Tool Beta
The Ancient World Behind the Text
Pick a passage anywhere in the New Testament. See the customs and ideas a first reader knew without being told.
Matthew 1:18-25, Joseph and the betrothal
Mary is found pregnant while betrothed to Joseph. He plans a quiet divorce until an angel in a dream tells him to take her as his wife and name the child Jesus.
Matthew 1:18-25, in every translation this tool compares.
Mary and Joseph are pledged but not yet living together when she is found to be with child. Joseph, a just man, decides to end the betrothal privately. An angel tells him in a dream that the child is from the Holy Spirit and that he is to name him Jesus, and Joseph takes Mary home as his wife.
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- {"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-ideas\/marriage-and-divorce\/","n":"Divorce and the certificate","s":"A Jewish husband ended a marriage, or a betrothal, by handing his wife a written certificate before witnesses that left her free to marry again, and the teachers argued over the grounds. In Greek and Roman law either partner could end a marriage by leaving.","r":""}
- {"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-ideas\/honor-and-shame\/","n":"Honor before a crowd","s":"Public standing was the currency of the ancient Mediterranean. People competed for honor and dreaded being shamed in front of others.","r":""}
- {"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-ideas\/messiah\/","n":"The Messiah, son of David","s":"The anointed king most Jews expected from David's line, who would free Israel from its enemies. Nobody expected him to be killed.","r":""}
A divorce before elders in a court could have let Joseph keep money and would have exposed Mary's shame; a private divorce needed only a certificate and two or three witnesses (Keener's notes). Keener's background commentary adds that by this time the death penalty for unfaithfulness in betrothal was rarely if ever carried out, and his notes say Rome did not let subject peoples execute without permission; Bailey writes of forces that no doubt wanted her stoned. The name Jesus is the Hebrew Joshua, God saves, and Bailey points out the wordplay in Hebrew between the name and the verb to save. Wilkins adds that among many Jewish groups divorce for adultery was required, not optional, and that in Galilee, unlike Judea, sexual relations between betrothed partners were not tolerated and the girl stayed with her own family.
- NIV Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible, notes on Matthew 1:18, 1:19, 1:21 and 1:25
- Craig S. Keener, The IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament, on Matthew 1:18, 1:19 and 1:21
- ESV Study Bible, study notes on Matthew 1:18 and 1:19
- Kenneth E. Bailey, Jesus Through Middle Eastern Eyes, ch. 2, The Genealogy and Joseph the Just, and ch. 3, The Savior, the Wise Men and the Vision of Isaiah
- Michael J. Wilkins, Matthew, in Zondervan Illustrated Bible Backgrounds Commentary, ed. Clinton E. Arnold, on Matthew 1:19 and sidebar Jewish Marriage Customs: Betrothal and Wedding
