According to the Torah laws, the High Priest, the priest with the highest authority in the Holy Temple and the top job, must marry a virgin, for it is written “He who is the high priest… shall take a wife in her virginity” (Leviticus 21:10-13). According to the sages, the maturation process of a girl who has reached the age of twelve and a half involves the deterioration of her hymen, so the sages disagreed about whether a High Priest is permitted to marry a girl over the age of twelve and a half. What are the reasons for the disagreement? The disagreement is based on the definition of the virginity demanded by the Torah. On one hand, a virgin can be defined as any female who has not had sexual relations, even if she does not have a hymen. On the other hand, a virgin can be defined as a female who does not technically have a hymen, even if she has not had sexual relations. Why does one sage define the requirements for virginity one way and another a different way? Because of the words “in her virginity.” In their opinion the wording of the Torah’s law should have been “he shall take a virgin wife,” but since it is written “in her virginity,” something more is meant. The sages disagreed on what exactly was that something more. One sage stated that had it just been written “he shall take a virgin” it would have been interpreted to mean that even a girl of over twelve and a half is permitted to a High Priest, though her hymen has deteriorated, but as it is written “in her virginity” a girl over the age of twelve and a half, whose hymen has deteriorated, is forbidden. The other sage stated just the opposite; were it written in the Torah “he shall take a virgin wife” it would mean that the law demands the girl have an intact hymen which has not begun to deteriorate, but since it is written “in her virginity” it adds that a girl over the age of twelve and a half, whose hymen has begun to deteriorate, is also permitted.
(Babylonian Talmud, Tractate Yevamot 59a)