Smoodock's Blog

We are introduced to Joseph at the end of Jesus’ genealogy in Matthew 1:16. He is the husband of Mary, actually the betrothed husband, according to Matthew 1:18, vis-à-vis the official wedding had not yet taken place. Joseph is also the son of Jacob, according to verse-16, which hints to the Jewish reader (a gentile reader would miss this) about another Joseph and son of Jacob in the Book of Genesis. There we find dreams were very important to the account, just as Joseph dreams a dream about Mary and her pregnancy (Matthew 1:20), and this dream is significant to the rest of the account of Jesus’ birth. An additional point that puts the two Josephs in parallel is the fact that they are both righteous men. The scriptures do not mention any of their sins, so they are placed in a very good light as they stand before God.

Later, in another dream, Joseph would be warned by an angel to flee to Egypt to protect the babe, and this was done to fulfill a point in scripture that says, “Out of Egypt, have I called my son” (Matthew 2:14-15; cp. Exodus 4:22; Numbers 24:5, 8; Hosea 11:1). Joseph of Genesis, was forced to go down to Egypt, and in a manner of speaking so was Joseph, the husband of Mary, if he hoped to save Jesus, whom Herod sought to kill. These things are significant to the Gospel of Matthew, if we wish to authenticate it as a work by Matthew to the Jews, prior to the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70. If this Gospel was written late, when the Jews were scattered throughout the Roman Empire and gentiles were increasing in number to the point where Jews were becoming the minority, why would Matthew put so many subtle hints to the Old Covenant text, that only a Jew would understand? Wouldn’t his Jewishness be wasted on a gentile church? Just a thought!

Coming back to Joseph in Matthew’ account, in the dream he was told by the angel not to be afraid to take (G3880 – paralambano) Mary as his wife, because what has been conceived in her was the work of the Holy Spirit (Matthew 1:20). When he awoke, Joseph took (G3880) Mary as his wife, vis-à-vis they officially became husband and wife through a wedding ceremony (probably private). In doing so, Joseph was saying: “This is my son!” and this is important to the account. How so? The Babylonian Talmud says:

MISHNAH. IF A PERSON STATES, ‘THIS IS MY SON’, HE IS BELIEVED…

GEMARA. ‘THIS IS MY SON’, HE IS BELIEVED; in [respect of] what legal practice? — Rab Judah said in the name of Samuel: “As regards the right of heirship, and the exemption of his wife from levirate marriage.[1]

This is important, because Joseph is told to name the child (Matthew 1:21), which he does (Matthew 1:25). Thus, by taking Mary, his espoused, but pregnant wife, as his formal wife through a wedding ceremony, he was declaring to all that he was the child’s father, and, according to the oral tradition of the Babylonian Talmud, he was to be believed. In practice, however, not everyone did believe (cp. John 8: 19, 39, 41).[2] [3]

Continuing in the context that Joseph “took” (G3880) Jesus as his son, after he had taken (G3880) Mary as his wife, he had another dream in which the angel tole him to take (G3880) Mary and the child to Egypt, because Herod would seek the child’s life (Matthew 2:13), so Joseph took (G3880) the child to Egypt for safety (Matthew 2:14). After the danger was over, the angel again appeared to Joseph in a dream and told him to take (G3880) the child and Mary back to Israel (Matthew 2:20), so Joseph took Jesus and Mary and returned to the land of Israel (Matthew 2:21). The point of all this is that Joseph accepted his responsibility as the child’s father and protector. He did what a father should do.

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[1] See Babylonian Talmud: Bava Bartra 134a. The Mishnah is the law, and the Gemara is its interpretation. What it means is in the case of a levirate marriage, which is the case of Joseph’s and Mary’s marriage, if the husband declares that his wife’s son is “his son” then the child inherits what is the father’s. Otherwise, the child inherits only what pertained to his mother’s father. A levirate marriage was one, where one family had no sons (the case of Heli, Mary’s father; see Luke 3:23, which is Mary’s ancestry to Adam), and a near relative (Joseph’s family) would marry the daughter of the man having no sons to inherit, and the firstborn would inherit the wealth of his (Heli’s) line. However, if the husband of the levirate marriage declares the firstborn son is “his son,” the child inherits both lines.

[2] See my study following this one: “Mary the Mother of Jesus!”

[3] This study presumes an autumn birth of Jesus, occurring on the Feast of Trumpets; see The Birth of Jesus; Watching their Flocks by Night; and Mary’s Journey to the Hill Country.