Young woman vs virgin in the original language
Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel (Isaiah 7:14, NIV).
Isaiah wrote this prophecy of the virgin birth in Hebrew around 740 BC and then later the Septuagint translators translated it into Greek. However, some claim the Greek version is a mistranslation of the Hebrew. They claim the original language said “a young woman” but in the translation it got changed to “a virgin”.
When I researched this, I learned the word in question refers to a woman who was unmarried. A young woman in the culture at that time would be a virgin if she was unmarried.
When I visited Israel, I gained a glimpse into the lives of women in biblical times. Marriages were usually arranged by parents, and women were expected to remain virgins until marriage. Virginity was not only expected but highly valued in the Holy Land as men desired wives who were obedient and demonstrated self-control.
After marriage, women were expected to bear children, preferably boys, to carry on the family name and support their parents in old age. Children were considered blessings from God.
Barrenness was seen as a curse and the fault of the woman. In the Bible, we learn of barren women like Sarah and Rachel, who both complained to their husbands about childlessness. They felt incomplete in their roles as wives and would’ve been ostracized among the people.
As awful as barrenness was for women of that time, being an unmarried woman who was not a virgin held far worse consequences.
If, however, the charge is true and no proof of the young woman’s virginity can be found, she shall be brought to the door of her father’s house and there the men of her town shall stone her to death. She has done an outrageous thing in Israel by being promiscuous while still in her father’s house. You must purge the evil from among you (Deuteronomy 22:20–21, NIV).
Women were expected to remain virgins until marriage. To be sexually active before marriage was seen as a serious sin and brought shame on her father’s house. A woman who was discovered not to be a virgin was put to death.
When Joseph learned Mary was with child, he chose to divorce her instead of having her stoned. But in a dream, an angel explained that Mary was still a virgin.
This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit. Because Joseph her husband was faithful to the law, and yet did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.
But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit” (Matthew 1:18–20, NIV).
I believe Jesus’ birth fulfilled Isaiah’s prophecy 700 years later. Whatever life was like for Mary in those days, I believe she was a young woman — a virgin — when she conceived Jesus.