Matthew 1:25

And knew her not till she had brought forth her firstborn son: and he called his name JESUS. AND KNEW HER NOT UNTIL SHE HAD BROUGHT FORTH HER FIRST-BORN SON. [ ton (G3588) proototokon (G4416). Lachmann, Tischendorf, and Tregelles, on certainly ancient, but, as we think, insufficient authority, exclude ton (G3588) proototokon (G4416) from the text here, though inserting it in Luke 2:7, where it is undisputed. Here they read simply huiou (G5207) - 'until she had brought forth a son.']...

25._And knew her not _This passage afforded the pretext for great disturbances, which were introduced into the Church, at a former period, by Helvidius. The inference he drew from it was, that Mary remained a virgin no longer than till her first birth, and that afterwards she had other children by her husband. Jerome, on the other hand, earnestly and copiously defended Mary’s perpetual virginity. Let us rest satisfied with this, that no just and well-grounded inference can be drawn from these words of the Evangelist, as to what took place after the birth of Christ. He is called _first-born; _but it is for the sole purpose of informing us that he was born of a virgin. (115) It is said that Joseph _knew her not till she had brought forth her first-born son: _but this is limited to that very time. What took place afterwards, the historian does not inform us. Such is well known to have been...

18-25 Let us look to the circumstances under which the Son of God entered into this lower world, till we learn to despise the vain honours of this world, when compared with piety and holiness. The mystery of Christ's becoming man is to be adored, not curiously inquired into. It was so ordered that Christ should partake of our nature, yet that he should be pure from the defilement of original sin, which has been communicated to all the race of Adam. Observe, it is the thoughtful, not the unthinking, whom God will guide. God's time to come with instruction to his people, is when they are at a loss. Divine comforts most delight the soul when under the pressure of perplexed thoughts. Joseph is told that Mary should bring forth the Saviour of the world. He was to call his name Jesus, a Saviour. Jesus is the same name with Joshua. And the reason of that name is clear, for those whom Christ sa...

Verse Matthew 1:25. _HER FIRST-BORN SON_] Τον υιον αυτης τον πρω-οτοκον. Literally, _That son of hers, the first-born one_. That Mary might have had _other_ children, any person may reasonably and piously believe; that she had _others_, many think exceedingly probable, and that this text is at least an indirect proof of it. However this may be, the _perpetual virginity_ of Mary should not be made an article of faith. God has not made it one: indeed it can hardly bear the light of several texts in the Gospels. _HE KNEW HER NOT_] Had no matrimonial intercourse with her - TILL _she had brought forth that son of hers_, of whom the evangelist had been just speaking, _the first-born_, the eldest of the family, to whom the _birthright_ belonged, and who was miraculously born before she knew any man, being yet in a state of vir

KNEW HER NOT - The doctrine of the virginity of Mary before the birth of Jesus is a doctrine of the Scriptures, and is very important to be believed. But the Bible does not affirm that she had no children afterward. Indeed, all the accounts in the New Testament lead us to suppose that she _did_ have them. See the notes at Matthew 13:55. The language here evidently implies that she lived as the wife of Joseph _after_ the birth of Jesus. HER FIRST-BORN SON - Her oldest son, or the one who had the privilege of birthright by the law. This does not of necessity imply that she had other children, though it seems probable. It was the name given to the son which was born first, whether there were others or not. HIS NAME JESUS - This was given by divine appointment,...

EXPOSITION MATTHEW 1:1 JESUS THE CHRIST BY HUMAN ANCESTRY, (Parallel passage: Luke 3:23.) MATTHEW 1:1 THE BOOK OF THE GENERATION. As St. Matthew was writing only for Jews, and they, by reason of their Old Testament prophecies, looked for the Messiah to be born of a certain family, he begins his Gospel with a pedigree of Jesus. In this he mentions, by way of introduction, the two points to which his countrymen would have special regard—the descent of Jesus from David, the founder of the royal line, him in whose descendants the Ruler of Israel must

"AND KNEW HER NOT",.... Or "but he knew her not", και answering to the Hebrew ו that is, had carnal knowledge of her, or copulation with her, though his wife. The words are an euphemism, or a modest way of expressing the conjugal act, and is a very ancient one, see Genesis 4:1 and what has been used in nations and languages. And this conduct of his was necessary, TILL SHE HAD BROUGHT FORTH HER FIRSTBORN; that it might be manifest not only that she conceived, being a virgin, but also that she brought forth, being a virgin: for both are signified in the prophecy before related, "a virgin shall conceive and bring forth a son"; which is all one as if it had been said, a virgin shall conceive, and "a virgin" shall bring forth a son. The "firstborn" is that which first opens the womb of its mother, whether any follows after or not,...

JESUS The Greek form of the Hebrew, "Jehoshua", meaning "saviour"....

MATTHEW 1:25 ui`o,n {A} The Textus Receptus, following C D* K W D P most minuscules _al,_ inserts to,n before ui`o,n and adds auvth/j to.n prwto,tokon (“_her firstborn_ son”) from Luke 2:7. The reading of the Sinaitic Syriac (“she bore _to him_ [to Joseph] a son”) is in conformity with the singular reading of this manuscript in ver. Matthew 1:16 (see the discussion above) and its reading (shared with syrc) in ver....

ANALYSIS AND ANNOTATIONS I. The King and the Offer of the Kingdom. Chapter s 1-12. _ 1. Jesus Christ, the Son of David, the Son of Abraham. (Matthew 1:1 .) 2. From Abraham to David. (Matthew 1:2 .) 3. From David to the Captivity. (Matthew 1:6 .) 4. From the Captivity to the Birth of Christ. (Matthew 1:12) 5. The Birth of Jesus Christ. (Matthew 1:18 .)_ CHAPTER 1 The first chapter of the Gospel of Matthew is divided into two parts. In the first to the seventeenth verse we find the genealogy of Jesus Christ, and in the last