Virgin Birth of Jesus

[Solitary]

A virgin birth is possible and does happen in animals, even mammals, but the offspring is always female in mammals. So was Jesus really a girl? He did have long hair and wore a dress---I've seen the pictures, and a picture doesn't lie.  Solitary

[Poison Tree]

if the gospels were written by Jews, why would they make the mistake of translation if they knew and understood Hebrew? Paul wrote in Greek because he was a Roman, and Greek was the common language of the era.

Except that Paul wasn't just a Roman, he was also a Jew; "of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of the Hebrews; as touching the law, a Pharisee".[Phil. 3:5]

I'd assume that Paul understood Hebrew, but would not care to hazard a guess concerning pseudo-Paul, Mark, Luke or John. It is possible that they understood Hebrew but wrote in Greek because a large number of Jews no longer read Hebrew (as evidenced by the need for the Septuagint) and, of course, an appeal to gentiles would have been pointless if made in Hebrew.

As for Matthew, I think it is fairly clear that he did not read Hebrew. None of his quotations of prophecy are particularly accurate to the original text (though perhaps this is him stretching to make Jesus fit them, not a lack of understanding) he misidentifies authors and appears to have invented at least one prophecy out of whole cloth. However, the already mentioned "virgin" mess and his handling of Jesus' entrance into Jerusalem strongly suggest as unfamiliarity with Hebrew words and style:
Jesus riding on a donkey is tied to Zechariah 9:9(b) "Lowly and riding on a donkey, A colt, the foal of a donkey." The rest of the gospels understood that "A colt, the foal of a donkey" is giving more specific information about "a donkey" (like saying, "I drive a VW; a Beetle"), and that style is not unusual in Hebrew. Matthew 21, however, clearly shows that the author thought that two animals were required to "fulfilled which was spoken through the prophet."

ye shall find an ass tied, and a colt with her: loose them, and bring them unto me. And if any one say aught unto you, ye shall say, The Lord hath need of them; and straightway he will send them.
[. . .]
Tell ye the daughter of Zion, Behold, thy King cometh unto thee, Meek, and riding upon an ass, And upon a colt the foal of an ass.
[. . .]
and brought the ass, and the colt, and put on them their garments; and he sat thereon

Personally, I like to imagine Jesus riding, standing up with one foot on each animal, as they jump over a shark and through a ring of fire--I picture, I must admit, not actually supported by a plain reading of the text.

[stromboli]

Except that Paul wasn't just a Roman, he was also a Jew; "of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of the Hebrews; as touching the law, a Pharisee".[Phil. 3:5]

I'd assume that Paul understood Hebrew, but would not care to hazard a guess concerning pseudo-Paul, Mark, Luke or John. It is possible that they understood Hebrew but wrote in Greek because a large number of Jews no longer read Hebrew (as evidenced by the need for the Septuagint) and, of course, an appeal to gentiles would have been pointless if made in Hebrew.

As for Matthew, I think it is fairly clear that he did not read Hebrew. None of his quotations of prophecy are particularly accurate to the original text (though perhaps this is him stretching to make Jesus fit them, not a lack of understanding) he misidentifies authors and appears to have invented at least one prophecy out of whole cloth. However, the already mentioned "virgin" mess and his handling of Jesus' entrance into Jerusalem strongly suggest as unfamiliarity with Hebrew words and style:
Jesus riding on a donkey is tied to Zechariah 9:9(b) "Lowly and riding on a donkey, A colt, the foal of a donkey." The rest of the gospels understood that "A colt, the foal of a donkey" is giving more specific information about "a donkey" (like saying, "I drive a VW; a Beetle"), and that style is not unusual in Hebrew. Matthew 21, however, clearly shows that the author thought that two animals were required to "fulfilled which was spoken through the prophet." Personally, I like to imagine Jesus riding, standing up with one foot on each animal, as they jump over a shark and through a ring of fire--I picture, I must admit, not actually supported by a plain reading of the text.

Good points. I knew Paul was Jewish. Some scholars believe the Pauline writings predate the synoptic gospels. There are some interesting problems as far as dating. No mention is made in the gospels about the fall of Jerusalem  nor in the Pauline writings. That means that either the original manuscripts were written before AD 70 or any mention of the fall of Jeruslam was deliberately left out, so as not to show a later date than intended.  And it is possible that the writers wrote in Greek and not in Hebrew, but it still doesn't explain the failure of the Isaiah translation.

Jewish scholars reject the virgin birth out of hand. Here is a good website that lists the reasons why. I think they make good arguments
http://www.aish.com/jw/s/48892792.html

[the_antithesis]

I'm pretty sure that the true story of the virgin birth goes like this.  Mary was a whore like seriously a massive WHORE who did everything, and I mean EVERYTHING!!!  Naturally she got knocked up (condoms weren't invented yet) and she had to make up something on the spot to her beta male BF Joseph (who only received rinky dink hand jobs from Mary, and that's on a good day) so that he wouldn't snitch on her and have her stoned to death.  So one day while Mary was lying on her back legs open getting pounded by some big hairy roman soldier a thought popped into her head that she should just lie to Joseph say that God knocked her up.  When Mary told Joseph that God had impregnated her he was very skeptical and a big argument ensued.  Joseph was about to walk out the door when 2 month pregnant Mary finally agreed to have sex with joseph.  Joseph leaped at the opportunity and had what looked like a seizure on top of Mary for about 30 seconds and then he finally accepted Mary's BS story.  7 months later baby Jesus was born in a barn, and Joseph also got crabs.  The end