Articles |
Is The Choice of 
AP
ENO
in LXX Isa. 7:14 Theologically Motivated?
Universidade Federal De Goiás
This paper examines the claim that the translation of 
by 
o
in LXX Isa. 7:14 bears the marks of a theologically purposeful deviation, transforming the more neutral term ‘young woman’ into the more specific o ‘virgin’. Our main thesis is that definite borders between the meanings ‘young woman’ and ‘virgin’are difficult to ascertain both in Hebrew and in Greek, so that determining whether the LXX translation has a special theological significance is a difficult, if not impossible, task. In the paper, we first survey the occurrences of o in LXX Isaiah. We then move to an evaluation of some contemporary explanations of the use of the term in 7:14. After this evaluation we explore the ranges of meaning and significance of the terms o, 
, and , including some notes on their representation in the LXX. On the basis of this analysis we offer our own suggestion on how best to approach the choice of o as a translational equivalent for .