Almah Melgar
''Almah'' ( ''‘almā'', plural: ''‘ălāmōṯ''), from a root implying the vigour of puberty, is a Hebrew word meaning a young woman ripe for marriage; despite its importance to the account of the virgin birth of Jesus in the Gospel of Matthew, scholars agree that it refers to a woman of childbearing age and has nothing to do with virginity. It occurs nine times in the Hebrew Bible. Etymology and social context ''Almah'' derives from a root meaning "to be full of vigour, to have reached puberty". In the ancient Near East girls received value as potential wives and bearers of children: "A wife, who came into her husband's household as an outsider, contributed her labor and her fertility ... r task was to build up the ''bet 'ab'' by bearing children, particularly sons" (Leeb, 2002). Scholars thus agree that ''almah'' refers to a woman of childbearing age without implying virginity. From the same root, the corresponding masculine word ''elem'' עֶלֶם 'young man' al ...
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