virgin

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 (Psalm 78:63)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Psalm 78:63:

  • Chichewa Contempary Chichewa translation, 2002/2016:
    “Fire consumed their boys,
    and their virgins had no songs of wedding.” (Source: Mawu a Mulungu mu Chichewa Chalero Back Translation)
  • Newari:
    “All the young men died in the war,
    until the young women had no men to marry.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon:
    “Their young men were-burned,
    so their young-ladies had-no-one to marry.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • Laarim:
    “The fire came and burned their youth completely,
    and singing disappears because there are no men who marry the girls.” (Source: Laarim Back Translation)
  • Nyakyusa-Ngonde (back-translation into Swahili):
    “Vijana wa kiume waliuawa katika vita,
    wasichana hawakuwa naye hata mmoja wa kuwaoa.” (Source: Nyakyusa Back Translation)
  • English:
    “Young men were killed in battles, with the result that the young women had no one to marry.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on Psalm 78:62 - 78:64

Good News Translation has restructured the two lines in verse 62: “his own people” translates both his people and his heritage (see comments at 16.6). Vented his wrath (“He was angry”) translates the same verb used in verse 59a.

The sword (verse 62a) represents death in battle. The reference is probably to the same battle with the Philistines (1 Sam 4.10-11; see the commentaries). Gave … over to the sword means “let them be killed.”

In verse 63 Fire means war, battle, in parallel with sword. Care should be taken lest the modern notion of “firearms” be inadvertently expressed. It is doubtful that the text means the young men were burned to death (so New Jerusalem Bible, New International Version, Biblia Dios Habla Hoy, and others).

Good News Translation “young women had no one to marry” translates their maidens had no marriage song, which is a reference to the songs at the wedding which praised the bride’s beauty and charms. New Jerusalem Bible translates “their maidens remained unwed.” Biblia Dios Habla Hoy “there were no wedding songs for the brides” could be misleading. Maidens had no marriage song is, of course, a consequence of their future husbands being killed in battle. In many languages it will be necessary to make explicit the logical relationship between line a and line b; for example, “because the young men were killed in war, the young women had no one to marry.”

In verse 64 the statement about priests being killed may refer to Hophni and Phinehas, the two sons of Eli (1 Sam 4.11). Their widows made no lamentation in line b means either that so many priests were killed that there was no time for proper burial rites for each dead priest, or else that the widows were not permitted to have public mourning for their dead husbands (as Good News Translation expresses it; also Weiser, New English Bible, New Jerusalem Bible), or that the conditions of war made normal mourning impossible. It does not mean that the widows were unmoved by the death of their husbands.

Quoted with permission from Bratcher, Robert G. and Reyburn, William D. A Handbook on the Book of Psalms. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1991. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .