virgin

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The Hebrew and Greek that is mostly translated as “virgin” in English can be translated as “woman that is untouched” in Batak Toba or “a woman with a whole (i.e. unopened) body” in Uab Meto.

“Similar words for ‘girl,’unmarried young woman,’ suggesting virginity without explicitly stating it, are found in Marathi, Apache, or Kituba. Cultural features naturally influence connotations of possible renderings, for instance, the child marriage customs in some Tboli areas, where the boy and girl are made to sleep together at the initial marriage, but after that do not live together and may not see each other again for years. Hence, the closest attainable equivalent, ‘female adolescent,’ does not imply that a young girl is not living with her husband, and that she never had a child, but leaves uncertain whether she has ever slept with a male person or not. Accordingly, in Luke one has to depend on Luke 1:34 to make clear that Mary and Joseph had not had sexual intercourse. A different problem is encountered in Pampanga, where birhen (an adaptation of Spanish virgen — ‘virgin’), when standing alone, is a name of the ‘Virgin Mary.’ To exclude this meaning the version uses “marriageable birhen,” thus at the same time indicating that Mary was relatively young.” (Source: Reiling / Swellengrebel, see here)

In Navajo (Dinė), the term that is used is “no husband yet” (Source: Wallis, p. 106) and in Gola the expression “trouser girl.” “In the distant past young women who were virgins wore trousers. Those who were not virgins wore dresses. That doesn’t hold true anymore, but the expression is still there in the language.” (Source: Don Slager)

The term in Djimini Senoufo is katogo jo — “village-dance-woman” (women who have been promised but who are still allowed to go to dances with unmarried women). (Source: Übersetzung heute 3/1995)

In Igbo translations, typically a newly-created, multi-word phrase is used that very explicitly states that there has not been any sexual relations and that translates as “a woman (or: maiden) who does not know a man.” This is in spite of the fact that there is a term (agb͕ọghọ) that means “young woman” and has the connotation of her not having had sexual relations (this is for instance used by the Standard Igbo Bible of the Bible Society of Nigeria for Isaiah 7:14). Incidentally, the euphemistic expression “know” (ma in Igbo) for “having sex” has become a well-known euphemism outside of Bible translation. (Source: Uchenna Oyali in Sociolinguistic Studies Vol. 17 No. 1-3 (2023): Special Issue: Gender and sexuality in African discourses )

In Chichewa, it is translated as namwali which is used to refer to a girl who has reached puberty stage and is ready to get married. Apart from the physical aspect, the word also has social implications in the sense that it is used to recognize the fact that the girl has become responsible enough to make informed decisions and take care of herself and others. (Source: Mawu a Mulungu mu Chichewa Chalero Back Translation)

See also virgins (Revelation 14:4) and complete verse (Matthew 1:23).

complete verse (Isaiah 47:5)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Isaiah 47:5:

  • Kupsabiny: “God is saying,
    ‘You are sitting in a dark place and going to darkness,
    oh, city of the Chaldeans.
    You shall no longer be called
    a king/ruler of countries.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “O Babylon, capital of the great land of Babylonia,
    You sit in silence! Go into a dark place!
    From now on you will not be called
    the female ruler of the Kingdoms. ” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “The LORD still said, ‘[You (sing.)] Babilonia, sit peacefully in the dark place. You (sing.) will- no longer -be-called queen of the kingdoms.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)

Translation commentary on Isaiah 47:5

Both Good News Translation and Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch identify verses 5-15 explicitly as words of the LORD. Good News Translation begins this verse with “The LORD says to Babylon,” and Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch with “Listen to what I, the LORD, tell you.” Both set off the speech with double quote marks.

Sit in silence, and go into darkness: Through these two commands God is announcing the fate that will overtake Babylonia. Sit in silence calls on Babylonia once again to sit, but without specifying a place. That place should be assumed to be the same as “the dust” of verse 1. In languages where the grammar demands that a location is mentioned with the verb “sit,” translators may repeat “in the dust” or “on the ground” from verse 1. However, here the focus is on sitting there and being punished in silence—Babylonia should not say anything.

Go into darkness is a figurative expression for going into captivity. The verb go suggests a departure away from home. Darkness is a metaphor for exile, as in 42.7 and 49.9. Good News Translation, Bible en français courant, and several other translations treat darkness as literal darkness rather than as a metaphor and thereby miss the point of the idiom. Darkness may be rendered “the darkness of exile” to indicate that this is a metaphor. Revised English Bible reverses the order of the two clauses in the first line for a natural and logical sequence of the two actions: “go into the darkness and sit in silence.”

For O daughter of the Chaldeans, see Isa 47.1. Good News Translation says simply “Babylon.”

For you shall no more be called the mistress of kingdoms gives the reason why Babylonia should go into exile and be silent. It is because she will lose the title mistress of kingdoms. She will no longer be a world power. The phrase you shall no more be called occurred earlier in verse 1. The noun mistress could be misunderstood because of the connotations the word carries today. The Hebrew term here is used of a woman in high office, a lady or queen (so Good News Translation), someone with power over others (see 24.2). The title mistress of kingdoms is a figurative expression for Babylonia’s rule over smaller nations. New International Version and Revised English Bible have “queen of [many] kingdoms,” and Bible en français courant says “Mistress of empires.” In languages where “queen” is rendered “wife of the king,” another term may need to be chosen. It is even possible to use a general expression, such as “ruler” or “chief,” as long as it can apply to women.

For the translation of this verse consider the following examples:

• “Sit in silence, go into darkness, *
you Chaldeans [or, Babylonians];
for you will no longer be known as the queen of the nations.

* “Go into darkness” is a figurative expression for going into exile.

• “Sit there in silence, go into the darkness of exile,
daughter of the Chaldeans;
no longer will people call you “Queen of the nations.”

Quoted with permission from Ogden, Graham S. and Sterk, Jan. A Handbook on Isaiah. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2011. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .