The masculine elem, meaning a "youth" (1 Samuel 17:56; 20:22), indicates that the feminine almah means a "damsel" (Psalm 68:25).

A parthenos can be a virgin, either male (Revelation 14:4) or female (Matthew 1:18-25; Luke 1:34), and can be a non-virgin (Genesis 34:3, LXX; 2 Corinthians 11:2).

The almah of Isaiah 7:14 did not remain a virgin, for she bore a son named Immanuel about 735 B.C. during the reign of King Ahaz, 743-728 B.C. (Isaiah 7:14-25). History tells of no virgin birth in 735 B.C. The parthenos of Matthew 1:23 stayed a virgin until after Jesus was born (Matthew 1:18-25; Luke 1:34).

Isaiah 7:14 is an instance of a double ("entendre") meaning in prophecy: it meant one thing in the 8th century B.C., and another in the 1st century A.D. Similar examples of double meanings are in 2 Samuel 7:14 (Hebrews 1:5); Hosea 11:1 (Matthew 2:15); and Isaiah 28:11 (1 Corinthians 14:21).

The name "Immanuel" also was used with a double meaning: in the 8th century B.C. it was the name of a son whose name meant "God-With-Us" to punish Judah by "the king of Assyria" (Isaiah 8:5-8), while in the first century A.D. it was the name of a son whose name meant "God-With-Us" to "save his people from their sins" (Matthew 1:21-23).