Discussion on Homosexuality and the Bible
Summary on Emergent/Emerging Church Movement
Dr. Darrell Bock is Research Professor of New Testament Studies at Dallas Theological Seminary. He also is Professor for Spiritual Development and Culture there. He is an Editor at Large for Christianity Today and is a Past President of the Evangelical Theological Society (2000-2001). He is the author of over twenty books and is a New York Times Best Selling author. He has been blogging on this site since May, 2006.
Dr. Bock,
I have a question that's only mildly on topic. It is regarding the NET Bible. In a critical review by Michael Marlowe, he says the NET incorrectly translates parthenos in Matthew 1.
"The Immanuel Prophecy
The preface dwells upon the case of Isaiah 7:14, and so we will take up that issue here. This verse is quoted in the Gospel according to Matthew (1:26), in which it is explained that Isaiah's prophecy concerning the child named Immanuel is fulfilled in the virgin birth of Christ. In his quotation, Matthew uses the Greek word παρθενος (parthenos), which in the Hellenistic era usually had the meaning "virgin." This rendering was already given in the Septuagint, and so Matthew is not introducing it as something new; but there can be no doubt that he uses this word deliberately, because the virginity of Mary is an important aspect of his account of Christ's birth. However, the NET Bible has "young woman" instead of "virgin" as a translation for עלמה (almah) in this verse. Its preface claims that the עלמה in Isaiah 7:14 cannot refer to Mary, and that the word does not even mean "virgin." We are given a rather opaque argument that tries to explain Matthew's use of Isaiah 7:14 while condemning "virgin" as a translation of the Hebrew word."
While this is great information, the problem I'm having is, my NET Bible doesn't say "young woman" but in fact "virgin".
So, what's the deal? Was this an earlier version being reviewed?
Thank you so much for your time Dr. Bock. Big fan of Bible.org.
Michael