Day 163 - Isaiah 7-10, 17

Isaiah tells of the mystery of our faith and hope: “Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Emmanuel.” I know that the Jews are accustomed to meet us with the objection that in Hebrew the word almah does not mean a virgin but “a young woman.” And, to speak truth, a virgin is properly called bethulah, but a young woman, or a girl, is not almahbut naarah! What then is the meaning of almah? A hidden virgin, that is, not merely virgin, but a virgin and something more, because not every virgin is hidden, shut off from the occasional sight of men—St Jerome