H1330 — בְּתוּלָה (bᵉthûwlâh)¶

Core Data¶

Strong's: H1330
Original: בְּתוּלָה
Transliteration: bethulah
Pronunciation: beth-oo-law
Part of Speech: Feminine noun
Root: Feminine passive participle of an unused root meaning "to separate" (cognate H1331 בְּתוּלִים — tokens of virginity)
Occurrences: 50 unique verses (51 tokens) across 19 books
First Occurrence: Gen 24:16 — "And the damsel [was] very fair to look upon, a virgin (bethulah), neither had any man known her"
Hapax Legomenon: No

Lexicon Definition¶

Feminine passive participle of an unused root meaning to separate; a virgin (from her privacy); sometimes (by continuation) a bride; also (figuratively) a city or state: — maid, virgin.

Translation Distribution (KJV)¶

Translation	Verses	%
virgin / a virgin / the virgin / O virgin / The virgin	23	46%
virgins / the virgins / my virgins / her virgins / of virgins	19	38%
maid / a maid / and the maid / or maiden / a maiden	6	12%
maidens / and their maidens	3	6%
maids / the maids / both maids	3	6%
like a virgin	1	2%

(Percentages by KJV rendering over 50 unique verses; some verses render as plural.)

Distribution by Book¶

Book	Count	Per 100 Verses
Lamentations	7	4.5
Esther	4	2.4
Amos	2	1.4
Joel	1	1.4
Jeremiah	8	0.6
Zechariah	1	0.5
Deuteronomy	4	0.4
Isaiah	5	0.4
2 Samuel	2	0.3
Judges	2	0.3
Leviticus	2	0.2
Exodus	2	0.2
Ezekiel	2	0.2
Genesis	1	0.1
Job	1	0.1
1 Kings	1	0.1
2 Kings	1	0.1
2 Chronicles	1	0.1
Psalms	3	0.1

Highest concentration in lament/exile literature (Lamentations, Jeremiah, Amos, Joel) and Persian court narrative (Esther). Torah uses it mainly in sexual-conduct legislation (Exo, Lev, Deu). Absent from wisdom literature apart from a single Job reference.

Semantic Categories¶

1. Literal Unmarried Young Woman (sexual inexperience emphasized)¶

Gen 24:16 — "a virgin, neither had any man known her" (Rebekah)
Lev 21:3 — "his sister a virgin... which hath had no husband"
Deut 22:23 — "a damsel that is a virgin be betrothed unto an husband"
Judg 21:12 — "four hundred young virgins, that had known no man"

2. Eligible Bride / Marriage Candidate¶

Lev 21:14 — priest must marry "a virgin of his own people"
Deut 22:19 — virgin of Israel as bride
Ezek 44:22 — Zadokite priests "shall take maidens of the seed of the house of Israel"
Esth 2:2,3,17,19 — candidates gathered for the king

3. Figurative: Personified City, Nation, or People (often in lament)¶

Isa 23:12 — "O thou oppressed virgin, daughter of Zidon"
Isa 47:1 — "O virgin daughter of Babylon"
Jer 18:13; 31:4,21 — "the virgin of Israel"
Jer 46:11 — "O virgin, the daughter of Egypt"
Lam 1:15; 2:13 — "virgin daughter of Judah... virgin daughter of Zion"
Amos 5:2 — "The virgin of Israel is fallen"
2 Kgs 19:21 / Isa 37:22 — "The virgin the daughter of Zion hath despised thee"

4. Object of Violence in Judgment / Siege Imagery¶

Deut 32:25 — "shall destroy both the young man and the virgin"
2 Chr 36:17 — "had no compassion upon young man or maiden"
Lam 1:4,18; 2:21; 5:11 — virgins afflicted in Zion's fall
Ezek 9:6 — "slay utterly old and young, both maids..."
Zech 9:17 — "corn shall make the young men cheerful, and new wine the maids"

5. Mourning Figure / Image of Desolation¶

Joel 1:8 — "Lament like a virgin girded with sackcloth for the husband of her youth"
Jer 14:17 — "the virgin daughter of my people is broken"
Lam 2:10 — "the virgins of Jerusalem hang down their heads"

6. Restoration / Joy Imagery¶

Jer 31:4,13 — "O virgin of Israel... the virgin rejoice in the dance"
Isa 62:5 — "as a young man marrieth a virgin, so shall thy sons marry thee"
Ps 45:14 — virgin companions brought to the king

7. Ethical / Covenantal Self-Restraint¶

Job 31:1 — "I made a covenant with mine eyes; why then should I think upon a maid?"

