Matthew 1:18-25 Bible Study
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Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise: When as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost. Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not willing to make her a publick example, was minded to put her away privily. But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost. And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins. Now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us. Then Joseph being raised from sleep did as the angel of the Lord had bidden him, and took unto him his wife: And knew her not till she had brought forth her firstborn son: and he called his name JESUS.
(Personal Note: Also read Lk. 1:26-38; 2: 1-7; 1:1-2, 14)
Here we have the accounting of Conception and birth of Jesus according to the Holy Spirit Inspired Matthew:
When Marry and Joseph were betrothed but Joseph didn’t knew Mary yet meant they haven’t had any intimate time together, she was found pregnant with a child of the Holy Ghost. Keep in mind this situation happens early in Joseph and Mary’s relationship.
1:18 betrothed Refers to a permanent relationship nearly equivalent to marriage. Came together Refers to cohabitation or physical union. She was found to be pregnant Suggests that Mary pregnancy was beginning to show.
Betroth—to promise “by one’s truth.” Men and women were betrothed when they were engaged to be married. This usually took place a year or more before marriage. From the time of betrothal the woman was regarded as the lawful wife of the man to whom she was betrothed (Deut. 28:30; Judg. 14:2, 8; Matt. 1:18–21). The term is figuratively employed of the spiritual connection between God and his people (Hos. 2:19, 20).
Next we have a description of Joseph and it said he was a Just man or a righteous man.
(O.T.): Mt 1:19, Mt 5:20 Jesus talking about righteousness; Genesis 6:9 God saying Noah was a just men and perfect in his generation; Lk 2:25 Simeon was another just man. notes.
To be just= Righteousness
The O.T just man or righteous.
This word use in all 4 text that I gave you was the Hebrew word “yashar” upright; “tsaddiq” just. The righteous or just man is so called because he is right with God; and he is right with God because he has walked in all His commandments and ordinance (Lk 1:6 compare to Rom. 10:5, Phil 3.6). The righteous man was not a sinless man (Ecc 7:20) but one who, because of his sin, trust on the coming of the Messiah and offered in faith a sacrifice (Lev. 4:27-35).
Compare to N.T.
Rom 10:10 and Paul’s contract Phil 3:4-9.
1:19 not wanting to disgrace her The law demanded that an adulteress receive the death penalty (Deut 22:21). However, the Jewish community of this time often did not carry out the death penalty; instead, they punished adulteresses through public disgrace.
1:20 in a dream Angelic visitation and dreams are a common means of supernatural revelation in the sacred literature of this time.
Isaiah 55: 8-9 “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, Neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are my ways higher than your ways, And my thoughts than your thoughts.” “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, Neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord.”
These features are common in the birth narratives of Matthew and Luke (see Matt 2:12, 13, 19, 22; Luke 1:11, 26; 2:9, 13). In Matthew 27:19, Pilate’s wife urges him to not be involved in Jesus’ sentencing because of a dream she experienced the night before. Other visions or dreams, such as those in Daniel and Revelation, often were mediated through angels (see Dan 7:16; 8:15–17; Rev 17:7 and note).
The Lexham Bible Dictionary Biblical Relevance
The Bible refers to dreams in three contexts: messages of impending misfortune or good fortune, warnings about false prophets, and nonoracular dreams.
The Lexham Bible Dictionary Dreams in the New Testament
All dreams in the New Testament are oracular dreams. Numerous times in Matthew, God provides instructions to both Gentiles and Jews through dreams (ὄναρ, onar) (Matt 1:20; 2:12, 13, 19, 22; 27:19).
The Lexham Bible Dictionary Dreams in the New Testament
All other narrated dreams in the New Testament, which appear in only Matthew and Acts, are message dreams (see also Gnuse, “Dream Genre,” 115). In these dreams, a deity, angel, spirit, or some other nonhuman speaker delivers direct instructions, which need no interpretation.
1:21 you will call his name A father was responsible for naming his son at the time of his circumcision (eight days after birth). The angel’s words implicitly command that Joseph accept his role as father of the child. In antiquity, names were often thought to be emblematic of the character or calling of the individual.
Jesus From the Hebrew name yeshua', which means “Yahweh saves.”
he will save his people from their sins Announces more than a royal or political Messiah. Jesus saves, even from sin (compare Isa 53:12).
This declaration—which reflects the meaning of Jesus’ name—is programmatic for Matthew’s Gospel. The remainder of the narrative justifies this statement, culminating in the sacrificial death of Jesus on the cross. The salvation of which the angel spoke differed vastly from Jewish expectations of the Messiah; Jesus brought forgiveness of sins, not expulsion of the occupying Roman army or political-religious restoration.
1:22–23 The angel’s message ends in Matt 1:21, making vv. 22–23 an editorial aside.
1:22 would be fulfilled Matthew often interprets events in Jesus’ life in terms of prophecies from the OT; this is the first instance of this type of interpretation.
