Editing Revised Standard Version (section)

=== Isaiah 7:14 dispute and impact ===
{{Main|Isaiah 7:14}}

The RSV New Testament was well received, but reactions to the Old Testament were varied and not without controversy.<ref>[[Daniel B. Wallace|Wallace, Daniel B.]], "The History of the English Bible" (lecture series with transcripts). http://www.bible.org/page.php?page_id=1825</ref> Critics claimed that the RSV translators had translated the Old Testament from a non-Christian perspective. Some critics specifically referred to a Jewish viewpoint, pointing to agreements with the 1917 [[Jewish Publication Society of America Version]] [[Tanakh]] and the presence on the editorial board of a Jewish scholar, [[Harry Orlinsky]]. Such critics further claimed that other views, including those regarding the New Testament, were not considered. The focus of the controversy was the RSV's translation of the Hebrew word {{lang|he|עַלְמָה}} ([[almah|''ʿalmāh'']]) in [[Isaiah 7:14]] as "young woman."

''Almah'' in Hebrew translates as a young woman of childbearing age who had not had children, and so may or may not be a virgin.<ref>{{cite book |last=Saldarini |first=Anthony J. J. |date=2001 |title=Pharisees, Scribes and Sadducees in Palestinian Society |publisher=Wm. B. Eerdmans |page=1007 |isbn=0-8028-4358-1}}</ref> The Greek language [[Septuagint]] written one hundred to three hundred years before Jesus rendered almah as ''parthenos'' (παρθένος), which translates as "virgin", and this is the understanding carried over by Christians.

Of the seven appearances of ''ʿalmāh'', the [[Septuagint]] translates only two of them as ''parthenos'', "virgin" (including Isaiah 7:14). By contrast, the word {{lang|he|בְּתוּלָה}} (''bəṯūlāh'') appears some 50 times, and the Septuagint and English translations agree in understanding the word to mean "virgin" in almost every case.

The controversy stemming from this rendering helped reignite the [[King-James-Only Movement]] within the Independent Baptist and Pentecostal churches. Furthermore, many Christians have adopted what has come to be known as the "Isaiah 7:14 litmus test", which entails checking that verse to determine whether or not a new translation can be trusted.<ref name="Rhodes">{{cite book|author=Rhodes, Ron|title=The Complete Guide to Bible Translations|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NfI6sgyzq4YC&q=litmus+test&pg=PA81|year=2009|publisher=Harvest House Publishers|isbn=978-0736931366|pages=80–82}}</ref>