παρθένος

בְּתוּלָה bᵉthûwlâh · H1330 · young woman, virgin

Hebrew בְּתוּלָה (bᵉthûwlâh, H1330) and Greek παρθένος (parthénos, G3933) denote the same core concept of an unmarried virgin woman, with παρθένος serving as the direct Greek translation equivalent in LXX rendering.

נַעֲרָה naʻărâh · H5291 · girl, young woman, servant

παρθένος (parthénos, G3933) specifically emphasizes virginity/unmarried status as the defining feature, while נַעֲרָה (naʻărâh, H5291) denotes a young woman or girl with focus on age/youth, where marital/virginal status may be contextually implied but is not lexically central; the overlap occurs in contexts where both youth and unmarried status coincide (e.g., Genesis 24:16 LXX where Rebecca is both נַעֲרָה and παρθένος).

עַלְמָה ʻalmâh · H5959 · girl, young woman, alamoth

Greek παρθένος specifically emphasizes virginity/sexual purity as its primary semantic component, while Hebrew עַלְמָה primarily denotes a young woman of marriageable age with virginity as a typical but not definitional implication; the LXX translators regularly selected παρθένος to render עַלְמָה when contextual factors (e.g., Isaiah 7:14) made the virginity component salient.

Unmarried person34.77

This domain covers παρθένος naming a person who has not entered marriage, as Paul addresses instructions specifically to this group: “Now concerning virgins, I have no command of the Lord, but I am offering direction as one who by the mercy of the Lord is trustworthy.” (1 Corinthians 7:25)

Virgin, chaste9.33

Here παρθένος names one who has kept sexual purity, as John describes the redeemed multitude who follow the Lamb: “These are the ones who have not defiled themselves with women, for they are celibate. These are the ones who follow the Lamb wherever He goes.” (Revelation 14:4)

Virgin, young woman9.39

Here παρθένος names a young unmarried woman, as Matthew quotes Isaiah's prophecy fulfilled in Jesus's birth: “‘BEHOLD, THE VIRGIN WILL CONCEIVE AND GIVE BIRTH TO A SON, AND THEY SHALL NAME HIM IMMANUEL,’ which translated means, ‘GOD WITH US.’” (Matthew 1:23)

Words formed from the same root. They share a form, not always a meaning.

Meanings adapted from the UBS Dictionary of the Greek New Testament, © United Bible Societies, CC BY-SA 4.0 and the UBS Dictionary of Biblical Hebrew (from the Semantic Dictionary of Biblical Hebrew), © United Bible Societies, CC BY-SA 4.0; MACULA Greek Linguistic Datasets, available at https://github.com/Clear-Bible/macula-greek/, licensed CC BY 4.0; MACULA Hebrew Linguistic Datasets © 2022-2024 by Biblica, Inc., CC BY 4.0. Westminster Leningrad Codex (tanach.us). OpenScriptures Hebrew Bible morphology (hb.openscriptures.org), CC BY 4.0.