In speaking of St. Joseph, St.
Matthew's Gospel (1:25) says: "and he had no marital relations with her until
she had borne a son...." Does this not infer that after Jesus' birth Mary and
Joseph lived as husband and wife?
Perhaps the most important thing to keep in mind is that
the original text of Matthew was written in Greek and the author came from a Semitic
background. Any English translation merely attempts to convey what the author meant in
the original language.
Analyzing 1:25 in The Gospel According to Matthew (Sheed & Ward),
Alexander Jones writes, "His sentence would
best be paraphrased: She brought forth a son without having relations with Joseph. The
Semitic turn of phrase, 'not...until,' while denying the action for the period preceding
the verb borne, implies nothing for the period which follows it: c.f. Genesis
8:7, 1 Timothy 4:13, etc."
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