Translating Writing From Another Language: Effects Can Be Severe As From Hebrew

 Nadene Goldfoot                                         

 

       Septuagint writing in Greek of the New Testament

                                                 

     Vulgate in Latin of the New Testament 

During the Hellenistic Period when Alexander the Great was on the scene in Judah, there were Greeks translating our writing of the Torah into Greek.  

•  The Septuagint and the Vulgate are both  important translations of the Bible (Tanakh) or (Torah) opening in Old Testament, but they differ in  language and origin.
•  The Septuagint is a Greek translation  of the Hebrew Bible, while the Vulgate is a Latin translation,   primarily based on the Septuagint for the Old  Testament.
  
  
  
•   The debate around the translation of Mary being a virgin in
•  the Bible centers on the Hebrew word 'almah" in Isaiah 7:14,
•  which some argue means "young woman" rather than
•  "virgin". This word was translated into Greek as parthenos
•  (virgin) in the Septuagint, a Greek translation of the Old
•  Testament. This translation choice, and its subsequent use
•  in the New Testament, is debated as possibly being a
•  mistranslation or an intentional interpretation to support
•  the concept of the virgin birth. 

The following is from the resource of a book by Edith Deen who 

spent most of her life writing about the women in both bibles, Old

and New.  ALL OF THE WOMEN OF THE BIBLE (1955) 

Much rested on the concept of the virgin birth as told in the New 

Testament by the four Evangelists, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.   Their story depended on a virgin birth to get people to

accept Jesus as a son of G-d.  

1.  The 1st gospel of (Matt.1;18-21) The Gospel of Matthew is generally believed to have been written between 80 and 90 CE. This would mean it was written approximately 1935 to 1945 years ago (using the current date of Friday, July 4, 2025).   He was a tax collector (or “publican”)—one of the most reviled professions in ancient Judaism.

 It tells the story from Joseph, the 

husband of Mary.  An angel said, "Fear not to take unto thee 

Mary thy wife:  for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost, And she 

shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name Jesus; for

 he shall save his people from their sins." While some scholars propose earlier dates, the prevailing view among modern scholars is that the Gospel of Matthew was written in the last quarter of the first century CE, after the destruction of the Second Temple in Jerusalem. This is based on various factors, including the author's apparent familiarity with Jewish customs and traditions, as well as the book's literary style and content. 

2.  The 3rd gospel of Luke (1:27-35)  Luke's Gospel is generally believed to have been written between 60 and 80 CE according to EBSCO. Jesus' death is thought to have occurred around 30-33 CE. Therefore, the gospel was written approximately 30-50 years after Jesus' death. He was a physician. His gospel is from Mary, and the angel

tells her, "Fear not, Mary:  for thou hast found favour with God.  

And behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a

 son, and shalt call his name Jesus."

    "Mary replied, "How shall this be, seeing I know not a man?"

(Luke 1:34), are in themselves remarkable because they be-

speak her purity and her humility.

3. John:  The Gospel of John is generally believed to have been written around 90-100 CE, which is roughly 60 to 70 years after Jesus's death (estimated to be around 30-33 CE). While there is some debate among scholars, this timeframe is widely accepted.  He was known as Saint John the Theologian and was the youngest apostle.  He was also more anti-Semitic 

towards the Jews.

(8: 23)  Jesus confirmed his supernatural birth 

when 

He declared, Ye are from Beneath;   I am from above:  ye are of this world;  I am 

not of this world."  

4. Isaiah:  

Virgin is incorrectly translated in Isaiah 7:14, it should read Maiden or young women. Why do you still believe in the virgin birth?  I wouldn't call it a mistranslation. Words often have multiple meanings or precise meanings that don't translate perfectly through language. To my understanding, the young girl the word refers to implies the virginity. The translation into Greek highlights the virginity. This problem doesn't exist in the New Testament, since Mary's virginity is specified in the Greek the NewTestament was written in (New Testament wasn't written in Hebrew). 

First off, I am sure this has come up before on Reddit. However, I am new to Reddit (but not these issues and debates), and this is a question I have wondered about for a long time. There are many instances of mistranslations from the original Hebrew when the OT was translated first into Greek, then into English and multiple other languages. The most telling one of these mistranslations for me is in Isaiah 7:14. The Hebrew word used in Isaiah 7:14 is עַלְמָה (Alma). The translation for this word into English is young girl or maiden with only an alternate translation being virgin. The primary Hebrew word for virgin is בתולה (Bethulah). When translated into Greek from Hebrew, the word “parthenos” was used which translated in English as virgin. The word Alma is used multiple other times in the OT, where it is also used to mean maiden/young girl [e.g. Genesis 24:43 (”maiden“); Exodus 2:8 (”girl“); Psalm 68:25 (”maidens“)]. When the OT wants to specify a Virgin, the word Bethulah is used (e.g. Genesis 24:16). Now the virgin birth is a core component of Christianity, yet the belief in a virgin birth is a product of a mistranslation. How do you reconcile this?

In Mark: Jesus refers to himself as the Son of Man. He is called the Son of God but keeps his messianic nature secret; even his disciples fail to understand him.

                                             

There are also differences in content from Septuagint and Vulgate who divide the book into two; Hebrew tradition is one work. 

An actual error about Sarah, the wife of Abram, later Abraham, had on the family tree her father, listed as Terah, who actually was the father of Sarah's husband, Abram, later called Abraham.  She said that they were half siblings.  That is not

correct at all.  It is a grave error.  That would make their DNA far, far

to close, and very far from the truth.  Sarah's father was Haran, 

who was the brother of Abraham.  They were 1st cousins, sharing much less DNA, but still being endogamous people. Abram was also

Sarah's uncle, often referred to as uncle.  

It was the Egyptians who purposely married siblings to each other to 

hold onto land.  

More on alphabet:                              

overview

The Greek alphabet consists of 24 letters, both                                                             uppercase and lowercase. Here's a list of them, with their names, uppercase forms, and lowercase forms: 

Letters:

• Α α - Alpha
• Β β - Beta
• Γ γ - Gamma
• Δ δ - Delta
• Ε ε - Epsilon
Ζ ζ - Zeta
Η η - Eta
Θ θ - Theta
Ι ι - Iota
Κ κ - Kappa
Λ λ - Lambda
Μ μ - Mu
Ν ν - Nu
Ξ ξ - Xi
Ο ο - Omicron
Π π - Pi
Ρ ρ - Rho
Σ σ/ς - Sigma
Τ τ - Tau
Υ υ - Upsilon
Φ φ - Phi
Χ χ - Chi
Ψ ψ - Psi
Ω ω - Omega 
_________________________________________________
This standard 26-letter alphabet is known as the ISO basic Latin alphabet. 
Historical notes:
• The archaic Latin alphabet originally had 20 letters.
• In the classical period (after the 3rd century BCE), it had 23 letters (excluding J, U, and W).
• The letters J, U, and W were introduced later to represent distinct sounds.
• Y and Z were borrowed from Greek. 

Resource:

Tanakh, Stone Edition

The New Standard Jewish Encyclopedia

https://jewishbubba.blogspot.com/2025/07/king-david-documented-real-recorded.html