Jews complain that Almah at Isaiah 7:14 should be translated as "young woman" and Trad-Catholics (Douay-Rheims Onlyists) demand that it should be translated "virgin." A video at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7QG1wALhUDk complains that the Catholic New American Bible translates this word as "young woman (video at 4:40 mark)." However, I am looking at my New American Bible, the same red edition as pictured in the video and it clearly states "virgin" in the text. I later checked an older edition of the NAB when I got home, but it also reads "virgin" at this text. What the video is referring to is the NABRE (New American Bible-Revised Edition 2011) not the classic New American Bible that has been around in one form or another since 1970.
From a Jewish Website: In Isaiah 7:14 the Hebrew states "hinei ha'almah harah veyoledet ben" "behold (hineih) the young woman (ha - the almah- young woman) is pregnant (harah) and shall give birth (ve-and yoledet-shall give birth) to a son (ben)". The Christians translate this as "behold a virgin shall give birth." They have made two mistakes (probably deliberate) in the one verse. They mistranslate "ha" as "a" instead of "the". They mistranslate "almah" as "virgin", when in fact the Hebrew word for virgin is "betulah".
Reply: The great Hebrew grammarian, William Gesenius, stated:
"Peculiar to Hebrew is the employment of the article to denote a single person or thing (primarily one which is as yet unknown, and therefore not capable of being defined) as being present to the mind under given circumstances. In such cases in English the indefinite article is used" [Gesenius' Hebrew Grammar, § 126q].
In this section Gesenius listed many examples including the "'almah" of Isaiah 7:14. Though Gesenius did not support the virgin birth, he nevertheless supported the use of the indefinite article in an English translation of this passage. In other words, according to the grammar and the context, the identity of the "'almah" was unknown to the participants of the story and to the prophet's audience. I personally think the verse works with or without a definite article.
The word ALMAH is never used in the Bible where it necessarily means anything other than virgin. The word occurs seven times in the Hebrew Bible:
Gen 24:43--where the word refers to the virgin Rebekah.
Exod 2:8--where the word refers to Moses' sister Miriam. She was obviously a virgin at the time Moses was born?
Psa 68:25--where the word refers to the female musicians in the procession escorting the king. There is no reason to question the virginity of these young women?
Song 1:3; 6:8--where the word refers to the attendants of Solomon's queens and concubines. There is no reason to question the virginity of these choice young women either.
I especially like how the Bible uses the 2 terms BETULAH and ALMAH:
Genesis 24:16 "The maiden ["na'arah"] was very beautiful, a virgin ["bethulah"]; whom no man had known." NJPS
In this verse Rebekah is referred to as a "bethulah", but the text adds the qualifying clause "no man had known her." Such a qualifying clause would be unnecessary if "bethulah" unambiguously meant "virgin." Later in the same story, Rebekah is referred to as an "'almah" (vs. 43) without any qualifying clause.
Interestingly, the Septuagint (LXX), a Greek translation made by Jews before Christ used the word PARTHENOS here, the same word used for "Virgin" in the New Testament.
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