The Virgin Birth Controversy

                                                     The Virgin Birth Controversy

One of the most debated examples of how translation can shape theology is the interpretation of Isaiah 7:14 and its later use in the New Testament virgin birth narrative. In the original Hebrew text, the word used is almah, a term that generally means a “young woman” of marriageable age and does not explicitly require virginity. 

By contrast, Hebrew possesses another term, betulah, which is the more specific and commonly used word for a virgin, particularly in contexts emphasizing sexual inexperience. Critics therefore argue that if the author of Isaiah intended to unmistakably predict a miraculous virgin conception, betulah would have been the clearer and more natural word choice. 

However, when the Hebrew Scriptures were translated into Greek in the Septuagint, the translators rendered almah with the Greek word parthenos, which more directly conveys the meaning “virgin.” The Gospel of Matthew then cites this Greek version to present Jesus’ birth as the fulfillment of prophecy. 

From this perspective, the prophecy only appears to predict a virgin birth because of a translation error from Hebrew to Greek, suggesting that the later Christian interpretation reflects theological development and literary reinterpretation rather than the plain meaning of the original Hebrew text.


Isaiah 7:14 

New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition 

14 Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Look, the young woman (almah) is with child and shall bear a son and shall name him Immanuel.

NOTE: This is not a prophecy about Jesus. It is two kings trying to destroy the Southern Kingdom of Judah.  These kings will be gone before Isaiah's prophet wife's child will be able to discern morality. It is translated as virgin without sexual relations.


Genesis 16:11

King James Version

And the angel of the LORD said unto her, Behold, thou art with child, and shalt bear a son, and shalt call his name Ishmael; because the LORD hath heard thy affliction.

NOTE: See also LSV. The wording is very similar with Ishmael, yet we don't read this as a virgin prophecy.


Genesis 38:24

King James Version

And it came to pass about three months after, that it was told Judah, saying, Tamar thy daughter in law hath played the harlot; and also, behold, she is with child by whoredom. And Judah said, Bring her forth, and let her be burnt

NOTE: Same language as above.


Isaiah 26:17

King James Version

Like as a woman with child, that draweth near the time of her delivery, is in pain, and crieth out in her pangs; so have we been in thy sight, O LORD.

NOTE: Same language as above.





Judges 13:5,7

New King James Version 

For behold, you shall conceive and bear a son. And no razor shall come upon his head, for the child shall be a Nazirite to God from the womb; and he shall begin to deliver Israel out of the hand of the Philistines......7 And He said to me, ‘Behold, you shall conceive and bear a son. Now drink no wine or similar drink, nor eat anything unclean, for the child shall be a Nazirite to God from the womb to the day of his death.’ ”


NOTE: Same as above.




Genesis 24:16, 43 

King James Version 

16 And the damsel was very fair to look upon, a virgin (betulah), neither had any man known her: and she went down to the well, and filled her pitcher, and came up.......43 Behold, I stand by the well of water; and it shall come to pass, that when the virgin (almah) cometh forth to draw water, and I say to her, Give me, I pray thee, a little water of thy pitcher to drink;

NOTE: The KJV translates virgin as almah in verse 43, which can come off as deceptive since betulah is truly a virgin in terms of having no sexual relations.


Exodus 2:8

New American Bible 

Pharaoh’s daughter answered her, “Go.” So the young woman (almah) went and called the child’s own mother.

NOTE: LSV and YLT have virgin.



Proverbs 30:19

English Standard Version 

the way of an eagle in the sky, the way of a serpent on a rock, the way of a ship on the high seas, and the way of a man with a virgin (almah)

NOTE: CSB, HCSB, NIV, ISV has young woman.




Deuteronomy 22:14 

New International Version 

14 and slanders her and gives her a bad name, saying, “I married this woman, but when I approached her, I did not find proof of her virginity (betulim),”


Joel 1:8

New International Version 

8 Mourn like a virgin (betulah) in sackcloth grieving for the betrothed of her youth.




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Did Paul know about the Virgin Birth?


Romans 1:3 English Standard Version 3 concerning his Son, who was descended from David according to the flesh.


Galatians 4:4 English Standard Version 4 But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law,



In chapter 67 of Dialogue with Trypho, Justin Martyr debates the meaning of Isaiah 7:14 and argues that the prophecy foretold the virgin birth of Jesus. Justin relies heavily on the Greek Septuagint translation, which uses the word parthenos (“virgin”), and he connects this directly to Matthew 1:23 and the birth narratives about Jesus. For Justin, the prophecy was divinely inspired Scripture pointing ahead to the Messiah, and he presents the virgin birth as a central proof that Jesus fulfilled Old Testament prophecy.


Justin also claims that Jewish interpreters either rejected or altered certain readings of Scripture because they supported Christian arguments about Jesus. He accuses them of moving away from the Septuagint tradition and minimizing passages that Christians considered messianic prophecies. This shows how early Christians viewed the Septuagint not merely as a translation but as an inspired witness to Christ. Justin believed the authority of the Greek text confirmed Christian doctrine, while disagreements over wording became part of a larger conflict between emerging Christianity and rabbinic Judaism.


Trypho responds skeptically by arguing that Isaiah 7:14 could simply refer to a young woman giving birth during Isaiah’s own historical period rather than predicting a miraculous virgin conception centuries later. Modern scholarship often notes that the Hebrew word ‘almah usually means “young woman,” while betulah is the clearer Hebrew term for “virgin.” Because of this, many scholars believe the original context of Isaiah was not about a supernatural birth, even though the Gospel of Matthew and later Christians interpreted it messianically through the Septuagint’s wording. The debate in Dialogue with Trypho therefore reveals how early Christians and Jews were already disputing translation, inspiration, prophecy, and messianic interpretation by the mid-second century.









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