1:23 virgin The Greek word used here, parthenos, reflects the Septuagint (ancient Greek translation of the OT) version of Isa 7:14, which Matthew drew from when quoting the Hebrew Bible (or OT). Matthew appropriates this prophecy and applies it to the virgin birth of Jesus.
In the Septuagint version of Isa 7:14, the Greek word parthenos is used to translate the Hebrew word almah. The other six occurrences of almah in the OT refer to young women of marriageable age with no direct indication of whether they are virgins or not (Gen 24:43; Exod 2:8; Psa 68:25; Prov 30:19; Song 1:3; 6:8); in contrast, parthenos normally indicates a virgin, though not exclusively (in the Septuagint version of Gen 34:3 parthenos is used to describe Dinah following intercourse). However, women of marriageable age in ancient patriarchal culture like Matthew’s were expected to be virgins.
While the Hebrew word used most often to indicate a virgin is bethulah (Lev 21:3; Judg 21:12; Deut 22:23, 28; Exod 22:16), almah is used as a synonym for bethulah (Gen 24:16, 43; compare Gen 24:14). In addition, Song 6:8 lists queens, concubines, and alamoth (the plural form of almah)—this last group, the alamoth, seems to be a group of women who do not have a sexual relationship with the king. This same distinction between the queen, concubines, and virgins occurs in the book of Esther (Esth 2:3, 8, 14), but in Esther, the virgins are described as na’arah bethulah (“young virgins”). This parallel suggests Song 6:8 is using the same language as the book of Esther but using alamoth in place of na’arah bethulah—indicating that both terms can describe virgins. These connections explain Matthew’s use of Isa 7:14 to reference the virgin birth (see Isa 7:14 and note).
Two word use for virgin:
Betulah HAL
Almah HAL
The Virgin Shall Conceive: The Vocabulary of Virginity
Isaiah 7:14 reads: “Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Look! the virgin (almah) is with child and she is about to give birth to a son, and she shall call his name ‘God with us.’ ”
Biblical Hebrew primarily uses two words to speak of a woman’s sexual virginity: betulah and almah. Betulah occurs 50 times in the Old Testament, almah occurs only rarely. Of the two, betulah most clearly conveys the idea that a woman has never been sexually active, while almah is more ambiguous. This becomes an interpretive issue for Christian theology since it is the latter that is used in Isaiah 7:14, the passage referenced in Matthew 1:23 to describe the virgin birth of Jesus. Those critical of the virgin birth use the ambiguity of almah to argue that Matthew misunderstood Isaiah 7:14 and Jesus was not actually born of a virgin. A closer look at the use of both words shows that the evidence does not support these criticisms.
Betulah
The following examples illustrates that betulah clearly denotes a woman who has never had sexual relations:
Leviticus 21:3: “… his sister, a virgin (betulah), who is closest to him, who has not had a husband …”
Judges 21:12: “And they found among the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead four hundred young virgins (betulah) who had not had sex with a man …”
Genesis 24:16 (speaking of Rebekah): “Now the girl was very pleasing in appearance. She was a virgin (betulah); no man had known her.”
To “know” a woman is a common biblical Hebrew euphemism for “have sexual relations” (e.g., Gen 4:1, 17, 25; 1 Kgs 1:4). It is obvious that men intellectually knew Rebekah (e.g., her brother and Abraham’s servant in the passage). The text is making the explicit claim that she had never had sexual relations with a man.
Almah
By way of comparison, the instances of almah do not provide clear clues regarding the sexual connotations associated with the term.
Genesis 24:43: “Behold, I am standing by the spring of water. Let it be that the young woman (almah) who comes out to draw water and to whom I shall say, ‘Please give me a little water to drink from your jar’ …”
Exodus 2:8 “And the daughter of Pharaoh said to her, ‘Go.’ And the girl (almah) went, and she called the mother of the boy.”
Proverbs 30:18–19: “Three of these are too wonderful for me, and four, I do not understand them: the way of the eagle in the sky, the way of a snake on a rock, the way of a ship in the heart of the sea, and the way of a man with a young woman (almah).”
Song of Songs 1:3: “… your perfumes are delightful; your name is poured out perfume; therefore young women (alamot—the plural of almah) love you.”
Song of Songs 6:8 “Sixty queens there are, eighty concubines, and maidens (alamot—the plural of almah) beyond number.”
None of these occurrences bears the sort of qualification (e.g., “who had not known a man”) that betulah does. The argument often made is that Isaiah would have used betulah had he wanted to convey that the woman in Isaiah 7:14 was never sexually active, and that since Matthew should have known the difference, he must have wanted to import this theology into his Gospel.
Matthew and the Virgin Mary
However, the argument against Matthew using Isaiah 7:14 to speak of a virgin fails to consider that Isaiah may not have originally intended to speak of a woman who had never been sexually active. The point of the prophecy was not the woman—it was the child. The prophecy was originally given to King Ahaz and was fulfilled in his own lifetime, as Isaiah 6–8 makes clear (see Isa 7:16). Matthew saw an analogy with the prophecy of Isaiah 7:14—a supernatural birth, and used it to tell the story of Jesus.
