יַלְדָּה

# Yaldah (יַלְדָּה): A Hebrew Term for Young Women The Hebrew word *yaldah* appears only three times in the biblical text, designating a young female person or maiden. This rarity suggests it held a specific rather than general function in Hebrew vocabulary, likely reserved for particular contexts where the designation of a young woman's age or status carried particular relevance. The limited occurrence of *yaldah*—just three instances across the entire biblical corpus—indicates this was not the primary or most common term for referring to women or girls in Hebrew. This specificity of usage implies the word carried nuanced meaning tied to particular narrative or legal situations. Without access to the specific passages where it appears, the data confirms only that it refers to a young female, potentially carrying implications about youth, marriageability, or social status that distinguish it from broader terms for women. For biblical translators and readers, understanding that *yaldah* is a low-frequency term emphasizes the importance of context in determining its precise meaning in each of its three occurrences. Its specialized usage pattern suggests ancient Hebrew speakers had multiple vocabulary options for referring to females of different ages or statuses, with *yaldah* filling a particular communicative niche rather than serving as a general-purpose word.