MAID, MAIDEN (אָמָה, H563, בְּתוּלָה, H1435, נַעֲרָה֒, H5855, עַלְמָה, H6625, שִׁפְחָה, H9148, H563; LXX κοράσιον, G3166; νεᾶνις; νύμφη, G3811; παιδίσκη, G4087; παρθένος, G4221; NT same as LXX except for the omission of νεᾶνις). A maid is a young woman, married or marriageable. In the KJV “maid” occurs thirty-six times, “maids” nine times, “maiden” eight times, “maidens” eighteen times; RSV “maid” thirty-two times, “maids” thirteen times, “maiden” twenty-six times, “maidens” thirty times.

A. Hebrew

1. אָמָה, H563, “maid,” “a maidservant,” “handmaid” (female slave); ancilla, pelex (Exod 23:12; Judg 19:9; 1 Sam 1:11; Ps 116:16). Frequently a bondmaid (Lev 25:44). This word appears fifty-one times in the OT.

2. בְּתוּלָה, H1435, (1) “a virgin,” pure and unspotted (Gen 24:16; Deut 22:23; Judg 19:24; 21:12; 2 Sam 13:2, 18; 1 Kings 1:2); (2) “a virgin just married,” “a young spouse” (Joel 1:8); (3) by a figure of speech (frequent among the Hebrews) cities or countries are personified as females and are called “virgins” (Jer 18:13; 31:4, 21; Amos 5:2). KJV “virgin.” This terms occurs sixty-one times in the OT.

3. נַעֲרָה֒, H5855, (1) “a girl”; (a) a female child (Job 41:5), (b) “a maiden,” “damsel” grown up and marriageable (Judg 19:3; 1 Kings 1:2-4; Esth 2:3; Amos 2:7); also (c) one recently married (Ruth 2:6; 4:12); νεόγαμος; (2) “a handmaid,” “servant” (Ruth 2:8, 22; 3:2; Prov 9:3; 31:15); (3) proper name of a woman (1 Chron 4:5); (4) a town on the borders of Ephraim (Josh 16:7; called נַעֲרָ֔ן, 1 Chron 7:28); (5) female attendants (always pl.), “maids” (Gen 24:61; Exod 2:5; 1 Sam 25:42; Esth 2:9; 4:4, 16; Prov 9:3; 27:27); gleaners (Ruth 2:5, 8, 22, 23). This word appears sixty-one times in the OT.

4. עַלְמָה, H6625, “a girl,” “maiden,” “young woman” ripe sexually; of marriageable age, the age of puberty: maid or newly married. KJV “virgin.” This word occurs fourteen times in the OT. Only context can determine the precise meaning; e.g., from Matthew 1:23 it is indisputable that the only proper Messianic concept in Isaiah 7:14 is “virgin.”

5. שִׁפְחָה, H9148, “one of the family,” a family servant i.e. “a maid” “maidservant” “handmaid,” “female servant”; esp. as waiting upon her mistress; called thus because of her association with the family (Gen 16:1, 8; 30:7, 10; Exod 11:5; 1 Sam 25:41; Ps 123:2). This word appears sixty-three times in the OT. A synonym of אָמָה, H563.

B. Greek

1. Κοράσιον is a diminutive (in later Gr.) of κόρη, “little girl,” “maiden.” LXX for three Heb. words. It occurs twenty-nine times in the LXX; eight times in the NT. It might be a tr. of the Aram. רְבִיתָא.

2. Νεᾶνις, “girl,” “maiden.” A poetic word; LXX for two Heb. terms. It appears thirty-nine times in the LXX; absent from the NT. As an adjective, it means “youthful,” “new.”

3. Νύμφη, “young wife,” “bride”; “marriageable maiden”; “daughter-in-law”; “young girl.” LXX for two Heb. words. It occurs in both Philo and Josephus; eighty-eight times in the LXX; eight times in the NT.

4. Παιείσκη is a diminutive of παῖς, G4090, “young girl,” “maiden.” Originally παιδίσκη, G4087, meant “a young woman”; later it came to denote “a female slave.” In Christian lit. invariably of the servant class (“maid” “servant girl,” “female slave”). Thus Herodotus, papyri, and Philo. The LXX uses it to tr. four Heb. words. It appears ninety times in the LXX; thirteen times in the NT.

5. Παρθένος is the usual Gr. term for “virgin.” LXX for three Heb. words. It occurs sixty-four times in the LXX; fourteen times in the NT. In Biblical usage a “virgin” is either a male (Rev 14:4) or a female (Gen 24:16; Matt 1:18, 23; Luke 1:27) who has never experienced coitus. In the KJV “virgin” appears thirty-three times, “virgins” twenty-nine times; RSV “virgin” thirty-three times, “virgins” nine times.

Bibliography F. Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Prophecies of Isaiah, I (1877), 216-220; G. F. Oehler, Theology of the Old Testament, I (1880), 355; J. Calvin, Commentary on Isaiah the Prophet, I (1953), 103, 244-248; J. P. Lange, The Prophet Isaiah, Vol. VI in Commentary on the Holy Scriptures (1960), 121; J. G. Machen, The Virgin Birth of Christ (1967), 289-297.