Talk:Virgin birth of Jesus

Source being misquoted

[41] claims that the Barker source is supportive of the fact that Jews in Palestine no longer spoke Hebrew around the turn of the millennium, and instead read scripture in Greek; this is a misquoting of the material. On page 490, Barker is discussing the fact that Jesus likely relied on an Aramaic targum, and not a Hebrew Isaiah scroll. Page 490, the page cited, has only one paragraph referring to Christian interpretation of Isaiah: it reads:

"One complete scroll of Isaiah and part of another were found among the Dead Sea Scrolls, so it is reasonably certain what was in an Isaiah scroll in the first century ad . With some significant exceptions, which will be noted when the passages are discussed in detail, the Hebrew text is the one generally used today. But having the words is not the same as knowing how those words were understood, and for this we are dependent on the Targum, a translation of Isaiah into Aramaic. When Hebrew was no longer the everyday language of Palestine, readings in the synagogue were translated, not as a literal, word-for-word rendering but rather as a free translation incorporating a variety of other material, showing how Isaiah was understood at that time." (Barker 490).

I added a failed verification tag, and encourage others with a scholarly background in Biblical criticism to engage with this article.

Please sign your contributions. As for the substance, I agree that that paragraph is a poor source for the statement that 1st century BC Jews didn't read/speak Hebrew. A better one is needed. But the sentence to which footnote 41 is attached says this: "Matthew presents the ministry of Jesus as largely the fulfilment of prophecies from the Book of Isaiah", which is nothing to do with the use of Hebrew; are you talking about something else? Achar Sva (talk) 01:31, 5 June 2023 (UTC)

C R S

In five sentences,Narrate the value of virginity mary enjoyed — Preceding unsigned comment added by 102.91.72.33 (talk) 16:40, 3 October 2023 (UTC)

Purpose of the Ben Witherington Quote?

So under historicity we see it says “Conservative scholars argue that despite the uncertainty of the details, the gospel birth narratives trace back to historical, or at least much earlier pre-gospel traditions.”

Which is then followed by an embedded quote that says “As such, this story is without precedent either in Jewish or pagan literature.”

Why is that there? This quote not only has absolutely nothing to do with the preceding paragraph it is also patently false considering ”virgin birth” mythology has been found in numerous non-Christian sources (including Alexander the Great). 2601:603:5000:D80:F5F3:CCE7:F4F2:196E (talk) 05:14, 28 August 2024 (UTC)