1. Bible

Virgin birth is the usual way of referring to what is more accurately called the virginal conception of Jesus. According to the accounts by Matthew (1:18–25) and Luke (1:26–38), the conception of Jesus was the direct creative act of the Holy Spirit without the cooperation of a male partner. The use of Isa. 7:14 LXX by Matthew brought an apologetic feature into the discussion.

Only in the 19th century was it realized how ambivalent the Hebrew is. Whether the tradition was familiar to other NT writers is open to question. Rom. 1:3 insists…