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Matthew

About this book
Chapter 1

1 This is the record of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham. 2 Abraham was the father of Isaac, Isaac the father of Jacob, Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers, 3 Judah the father of Perez and Zerah (by Tamar), Perez the father of Hezron, Hezron the father of Ram, 4 Ram the father of Amminadab, Amminadab the father of Nahshon, Nahshon the father of Salmon, 5 Salmon the father of Boaz (by Rahab), Boaz the father of Obed (by Ruth), Obed the father of Jesse, 6 and Jesse the father of David the king. David was the father of Solomon (by the wife of Uriah), 7 Solomon the father of Rehoboam, Rehoboam the father of Abijah, Abijah the father of Asa, 8 Asa the father of Jehoshaphat, Jehoshaphat the father of Joram, Joram the father of Uzziah, 9 Uzziah the father of Jotham, Jotham the father of Ahaz, Ahaz the father of Hezekiah, 10 Hezekiah the father of Manasseh, Manasseh the father of Amon, Amon the father of Josiah, 11 and Josiah the father of Jeconiah and his brothers, at the time of the deportation to Babylon. 12 After the deportation to Babylon, Jeconiah became the father of Shealtiel, Shealtiel the father of Zerubbabel, 13 Zerubbabel the father of Abiud, Abiud the father of Eliakim, Eliakim the father of Azor, 14 Azor the father of Zadok, Zadok the father of Achim, Achim the father of Eliud, 15 Eliud the father of Eleazar, Eleazar the father of Matthan, Matthan the father of Jacob, 16 and Jacob the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary, by whom Jesus was born, who is called Christ. 17 So all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations, and from David to the deportation to Babylon, fourteen generations, and from the deportation to Babylon to Christ, fourteen generations. 18 Now the birth of Jesus Christ happened this way. While his mother Mary was engaged to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit.⁠ 19 Because Joseph, her husband to be, was a righteous man, and because he did not want to disgrace her, he intended to divorce her privately.⁠ 20 When he had contemplated this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife because the child conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.⁠ 21 She will give birth to a son and you will name him Jesus because he will save his people from their sins.”⁠ 22 This all happened so that what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet would be fulfilled: 23 “Look! The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will name him Emmanuel,” which means “God with us.”⁠ 24 When Joseph awoke from sleep he did what the angel of the Lord told him. He took his wife, 25 but did not have marital relations with her until she gave birth to a son, whom he named Jesus.

Texts in conversation

Compare Deuteronomy 22:20 and Matthew 1:19 and Protoevangelium of James 14

Hebrew Bible · New Testament · Early Christian

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Summary

The Protoevangelium of James expands the story of Matthew by showing Joseph deciding how to respond to Mary’s pregnancy. His struggle draws on the commands in Deuteronomy about accusations and virginity, explaining his hesitation to marry her.

Passages

Deuteronomy 22:20

Hebrew Bible
16 The young woman’s father must say to the elders, “I gave my daughter to this man and he has rejected her. 17 Moreover, he has raised accusations of impropriety by saying, ‘I discovered your daughter was not a virgin,’ but this is the evidence of my daughter’s virginity!” The cloth must then be spread out before the city’s elders. 18 The elders of that city must then seize the man and punish him. 19 They will fine him 100 shekels of silver and give them to the young woman’s father, for the man who made the accusation ruined the reputation of an Israelite virgin. She will then become his wife, and he may never divorce her as long as he lives. 20 But if the accusation is true and the young woman was not a virgin, 21 the men of her city must bring the young woman to the door of her father’s house and stone her to death, for she has done a disgraceful thing in Israel by behaving like a prostitute while living in her father’s house. In this way you will purge the evil from among you.
750–400 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Deuteronomy

Matthew 1:19

New Testament
18 Now the birth of Jesus Christ happened this way. While his mother Mary was engaged to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit. 19 Because Joseph, her husband to be, was a righteous man, and because he did not want to disgrace her, he intended to divorce her privately. 20 When he had contemplated this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife because the child conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.
70–90 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in Matthew

Protoevangelium of James 14

Early Christian · Gospel of James
14 Joseph was deeply afraid and withdrew from Mary, thinking about what he should do. He said to himself, “If I cover up her sin, I will be going against the law of the Lord; but if I expose her to the people of Israel, I fear that what’s inside her might be from an angel, and I’ll be responsible for condemning innocent blood to death. What should I do? I’ll quietly divorce her.” As night fell, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Don’t be afraid because of this girl, for what’s conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a Son, and you will name Him Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.” Joseph woke from his dream, glorifying the God of Israel for the grace he had been given, and he watched over her.
150–200 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in the Protoevangelium of James

References

"... The Matthean materials interrupt the original sequence of the narrative in The Protevangelium of James 14:01a and continue to the end of chapter 14. An intermediary passage occurs between Protevangelium 14:01b and the close parallels with Matthew that begin at Protoevangelium 14:04b. Protoevangelium 14:01b-04a represents an expansion of Matthew 1:19, in which Joseph has made his decision to put Mary away in secret immediately after she was found pregnant in Matthew 1:18. But in Protoevangelium 14:01b-04a, Joseph engages in an internal dialogue considering what he should do about Mary. Joseph pondered two options. In Protoevangelium 14:02, he considered the risk that if he hid her sin, he would violate the law of the Lord. (Compare the marriage laws in Deuteronomy 22:13-30 according to which Mary would be guilty of a capital offense and would be stoned to death.) In Protoevangelium 14:03, he thought of exposing her but feared that if her child was of “angelic” origin, he would be guilty of betraying innocent blood to a judgment of death ..."
George Zervos, The Protevangelium of James: Greek Text and English Translation with a Critical Introduction (Volume 1) (London: T&T Clark, 2019), 64.

References are not endorsements of their contents. Read each reference in full to understand its author's intentions in using these texts.

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Deuteronomy 22:20 and Matthew 1:19 and Protoevangelium of James 14

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