion.

*emphasis mine*

Ok buddy, provide the evidence to back that up.

I'm not your search engine monkey. But here's a road map:

The Hebrew word 'alma' (the word used in Isaiah 7:14) is generally translated as 'young woman'. Yes, most young women would have been presumed to be virgins, but . . .
The Hebrew word 'betulah' actually means 'virgin' and presumably would have been used in Isaiah if that is the plain meaning the author wished to convey.
Furthermore, each of the nine times 'alma' is used, the plain meaning is 'young woman'.


The Greek word used in the Septuagint (which would have been the source "Matthew" would have known of) is 'parthenos'. You're the amateur philologist. You figure it out.