He Knew Her Not Until
And he knew her not till she brought forth her firstborn son:
and he called his name Jesus.
Matthew 1, 25
Most Protestants who
deny the Perpetual Virginity of Mary and wish to believe that Mary and Joseph
had conjugal relations and children of their own after the birth of Jesus often
cite Matthew 1:25 as a proof-text against this ancient Catholic dogma. The
problem with this, however, is that they try to support their belief by
super-imposing a modern English use of the preposition “until” on the sacred
text. Yet, to understand what Matthew is saying in the above passage we must
examine what the Hebrew and Greek meanings are for this word since the Gospel
wasn’t originally written in modern English, but in Hebrew, and then translated
into Koine Greek. Matthew himself was a Jewish Christian, and he addressed a
Hebrew audience when he wrote his gospel.
Unfortunately, the
meanings of words and phrases in the Bible are often lost in subsequent
translations. So, let’s examine this word in its original form and context for
ourselves and see what the sacred author means to say. For a moment, let’s
forget what this passage appears to mean by our common use of the word “until” in
casual, modern everyday English.
The Semitic and Greek words for “until” or “till” (‘ad/ heos) refer to the period that precedes an event. These prepositions do not function to imply what might come after it. What matters is only what happens before the event in question occurs. So, let us begin by looking at a couple of passages in the Hebrew Old Testament to see how this grammatical exponent is designed to function and convey meaning. The following verses translated from Hebrew into English are taken from the King James Bible.
לְדָוִ֗ד מִ֫זְמֹ֥ור נְאֻ֤ם יְהוָ֨ה ׀ לַֽאדֹנִ֗י שֵׁ֥ב לִֽימִינִ֑י עַד־אָשִׁ֥ית אֹ֝יְבֶ֗יךָ הֲדֹ֣ם לְרַגְלֶֽיךָ׃
A Psalm of David. The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my
right hand,
until I make thine enemies thy footstool.
- Psalm 110, 1
The preposition ‘aḏ
(עַד) literally means “up to the time of”. This Messianic prophecy is
referring to the period when Jesus shall sit at the right hand of God before or
up to the time his enemies are made his footstool. Obviously, the author doesn’t
intend to imply that Jesus will no longer be sitting at the right hand of God
after his enemies are made his footstool. Nor does Matthew mean to
imply that Joseph had conjugal relations with Mary after Jesus was born. All he
means to say is that the couple had no marital relations up to the time of
Jesus’ birth. Matthew originally wrote his gospel for Jewish Christians in
Hebrew (Aramaic was used orally.), so the Greek copy reflects his native
language. Let’s look at another example in the Old Testament.
לְמִיכַל֙ בַּת־שָׁא֔וּל לֹֽא־הָ֥יָה לָ֖הּ יָ֑לֶד עַ֖ד יֹ֥ום מֹותָֽהּ׃ פ
Therefore, Michal the daughter of Saul had no child unto the day of her death.
- 2 Samuel 6, 23
Again, we have the
preposition ‘ad, only the English translation is less ambiguous and
misleading with the word “unto” instead of “until.” In Hebrew, this verse
literally reads “up to”, “to”, or “until” (the day of). It is obvious that
Michal couldn’t have had any children after her death. But that is beside the
point. The only thing that matters is what the author intends to say, that
Michal was childless up to the day of her death, without any further irrelevant
or even nonsensical implications.
Surely, Matthew has no reason to express himself as to imply that Joseph had no marital intercourse with Mary until after Jesus was born to get his gospel message across to his audience. All he has to say is what he intends to say which is relevant to the gospel, that Joseph and Mary had no conjugal relations ‘before’ or ‘up until’ Jesus was born. He is underscoring the truth of the Incarnation, which wasn’t easy for many Jews to reconcile with their idea of the one, indivisible God. If he is implying anything, it’s that Mary conceived Jesus by the supernatural power of the Holy Spirit. This implication or hidden premise is contained in the statement that Joseph and Mary had no marital relations up to the time of Jesus’ birth and is relevant to what Matthew is proposing over and against traditional Judaic beliefs.
In the original
Greek translation of the Gospel of Matthew, the word for “until” is heos or
ἕως. Not unlike the Hebrew preposition, the word references the period leading
up to an event in question. It literally means “up to the time of” or
“hitherto” without necessarily implying anything unrelated that might come
after. Matthew is strictly concerned with how Mary and Joseph related to each
other prior to the conception and birth of Jesus. This is evident by the fact
that the author quotes Isaiah 7:14 in Vv. 22-23. His main point is that Jesus
is indeed the long-awaited Messiah of the Hebrew people, but he isn’t of
paternal human lineage as the Jews expect. If the evangelist meant Joseph did
not know his wife “until after” the birth of Jesus, we would have έως ότου
instead. Simply put, the Greek word for “until” does not mean or imply “until
after” but rather “up until.”
