The Angel Visits Joseph, Matthew 1:18-23
Matthew 1:18 Now the birth of Jesus [a]Christ was as follows: when His mother Mary had been [b]betrothed to Joseph, before they came together3 she was found to be with child by the Holy Spirit12. 19 And Joseph her husband, being a righteous man and not wanting to disgrace her, planned [c]to send her away secretly16. 20 But when he had considered this, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David4, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife; for [d]the Child who has been [e]conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. 21 She will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus7, for [f]He will save His people from their sins17.” 22 Now all this [g]took place to fulfill what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet: 23 “Behold, the virgin shall be with child and shall bear a Son, and they shall call His name [h]Immanuel,” which translated means, “God with us.”
Footnotes:
- Matthew 1:18 I.e. The Messiah
- Matthew 1:18 The first stage of marriage in Jewish culture, usually lasting for a year before the wedding night, more legal than an engagement
- Matthew 1:19 Or to divorce her
- Matthew 1:20 Lit that which
- Matthew 1:20 Lit begotten
- Matthew 1:21 Lit He Himself
- Matthew 1:22 Lit has happened
- Matthew 1:23 Or Emmanuel
Commentary
I at first included this passage in the same study as Gabriel’s appearance to Mary, but then I realized it took place after Mary had visited Elizabeth, which would have made Joseph all the more suspicious since Mary had been away for three months around the time she conceived. Since I had already done the work of notating the passage, you will find that the numerical superscript references do not begin at number one.
In Luke and Matthew both, we get a look at the relationship between Mary and Joseph at the time. They lived in Nazareth, which had a reputation for corruption, sort of like Vegas, but they were both righteous people. See this great sermon by Greg Laurie, for more on the circumstances surrounding the angel’s announcement https://www.harvest.org/watch-and-listen/webcast/watch/christmas-the-big-announcement. In the Jewish tradition, affianced couples said vows at the betrothal, making it a legally binding agreement (Deut 20:7; Jer 2:2). A change of intention on the part of either the bride or the groom at this stage would have been a serious matter, sometimes subject to a fine. A groom would choose his bride, and his agent (a family member or friend) would negotiate an agreement with the bride’s family. The oaths at the betrothal were often accompanied by gifts to the bride and to the bride’s parents, as well as a celebration feast and in some cases, a ring (Word in Life Study Bible pg. 1762). However, there was a year interval before the bride could move into the groom’s home and consummate the relationship, at which point they would be considered married. The scriptural references from Deuteronomy point to the laws surrounding an illegitimate union, demonstrating that if Joseph had found Mary to be unfaithful during this time, her punishment would be death by stoning. Based on the fact that the Bible says Joseph considered divorce after it became obvious that Mary was pregnant, it does not appear that Mary had attempted to tell Joseph of her visit from the angel, and unsurprisingly so. It would have seemed pretty outrageous to him without his own angelic visit. However, his willingness to treat her with dignity of privacy under the circumstances demonstrates his noble character, and the angel even addresses his regal lineage and legitimacy by calling him the son of David (Nelson’s KJV Bible Commentary Pg. 1164).
The angel tells Joseph to call the child by the Hebrew name Yehoshua (Jesus is the Greek form of Joshua), which means “Jehovah saves”, making the person and life of Jesus a foundational and central principle in the New Testament, since he is the Savior who was foretold. Matthew stops to call out that these things happened to fulfill the prophecy in Isaiah, and Matthew’s interpretation of the original Hebrew word ‘almah (he interprets it ‘parthenos’ in Greek, which means ‘virgin’) has been a source of much contention, since this is the foundation of legitimacy for the entire New Testament. There is a preponderance of evidence to support the fact that Isaiah’s original intent was to say that a virgin would give birth, so if you want to find out more about that, you can see E.J. Young, The Book of Isaiah, I, pp. 284-291; Studies in Isaiah, pp. 143-198; C Feinberg, “Virgin Birth in the Old Testament and Isaiah 7:14,” Bibliotheca Sacra 119, pp. 251-258; E. Hindson, Isaiah’s Immanuel, and “Development of the Interpretation of Isaiah 7:14,” Grace Journal, X, 1, 2 pp. 3-15, 19-25. Also, for more on the significance of the virgin birth, see R. Gromacki, The Virgin Birth: Doctrine of Deity; H. Hanke, The Validity of the Virgin Birth; J.G. Machen, The Virgin Birth of Christ (Nelson’s KJV Bible Commentary pg. 1164-1165).