But does this mean that Matthew misused almah? Is the virgin birth mistaken? The answer is “no” on both counts. Matthew explicitly affirms the virginity of Mary before he cites Isaiah 7:14 in Matthew 1:23. Seven verses earlier in Jesus’ genealogy, after saying someone “was the father of” someone else over 50 times, Matthew changes the wording when he gets to Jesus: “Joseph, the husband of Mary by whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ” (Matt 1:16). The Greek pronoun behind the English phrase “by whom” is grammatically feminine, making clear that Jesus was born only of Mary—not a human father.
But how could Matthew then quote Isaiah 7:14 in Matthew 1:23, knowing that almah was less precise than betulah? That betulah is more precise than almah does not mean almah cannot mean virgin. To show why almah does speak to sexual virginity, we need to revisit its occurrences.
Almah in Context
While it is true that betulah provides more contextual clues regarding sexual inactivity, it does not make sense to argue that almah cannot refer to a woman who had never been sexually active. In this regard, we return to Song of Songs 6:8—“Sixty queens there are, eighty concubines, and maidens (alamot—the plural of almah) beyond number.”
The distinction between queens, concubines, and alamot is important. A queen was a royal wife, which obviously entails a sexual relationship with the king. A concubine was a sexual partner who held certain privileges, but not to the level of a wife. This would suggest that the third category, the alamot, had no sexual relationship with the king. An almah in this context was a candidate for becoming either a concubine or a wife.
This is precisely what we see in the book of Esther. In Esther 2:3 and Esther 2:8, we read that Esther was held in waiting for 12 months with “young women, virgins” (naarah betulah) under the supervision of Hegai while the king sought a new queen. Esther 2:8 puts Esther in a group of sexual virgins that had not had a sexual encounter with the king.
Esther was eventually taken from the harem under Hegai to the king for an evening liaison. Afterward, she was assigned to a “second harem” supervised by Shaashgaz, who “was in charge of the concubines” (Esth 2:14), indicating Esther was no longer a virgin. That Esther and the king had a sexual relationship during the night is clear from Esther 2:14: “She [Esther] would not go back to the king unless the king delighted in her and she was called by name.” To “go in” to a man or woman is a frequent Old Testament euphemism for sexual intercourse (e.g., Gen 16:14; 19:33; 38:9).
The ancient cultural context shows us that every attempt was made to have a supply of sexual virgins for the king. Consequently, the alamot of Song of Songs 6:8 should be understood as sexual virgins.
However, there is still the issue that the women in the first harem in Esther’s story are not called alamot as in Song of Songs 6:8—but instead are referred to as naarah betulah (“young women, virgins”). Genesis provides the examples needed to solidify the argument that almah can identify a sexual virgin. In Genesis 24, Rebekah is actually referred to with both terms that identify Esther: na’ar(ah) in Genesis 24:14 and betulah in Genesis 24:16, and then Rebekah is referred to with the term almah in Genesis 24:43. This indicates that these terms do overlap and, therefore, an almah could be identified as a sexual virgin.
Further, in an ancient patriarchal culture, a “woman of marriageable age” was a female who had at least reached her teen years. Young women in such a culture were under close supervision and restraint of their parents, especially their fathers. Thus, it was probably normal for a young woman (almah) to be a sexual virgin during biblical times.
Heiser, M. S. (2012, 2016). The Virgin Shall Conceive: The Vocabulary of Virginity. In Faithlife Study Bible. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.
call his name Emmanuel Matthew presents Jesus as the fulfillment of Isa 7:14, which says that the child’s name will be Immanuel (meaning “God with us”; compare Matt 28:20). While in the original context of Isaiah, this is a prophecy about a child born during the reign of King Ahaz of Judah (ca. 735–715 BC; Isa 7:16; compare Isa 8:8, 10), Matthew sees this prophecy as finding its ultimate fulfillment in Jesus.
1:25 did not have sexual relations with her Matthew does not record any command for Joseph to refrain from marital relations with Mary, although abstinence was the rule of the time during the betrothal period. Matthew is careful to indicate that no human father had any role in Jesus’ conception.
gave birth to a son The date of Jesus’ birth is approximately 5 BC, based on aligning it with the reign of Herod the Great (compare note on Matt 2:1).
Why does in the passage the author inform us that Joseph was a just man? Because as Joseph did as the angel of the Lord had bidden him, speedily, without delay, and cheerfully, without dispute. By applying the general rules of the written word, we should in all the steps of our lives, particularly the great turns of them, take direction from God, and we shall find this safe and comfortable.
In all the steps of our lives, particularly the great turns of them, take direction from God, and we shall find this safe and comfortable.
Reference
Barry, J. D., Mangum, D., Brown, D. R., Heiser, M. S., Custis, M., Ritzema, E., … Bomar, D. (2012, 2016). Faithlife Study Bible (Mt 1:18–25). Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.
Henry, M., & Scott, T. (1997). Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary (Mt 1:18). Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems.