"Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary, your wife..."
by Shmuel Playfair
[edited for easier reading]
It should be noted that in historic Jewish cultural tradition a couple was considered legally married when they were "betrothed" even before they began to live together. This legal betrothal / marriage is why we do not read later that Joseph "married her"; rather we read that he simply "took his wife". [cf. Matthew 1:24] A young lady who is already married is called a "wife". This formal marriage / betrothal is also why Joseph could not simply "break the engagement" when he mistakenly thought she had been impregnated by another man. Rather, he would have had to formally divorce her even if quietly rather than publically. [cf. Matthew 1:19]
In Matthew 1:18-20 we read that Mary was found to be with child through the spirit of the Holy One before this married couple began to live together. We do not read here that Joseph had never been with her sexually before Yeshua was born as many claim. Remember that Mary had gone to the hill country of Judah for about three months to visit her relative, Elizabeth. [Luke 1:56] So, when she returned to Nazareth a whole three months later in a pregnant condition, Joseph mistakenly assumed that Mary had slept with another man while she was gone. In ancient Jewish reckoning, three months without sexual contact was considered the amount of time necessary to pass for one to safely assume that one was not the father of a pregnant woman. When Mary suddenly left Nazareth to visit Elizabeth, no one considered her to be pregnant. When she returned three months later beginning to show her pregnant condition, Joseph falsely assumed that her fetus was not his child, since he had not slept with her for three months. Consequently, Joseph needed to be instructed in a dream not to divorce his pregnant wife.
Most people today read the version of Matthew 1:24-25 which includes the words, "and he did not know her until [she bore a son]" and consequently mistakenly conclude that Joseph did not have sexual intercourse with his wife until after she had brought forth her firstborn son. But we do not find "he did not know her until" in the Old Syriac and Old Latin Versions of this text. Rather we read, "Then the messenger of HaShem appeared to him saying, 'Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary, your wife; for the one who is born in her is of/from the spirit (power) of the Holy One'. Then we read, "And he took his wife and she bore a son....". Apparently, someone later added "he did not know her until [she bore a son]" as we find in other versions. This later addition helped to impose the foreign notion of a pagan virgin birth on this originally miraculous (Jewish) conception and birth story.
by Shmuel Playfair
[edited for easier reading]
It should be noted that in historic Jewish cultural tradition a couple was considered legally married when they were "betrothed" even before they began to live together. This legal betrothal / marriage is why we do not read later that Joseph "married her"; rather we read that he simply "took his wife". [cf. Matthew 1:24] A young lady who is already married is called a "wife". This formal marriage / betrothal is also why Joseph could not simply "break the engagement" when he mistakenly thought she had been impregnated by another man. Rather, he would have had to formally divorce her even if quietly rather than publically. [cf. Matthew 1:19]
In Matthew 1:18-20 we read that Mary was found to be with child through the spirit of the Holy One before this married couple began to live together. We do not read here that Joseph had never been with her sexually before Yeshua was born as many claim. Remember that Mary had gone to the hill country of Judah for about three months to visit her relative, Elizabeth. [Luke 1:56] So, when she returned to Nazareth a whole three months later in a pregnant condition, Joseph mistakenly assumed that Mary had slept with another man while she was gone. In ancient Jewish reckoning, three months without sexual contact was considered the amount of time necessary to pass for one to safely assume that one was not the father of a pregnant woman. When Mary suddenly left Nazareth to visit Elizabeth, no one considered her to be pregnant. When she returned three months later beginning to show her pregnant condition, Joseph falsely assumed that her fetus was not his child, since he had not slept with her for three months. Consequently, Joseph needed to be instructed in a dream not to divorce his pregnant wife.
Most people today read the version of Matthew 1:24-25 which includes the words, "and he did not know her until [she bore a son]" and consequently mistakenly conclude that Joseph did not have sexual intercourse with his wife until after she had brought forth her firstborn son. But we do not find "he did not know her until" in the Old Syriac and Old Latin Versions of this text. Rather we read, "Then the messenger of HaShem appeared to him saying, 'Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary, your wife; for the one who is born in her is of/from the spirit (power) of the Holy One'. Then we read, "And he took his wife and she bore a son....". Apparently, someone later added "he did not know her until [she bore a son]" as we find in other versions. This later addition helped to impose the foreign notion of a pagan virgin birth on this originally miraculous (Jewish) conception and birth story.
