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- Newsgroups: alt.messianic
- Path: sparky!uunet!mcsun!news.funet.fi!polaris!polaris.utu.fi!ljmorly
- From: ljmorly@polaris.utu.fi (Laura Johanna Manninen)
- Subject: Re: Rashi's quote (was Re: Almah - Betulah)
- In-Reply-To: krulwich@zowie.ils.nwu.edu's message of Tue, 19 Jan 1993 22:00:58 GMT
- Message-ID: <LJMORLY.93Jan21113710@polaris.utu.fi>
- Sender: news@polaris.utu.fi (Usenet News admin)
- Organization: University of Turku
- References: <141898.2B53B377@paranet.FIDONET.ORG> <HEM.93Jan13134949@col400.att.com>
- <LJMORLY.93Jan14105051@polaris.utu.fi>
- <KRULWICH.93Jan19160058@zowie.ils.nwu.edu>
- Date: 21 Jan 93 11:37:10
- Lines: 54
-
- In article <KRULWICH.93Jan19160058@zowie.ils.nwu.edu> krulwich@zowie.ils.nwu.edu (Bruce Krulwich) writes:
- > ljmorly@polaris.utu.fi (Laura Johanna Manninen) writes:
- > > > This does not say that the young woman was a virgin, but that she was
- > > > barren. A virgin is capable of giving birth as soon as she marries.
- > > > Rashi (and the others) are saying that the miracle was a young woman who
- > > > was ***INCAPABLE OF GIVING BIRTH*** as indeed were Sarah, and Rivkah
- > > > (and probably Rachel). This does not specify that she was a virgin.
- > >
- > > Not so. When you look at the original text, you see that it clearly uses
- > > the word 'almah' to mean 'virgin' -- ALMAH HAITA. The end of the sentence
- > > gives us the meaning of 'almah'; there's no mention about being barren
- > > or anything like that. Check yourself.
-
- > Look, this is getting silly. Rashi's comment is "eina re'uya li'valed," which
- > means "is not capable of giving birth," just like Hillel Markowitz said.
-
- Look yourself... You aren't taking the *whole* sentence as it is. How
- would you translate "veyesh potrin sheze haot shealmah haita ve'eina
- reuyah levaled" ? There is no mention about being barren ! In that case
- the word used would mean 'barren'. Rashi is giving different interpre-
- tations for the verse, and in this case pointing to the word 'almah'.
-
- > As proof that this means being barren, see Bereshis 16:1, in which Sarah (then
- > Sarai) is referred to as "lo yalda lo," she hadn't given birth for him
- > (Avraham). Obviously Sarah was not a virgin, and the Torah is not saying that
- > she hadn't had relations with Avraham, rather that she hadn't had a child.
-
- You can freely pick up verses here and there and try to use them as a
- proof of something...
-
- > This is the meaning of "yalda," which is the same as "li'valed," to give
- > birth. (The same use of "yalda" is found in bereshis 30:1).
-
- Actually the infinitive form for 'yalda' is 'laledet', not 'levaled'
- (lamed-vav-lamed-dalet). They obviously mean the same, but I have no
- idea of the usage of 'levaled'. Anybody ?
-
- > So we see that Rashi was saying that the alma in Is 7:14 would be incapable of
- > giving birth, nothing to do with marital relations. Nuff said.
-
- So we see that Rashi is using the word 'almah' in it's original meaning,
- 'virgin'. Nuff said ?
-
- > Dov (Bruce) Krulwich
- > krulwich@ils.nwu.edu
-
- - Laura
- --
- "Who has gone up to heaven and come down ?
- Who has gathered up the wind in the hollow of his hands ?
- Who has wrapped up the waters in his cloak ?
- Who has established all the ends of the earth ?
- What is his name, and the name of his son ?
- Tell me if you know !" - Mishlei 30:4
-