Nevertheless, some
Protestants adamantly maintain that, because the original Greek text reads heos
hou (ἕως οὗ), it follows a reference to the time after the birth of Jesus
can be made. The phrase heos hou (up to the time of – that) somehow lends them
the notion that Joseph did not have sexual relations with his wife Mary until
“after” she had brought forth her firstborn son. The Greek text literally reads:
“And (he) knew her not until that (time when) she had brought forth a son.”
However, the demonstrative “that” is being used to emphasize the couple had no
conjugal relations up until that time when Mary had brought forth Jesus. In
other words, she did not conceive her son by her husband’s seed. The use of the
negative form – “knew her not until” – really makes no difference, at least not
in Koine Greek, unlike modern English. It simply means the couple had no
marital relations up to the time Jesus was born, and so, Joseph isn’t his
natural father.
Anyway, many
Protestants contend that the grammatical structure of the verse (heos hou)
indicates that the action or state (Mary’s virginity) of the first clause
discontinues after the event (birth of Jesus).
However, heos hou can be used interchangeably with heos and mean the
same thing “up to the time of.” We find another example in the NT: ‘But when
Paul had appealed to be kept in custody for the decision of the emperor, I
commanded him to be held until (heos hou) I could send him to Caesar”
(Acts 25:21). We know for a fact that the apostle remained in custody after he
was sent to Caesar; he was held while en route to Rome (Acts 27:1) and for a
short time after he arrived there (Acts 29:16). Thus, the action of the main
clause (the command to be held in custody) did not necessarily cease upon the
pivotal event (being sent to Caesar) in the linear course of time. Paul was no
more sent to Caesar free of his chains at any point than Mary was no longer a
virgin sometime after the birth of Christ.
Still, one could
easily have the impression that Matthew is implying Joseph and Mary had marital
relations after Jesus was born when he reads the text in modern English and
even with preconceived notions. But the word “until” does not reference the
future in the ancient Greek and Hebrew languages and it might not even be in
modern English use, depending on the speaker’s intention. For instance: “After
the teacher had left the classroom, the students did not make any noise until
he returned.” The speaker could mean in all probability that the students
worked quietly after the teacher had left the classroom and continued to work
quietly before or up until the time he returned. He doesn’t necessarily have to
mean that the students became noisy after the teacher returned.
Likewise, Matthew
mustn’t necessarily mean to imply that Mary and Joseph had no conjugal
relations until after Jesus was born (Joseph did not know Mary – he knew her
not – until (heos hou) the birth of her firstborn son.) but must mean
they never “came together” before he was conceived to underscore the Messiah’s
divinity. After all, the couple celebrated their second and final marriage
ceremony (Nisuin) about the time Jesus was born. He was understood to be
“the carpenter’s son” (Mt 13:55).
I’m afraid many
Protestants overlook or choose to ignore one significant factor in the
equation. The verb used for “know” (eginosken) is in the imperfect
tense, not in the aorist (egno) which means that the emphasis is placed
on the duration of time in which Mary and Joseph had no marital relations. In
other words, the couple had no intercourse during the time that preceded the
birth of Jesus. This fits well with the context of the verse, that being the
virginal conception of Jesus and its consequences of natural paternity. If
Matthew had wished to imply (which wasn’t necessary) that Mary and Joseph
consummated their marriage like most other married couples had, he would have
used the aorist.
The aorist is an
unqualified past tense of a verb without reference to the duration or
completion of the main action. Thus, the future isn’t left aside. The
possibility of the couple having marital relations after the birth of Jesus
isn’t excluded and can be implied. So, Matthew’s intention isn’t to tell us
that Mary and Joseph had no conjugal relations until after the birth of Jesus.
Rather, his intention is that the couple had no conjugal relations before Jesus
was born to reiterate what he writes in the preceding verses (1:22-23): ‘Now
all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the LORD by
the prophet, saying, “Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring
forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is,
God with us.”’
It is important for us, therefore, to ask ourselves what it is that Matthew primarily intends to say to his audience without having to needlessly infer anything mundane before we presumptuously venture to force our own interpretation onto the text to suit our personal religious or cultural bias.
“And when he had taken her, he knew her not, till she had
brought forth her first-born Son.’ He
hath here used the word till,’ not that
thou shouldest suspect that afterwards he did know her, but
to inform thee that
before the birth the Virgin was wholly untouched by man. But why then, it may
be said, hath he used the word, till’? Because it is usual in Scripture often
to do this, and to use this
expression without reference to limited times. For
so with respect to the ark likewise, it is said, The
raven returned not till
the earth was dried up.’ And yet it did not return even after that time. And
when discoursing also of God, the Scripture saith, From age until age Thou
art,’ not as fixing limits
in this case. And again, when it is preaching the
Gospel beforehand, and saying, In his days shall
righteousness flourish, and
abundance of peace, till the moon be taken away,’ it doth not set a limit
to
this fair part of creation. So then here likewise, it uses the word “till,” to
make certain what was
before the birth, but as to what follows, it leaves thee
to make the inference.”
St. John Chrysostom, Gospel of Matthew, V:5
(A.D. 370)
And Mary said to the angel: How shall this be done,
because I know not man?
Luke 1, 34
.png)
Salve Regina!