Common Collocations¶

Word	Strong's	Co-occurrences	Typical Pattern
לֹא (lo)	H3808	16x (32%)	"had not known" — negation of sexual experience
בָּחוּר (bachur) young man	H970	14x (28%)	"young men and virgins" — merism for whole youth population
בַּת (bath) daughter	H1323	11x (22%)	"virgin daughter of Zion/Babylon/Egypt" — city personification
אִישׁ (ish) man	H376	10x (20%)	"no man had known her"
אִשָּׁה (ishshah) woman/wife	H802	9x (18%)	distinguishing virgin from married woman
מֶלֶךְ (melek) king	H4428	8x (16%)	royal bride/harem context (Esther, 1 Kings)
נַעֲרָה (na'arah) girl	H5291	8x (16%)	paired/parallel term for young woman
צִיּוֹן (Tsiyon) Zion	H6726	6x (12%)	"virgin of Zion" personification
יִשְׂרָאֵל (Yisrael)	H3478	6x (12%)	"virgin of Israel" — national personification
זָקֵן (zaqen) old	H2205	7x (14%)	age-merism ("young and old, virgins and elders")
שָׁכַב (shakab) lie with	H7901	5x (10%)	legislation about sexual relations

Word Family / Cognates¶

H1331 בְּתוּלִים (bethulim) — masculine plural, "tokens of virginity" / state of virginity (Deut 22:14-20; Lev 21:13)

Synonyms¶

No synonyms returned by search_relationships.py for H1330.

Antonyms¶

No antonyms returned by search_relationships.py for H1330.

Easily Confused Words¶

Word	Strong's	Shared Translation	Key Difference
עַלְמָה (almah)	H5959	"virgin" / "maid"	almah emphasizes youth and marriageable age (veiled/concealed); does not inherently mark sexual status. bethulah more directly denotes separated/unmarried state, often explicitly qualified ("had not known a man").
נַעֲרָה (na'arah)	H5291	"maid" / "maiden" / "damsel"	na'arah = girl from infancy through adolescence (general age term); bethulah = specifically the separated/marriageable young woman.
בְּתוּלִים (bethulim)	H1331	"maid" (plural)	masculine-plural cognate meaning the condition or physical evidence of virginity, not the person.
παρθένος (parthenos)	G3933	"virgin"	Greek NT equivalent; also primary LXX rendering of bethulah.
παιδίσκη (paidiske)	G3814	"maiden"	Greek for young female servant/slave-girl; overlaps in KJV "maiden."

Note on bethulah vs almah: Gen 24:16 uses both — Rebekah is called bethulah with the explicit gloss "neither had any man known her," indicating that bethulah alone was not always sufficient to specify sexual inexperience without clarification.

Semantic Domains¶

UBS / Relationship Domains¶

[001002007] People — search_relationships.py places bᵉthûwlâh in the people/personhood field, matching its use as the concrete noun for a young unmarried woman. Neighbor set includes H120/H121 אָדָם, H157/H158 אהב, H193 אוּל, and H352 אַיִל.

LXX Mapping¶

Greek Equivalent	Strong's	Co-occ	PMI	Notes
παρθένος (parthenos)	G3933	44	8.64	Primary LXX rendering — dominant equivalent across all genres
νεανίσκος (neaniskos)	G3495	13	6.53	"young man/woman" — paired in young-man/virgin merisms
πρεσβύτης (presbytes)	G4246	4	5.97	old man — age-merism contexts
Σιών (Sion)	G4622	7	4.29	"virgin of Zion" personification
θυγάτηρ (thygater) daughter	G2364	11	3.49	"daughter" in city-daughter idiom
νύμφη (nymphe) bride	G3565	3	5.46	bridal contexts
καλός (kalos) beautiful	G2570	5	3.93	descriptive collocation
πενθέω (pentheo) mourn	G3996	3	4.98	lament contexts
κοιμάω (koimao) lie with/sleep	G2837	5	3.72	sexual-conduct legislation
γυνή (gyne) woman	G1135	9	2.61	general woman contexts