The Christmas (Septuagint) Miracle

A criticism that is often leveled of Christians by non-believers is that we have mistranslated the scripture in Matthew 1:23 by saying “almah” (Hebrew) doesn’t mean “virgin,” when our translation of virgin comes from the Septuagint’s “parthenos,” not the Hebrew “almah”? “Parthenos” does mean “virgin.” But Matthew uses the word from the Septuagint, not found in the Hebrew Masoretic text.

But we find one of most impressive facts concerning the validity of the Septuagint over the "modern" Hebrew text and the substantiation of the virgin birth of Jesus.

The Massoretes, translation of our Isaiah 7.14: "Behold, a virgin shall conceive in the womb, and bring forth a son", however, inserted the word “alma" (young woman) in place of the word "vetula" (virgin). At that time, the ancient Christian apologists took exception to this with the Jewish interpreters saying: "And what kind of sign, about which the prophet speaks here, would the birth of a son to a young woman have been, since this is known to be an everyday occurrence?"

Not so oddly, modern archeology as provided us confirmation. In a manuscript of the Prophecy of Isaiah written before the birth of Christ, which was recently discovered and reported in Time magazine (1952, No. 18, p. 5), showing that the word "virgin" is used in Isaiah 7.14, and not "young woman."

For this reason, therefore, it is clear why for the authoritative text of the Old Testament the Orthodox Church prefers the Septuagint translation over the currently existing Hebrew or Masoretic text, for as we have shown, the Septuagint is the text established under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit by the concerted effort of the believers of the Old Testament.

The Masoretic text, showing Jewish unbelief, translates Isaiah 7:14 — ‘A young woman shall conceive and bear a son,’ The Septuagint, because of the Holy Spirit working through St. Simeon, translates the passage as ‘A virgin shall conceive,’ etc.

The story, believed by the Orthodox Church to be true, is this:

St. Simeon, also called the “God-receiver”, was one of the 70 who translated the Old Testament (LXX) from Hebrew into Greek. This took place during the time of the Egyptian Pharaoh Ptolemy Philadelphus (285-246 B.C.) and Simeon was charged with translating the Isaiah 7:14.

Simeon worked conscientiously, but when, translating this passage from the Prophet Isaiah, he paused in perplexity at the following words of Isaiah the Prophet: "Behold, a virgin shall conceive in the womb and bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name Emmanuel" (Isaiah 7.14). Not grasping the mystery of the Virgin Birth, the pious elder Simeon picked up a knife and was preparing to scrape out that place in the holy books, taking it to be an error. But at that moment, an angel of the Lord appeared to him, stopped him and said: "Because thou didst not believe the Word of God, thou shalt not die until such time as thou seest with thine own eyes the fulfillment of this prophecy. Believe indeed that a virgin shall bear the Savior of the world" For nothing will be impossible for God (see Luke 1:37).

Then, 300 years later, we find this same Simeon still alive, waiting for this prophecy to be fulfilled.

He now holds the Christ-child in his arms. (Luke 2).

As was the Jewish custom, and documented by St. Luke (Luke 2:25 – 35) the Virgin Mary brought the baby Jesus to the temple on the 40th day after His birth. Speaking of Simeon, St. Luke confirms this story writing: “And it had been revealed to him (Simeon) by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ. Simeon received the Holy Child in his arms, and prayed what is often now called the Song of Simeon (Luke 2: 29 – 32).

29 “ Lord, now You are letting Your servant depart in peace, According to Your word;
30 For my eyes have seen Your salvation
31 Which You have prepared before the face of all peoples,
32 A light to bring revelation to the Gentiles, And the glory of Your people Israel.”

The Orthodox Church sets aside February 2nd for us to remember this amazing event and calls it “The Presentation of the Lord.”

Peace,
Dismas