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Tyndale Open Bible Dictionary

MAID, MAIDEN

Young unmarried woman, often of the servant class. In the OT, five Hebrew words with varying shades of meaning are translated by the English word “maiden.”

One of these words is ’amah. Various English translations of this word include “bondmaid,” “bondwoman,” “handmaid(en),” “maid(en),” “maid servant,” “female servant,” “female slave,” “slave girl,” and “girl.”

Another term is shiphchah. This Hebrew word is of similar meaning to ’amah. It is translated variously as “handmaid,” “maid(en),” “female slave,” and “slave girl.” Although both shiphchah and ’amah refer to female slaves, shiphchah seems to imply that a closer relationship existed between the slave and the family to whom she belonged. In the patriarchal story this term is often employed in reference both to female slaves in general and specifically to the concubines who were also slaves to the free wife of their husbands (Gn 16, 29–30).

Still another Hebrew term for “maiden” is bethulah. This term refers specifically to a virgin, or a young woman of marriageable age (Gn 24:16; Ex 22:16). The OT prophets sometimes used this term figuratively to refer to a city or country as a “virgin” (Jer 31:21; Am 5:2).

Another word, na‘arah, is itself used in several ways in the OT. Often it refers to an unmarried girl (Est 2:4); at other times it is used in speaking of a servant (Est 4:4; Ru 2:23). This same word is the base of the proper name of a woman (Naarah, the wife of Ashhur, in 1 Chr 4:5-6) and of a city in Ephraim near Jericho (Jos 16:7).

For many years controversy has surrounded the meaning of ‘almah, the word for maiden used in Isaiah 7:14. The dispute arises because of the varied definitions of the word throughout the OT (“girl,” “young woman,” “young woman of marriageable age, presumably a virgin”). Only context can accurately determine the meaning of ‘almah in any given instance. Looking at Isaiah 7:14 from a NT perspective, ‘almah is a reference to the virgin Mary, the mother of Jesus (see Mt 1:23).

Several Greek words are translated as “maiden” in the English NT. The meaning of korasion is simply “girl,” “little girl,” or “maiden” (Mt 9:24-25). Another word, paidiske, originally referred to a “young woman” but later came to mean “a female slave,” “a servant-maid” or “a servant girl” (Mk 14:66; Lk 12:45). It is a diminutive of pais (a Greek word denoting “a young girl,” “maiden,” or “child”) (Lk 8:51, 54). Numphe is the Greek word meaning “young wife,” “bride,” and “daughter-in-law” (Lk 12:53; Rv 21:2). Parthenos is the usual Greek term for “virgin” and occurs 14 times in the NT.