I wonder about the difference in names between the prophecy in Isaiah, where he says the baby will be called Immanuel, and Gabriel’s prophecy, where he tells Mary and Joseph to call the baby Jesus. Some scholars contend that Immanuel is not a name, but a concept: that people will say Jesus’ presence on Earth is God dwelling with us, meaning that Immanuel is more than man. This makes sense because he could not be Jesus (Savior) without being Immanuel (God). In Isaiah 9:6, the child is called “Mighty God”. Matthew interpreted Immanuel in Matt. 1:23 via prophetic scriptures in Isaiah 7:14, 8:8, 8:10, where Isaiah delivers a prophecy that God would be with us, as a comfort to the threatened people of Judah and a climax to previous scripture references that God would be with us. In Exodus 3:12, God told Moses, “I will be with you.” Subsequently, when Moses asks what he should call God, He says, “I will be.” So the name of God = I will be, and when God says, “I will be with you,” we can interpret it as “God with you” (The Zondervan Pictoral Encyclopedia of the Bible Vol. 3 pg. 259). Following that, the Israelites begin using the name YHWH, which means “the God who will be with us”, and based on the context in which that name appears in the Bible, it seems to refer to both a physical manifestation of God, as well as the Holy Spirit.
See the next post here https://onthepath.online/2018/12/24/john-the-baptist-is-born/
Scripture References
Ex 3:12 And He said, “Certainly I will be with you, and this shall be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you: when you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall worship God at this mountain.”
Deut 20:7 And who is the man that is engaged to a woman and has not [a]married her? Let him depart and return to his house, otherwise he might die in the battle and another man [b]would marry her.
16Dt 22:20 “But if this charge is true, that the girl was not found a virgin, 21 then they shall bring out the girl to the doorway of her father’s house, and the men of her city shall stone her to death because she has committed an act of folly in Israel by playing the harlot in her father’s house; thus you shall purge the evil from among you. 22 “If a man is found lying with a married woman, then both of them shall die, the man who lay with the woman, and the woman; thus you shall purge the evil from Israel. 23 “If there is a girl who is a virgin engaged to a man, and another man finds her in the city and lies with her, 24 then you shall bring them both out to the gate of that city and you shall stone them to death; the girl, because she did not cry out in the city, and the man, because he has violated his neighbor’s wife. Thus you shall purge the evil from among you.
16Dt 24:1-4 “When a man takes a wife and marries her, and it happens that she finds no favor in his eyes because he has found some indecency in her, and he writes her a certificate of divorce and puts it in her hand and sends her out from his house, 2 and she leaves his house and goes and becomes another man’s wife, 3 and if the latter husband turns against her and writes her a certificate of divorce and puts it in her hand and sends her out of his house, or if the latter husband dies who took her to be his wife, 4 then her former husband who sent her away is not allowed to take her again to be his wife, since she has been defiled; for that is an abomination before the Lord, and you shall not bring sin on the land which the Lord your God gives you as an inheritance.
Is 7:14 Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, a virgin3 will be with child and bear a son, and she will call His name Immanuel.
Is 8:8 Then it will sweep on into Judah, it will overflow and pass through, It will reach even to the neck; And the spread of its wings will fill the breadth of your land, O Immanuel.
Is 8:10 Devise a plan, but it will be thwarted; State a proposal, but it will not stand, For God is with us.
Jer 2:2 Go and proclaim in the ears of Jerusalem, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord, “I remember concerning you the devotion of your youth, The love of your betrothals, Your following after Me in the wilderness, Through a land not sown.
Mt 1:16 Jacob was the father of Joseph4 the husband of Mary, by whom Jesus was born, who is called the Messiah.
Mt 1:25 but kept her a virgin until she gave birth to a Son; and he called His name Jesus7.
Mt 12:46 While He was still speaking to the crowds, behold, His mother3 and brothers were standing outside, seeking to speak to Him.
Luke 1:27 to a virgin3 engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the descendants4 of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary.
Lk 1:31 And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name Him Jesus7.
Lk 1:35 The angel answered and said to her, “The Holy Spirit12 will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; and for that reason the holy Child shall be called the Son of God.
Lk 2:4 Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the city of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and family of David4,
Lk 2:11 for today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior17, who is Christ the Lord.
Lk 2:21 And when eight days had passed, before His circumcision, His name was then called Jesus7, the name given by the angel before He was conceived in the womb.
Jn 1:29 The next day he saw Jesus coming to him and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin17 of the world!
16Jn 8:4 they said to Him, “Teacher, this woman has been caught in adultery, in the very act. 5 Now in the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women; what then do You say?”
Ac 4:12 And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved17.”
Ac 5:31 He is the one whom God exalted to His right hand as a Prince and a Savior, to grant repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins17.
Ac 13:23 From the descendants of this man, according to promise, God has brought to Israel a Savior17, Jesus,
Ac 13:38 Therefore let it be known to you, brethren, that through Him forgiveness of sins17 is proclaimed to you, 39 and through Him everyone who believes is freed17 from all things, from which you could not be freed through the Law of Moses.
17Col 1:20 and through Him to reconcile all things to Himself, having made peace through the blood of His cross; through Him, I say, whether things on earth or things in heaven. 21 And although you were formerly alienated and hostile in mind, engaged in evil deeds, 22 yet He has now reconciled you in His fleshly body through death, in order to present you before Him holy and blameless and beyond reproach— 23 if indeed you continue in the faith firmly established and steadfast, and not moved away from the hope of the gospel that you have heard, which was proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, was made a minister.
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