MattheW 1:25 | 1527 the ex ile to Bab ylon , and four teen from the ex ile to the Mes si ah . seph son of Da vid , do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife , be cause what is con ceived in her is from the Holy Spir it . 21 She will give birth to a son , and you are to give him the name Jesus , c be cause he will save his peo ple from their sins .”
22
All this took place to ful fill what the Lord had said through the proph et : 23 “ The vir gin will con ceive and give birth to a son , and they will call him Im man u el ” d ( which means “ God with us ”).
24
When Jo seph woke up , he did what the an gel of the Lord had com mand ed him and took Mary home as his wife . 25 But he did not con sum mate
Joseph Accepts Jesus as His Son
18
This is how the birth of Jesus the Mes si ah came about a : His moth er Mary was pledged to be mar ried to Jo seph , but be fore they came togeth er , she was found to be preg nant through the Holy Spir it . 19 Be cause Jo seph her hus band was faith ful to the law , and yet b did not want to ex pose her to pub lic dis grace , he had in mind to di vorce her qui et ly .
20
But af ter he had con sid ered this , an an gel of the Lord ap peared to him in a dream and said , “ Joa
18 Or The origin of Jesus the Messiah was like this b
19 Or was a righteous man and c
21 Jesus is the Greek form of Joshua , which means the Lord saves . d
23 Isaiah 7:14
WOMEN IN JESUS ’ GENEALOGY
Tamar |
Rahab |
Ruth |
Uriah ’ s Wife |
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( Bathsheba ) |
Ge 38 Jos 2 ; 6:22 – 25
Mary
Ru 1 – 4 |
2Sa 11 |
Mt 1 – 2 ; |
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Lk 1 – 2 |
1:18 – 25 The birth narrative in Matthew gives a different perspective from Luke ’ s ( see Lk 1 – 2 ). Matthew cites several passages from the OT that show Jesus to be Israel ’ s long-awaited Messiah .
1:18 pledged to be married Refers to a permanent relationship nearly equivalent to marriage . 1:19 did not want to expose her to public disgrace The law demanded that an adulteress receive the death penalty ( Dt 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 . 1:21 you are to give him the 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 Is 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 fulfill Matthew often interprets events in Jesus ’ life in terms of prophecies from the OT ; this is the first instance of this type of interpretation . See the table “ Jesus ’ Fulfillment of OT Prophecy ” on p . 1573 . 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 ( Ge 24:43 ; Ex 2:8 ; Ps 68:25 ; Pr 30:19 ; SS 1:3 ; 6:8 ); in contrast , parthenos normally indicates a virgin , though not exclusively ( in the Septuagint version of Ge 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 ; Jdg 21:12 ; Dt 22:23,28 ; Ex 22:16 ), almah is used as a synonym for bethulah ( Ge 24:16,43 ; compare Ge 24:14 ). In addition , SS 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 ( Est 2:3,8,14 ), but in Esther , the virgins are described as na ’ arah bethulah (“ young virgins ”). This parallel suggests SS 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 ). they will call him Immanuel 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 Mt 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 . The book of Isaiah as a whole connects Immanuel with the Messiah figure from David ’ s line ( Isa 11:10 ) and by extension the suffering servant ( Isa 52:13 — 53:12 ). Like the Messiah in Isaiah ’ s portrayal over 500 years earlier , Jesus comes from David ’ s line as God ’ s anointed one and then suffers and dies on behalf of humanity — to save people from their sins . He is also prophesied as being resurrected ( Isa 53:10 ). See note on Isa 7:14 ; note on Isa 11:10 ; note on Isa 53:2 ; and note on Isa 53:10 . 1:25 he did not consummate their marriage 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 2:1 ).