Almah - Definitions and Etymology

Definitions and Etymology

The masculine equivalent of almah is elem ("עלם") meaning "youth" or "young man of the age of puberty". Feminizing these terms would result in "young woman" or "young woman of the age of puberty". Gesenius defines the word as a "girl of marriageable age". In modern Hebrew almah means a young woman or girl, a young or unmarried woman.

The notion of marriageability is typically part of the definition of almah. In the ancient Near East girls had value as potential wives and bearers of children. Carolyn S. Leeb points out: "A wife, who came into her husband's household as an outsider, contributed her labor and her fertility. Her task was to build up the bet 'ab by bearing children, particularly sons". This same sense of marriageability does not accrue to the masculine elem even though they also have entered puberty, but it does apply to "bachur" or "young warrior", when boys have matured to the point of being able to support a new household.

"Almah" was one of a list of sequential "terms, each depicting a fresh stage of life". (spellings per Gesenius translated to English):

• yeled or yaldah - newborn boy or girl.
• yonek or yanak - suckling baby.
• olel - suckling who also eats food. Translated as "young child" in Lamentations 4:4 (KJV).
• gamal - weaned child (under 3 years old).
• taph - young child, one who still clings to mother. Derived from the word for brisk, small, tripping steps of young children.
• elem or almah - firm and strong child
• na'ar (masc) or na'arah (fem.) - "independent or free child" (from a root meaning "to shake off"). Also "handmaid", "servant" or just "girl".