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Joseph, the husband of Mary and earthly father of Jesus, plays a crucial role in the early life of Jesus as recorded in the New Testament. However, the Bible provides limited information about his later life and eventual fate.
In the genealogy, Joseph is called the “husband of Mary,” who gave birth to Jesus (Matthew 1:16). Describing the background of their relationship, Matthew 1:18 reads, “His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph.” Here Matthew uses the same Greek verb as Luke.
Jewish custom allowed that they be considered as husband and wife, though the marriage had not yet been consummated. The point is being made that Joseph and Mary had experienced no sexual contact with each other, as verse 18 “before they came together” points out.
The Catholic doctrine of the eternal virginity of Mary is not supported by the Scripture. They claim these others were sons of Joseph by a former wife, but there is no biblical foundation for this nor for the perpetual virginity of Mary.
If Joseph and Mary were married—and they were—and they were planning the normal course, Mary would have known full and well how she could and would have a baby. As St. Augustine said, the question reveals the fact that this was not just your average, ordinary marriage.
The adage “you marry the family” was even more true in Mary and Joseph’s time than today. Fiensy explains that in the first century, marriages were transactional unions between families. Children did not choose their spouses; rather parents would arrange marriages on behalf of their children.
Joseph, a Levite from Cyprus, surnamed Barnabas, who sold a field and gave the money to the apostles (Acts 4:36). We look today at Joseph the husband of Mary, the foster father of Jesus. The common people around Nazareth identified Jesus as “the son of Joseph” (Luke 4:22; John 1:45; and 6:42).
While the Gospels never explicitly say that Mary and Joseph married before Jesus’ birth, 1st-century readers would have assumed that if they had lived together, traveled together and raised a child together as it says in the Gospels, they must have been married.
Did Mary have marital relations with Joseph after Christ's birth, as stated in Matthew 1:25? Answer : For many, it would seem so, since Matthew uses the word until : “[Joseph] knew her [Mary] not until she had borne a son; and he called his name Jesus” (Matt. 1:25; emphasis added).
Mary and Joseph were tested by a miracle. An angel saved them. Although the couple was engaged to be married, the conception of Jesus nearly drove them apart—until the divine intervened.