Matthew Chapter 1

Introductory remarks:

Matthew begins his gospel with the genealogy of Christ from Abraham to Joseph. If someone, not familiar with the Word of God, or someone not regimented in the study of God's Word, were to pick up the Book of Matthew and begin reading in chapter one they might think, what a dry Book. But to the one who is willing to study, we should find out the importance of this genealogy to the Jewish people, and to the Church in general. "We have here in this first chapter in verse 1-6 the genealogy from Abraham to David; in verses 7-11 the genealogy from Solomon to the Babylonian captivity; in verse 12-17 the genealogy from the Babylonian captivity to Joseph, the carpenter" (McGee).

The rest of the chapter from verses 18-25 is the story of the conception of Jesus.

The Genealogy of Jesus Christ

Verse 1, "The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham."

LGT "Book of [the] generation of Jesus Christ, son of David, son of Abraham."

"The book of the generation"

"The Book (gr. biblios) has no article in the Greek, but the following genitives make it definite. It is our word Bible that is here used, the Book as Sir Walter Scott called it as he lay dying. The usual word for book is a diminutive [little] form (biblion), a little book or roll such as we have in Luke 4:17, The roll of the prophet Isaiah. The pieces of papyrus, our paper, were pasted together to make a roll of varying length according to one's needs. Matthew of course, is not applying the word book to the Old Testament, probably not to his own book, but to the genealogical table of Jesus Christ (biblos geneseos Iesou Christou), the birth roll of Jesus Christ as Moffatt translates it

This is a Jewish phrase and we find it also in Genesis 5:1: This is the book of the generations of Adam. Genealogies are very important to the Jewish people. Barnes notes: "The Jews, moreover, as we do, kept such tables of their own families, and it is probable that this was copied from the record of the family of Joseph."

"Of Jesus Christ,"

"The name Jesus is the same as Savior. It is derived from the verb signifying to save. In Hebrew it is the same as Joshua. In two places in the New Testament it is used where it means Joshua, the leader of the Jews into Canaan, and in our translation the name Joshua should have been retained, Acts 7:45; Heb. 4:8. It was a very common name among the Jews. He shall save. This expresses the same as the name, and on this account the name was given to Him. He saves men by dying to redeem them; by giving the Holy Spirit to renew them (John 16:7, 8); by His power in enabling them to overcome their spiritual enemies, in defending them from danger, in guiding them in the path of duty, in sustaining them in trials and in death; and He will raise them up at the last day, and exalt them to a world of purity and love" (Barnes).

The word Christ "is properly an adjective, not a noun, and meaning anointed (chriou, to anoint). It is a translation of Hebrew Messiah, the king and spiritual ruler from David's race, promised under that name in the Old Testament (Ps. 2:2; Dan. 9:25, 26). Hence Andrew says to Simon, We have found the Messiah, which is, being interpreted, Christ (John 1:41; compare Acts 4:27; 10:38; 19:28). To us 'Christ' has become a proper name, and is therefore written without the definite article; but, in the body of the gospel narratives, since the identity of Jesus with the promised Messiah is still in question with the people, the article is habitually used, and the name should therefore be translated 'the Christ.' After the resurrection, when the recognition of Jesus as Messiah has become general, we find the word beginning to be used as a proper name, with or without the article. In this passage it omits the article, because it occurs in the heading of the chapter, and expresses the evangelist's own faith in Jesus as the Messiah" (Vincent).

"The son of David, the son of Abraham."

Matthew lists David's name before Abraham, even though he came after Abraham, for the simple reason he was stressing the Kingship of the Messiah. By Being the Son of Abraham he is truly Jew of Jews.

"The word son among the Jews had a great variety of significations. It means literally a son; a disciple, or one who is an object of tender affection - one who is to us as a son. In this place it means a descendant of David; or one who was of the family of David. It was important to trace the genealogy of Jesus up to David, because the promise had been made that the Messiah should be of his family, and all the Jews expected that it should be so [they also expected Christ to be King]. It would be impossible, therefore, to convince a Jew that Jesus was the Messiah, unless it could be shown that He was descended from David. [We have already seen in John's Gospel that the majority of the Jews didn't receive Him as Messiah, even though this proof was given] On His being a descendent of David see Jer.18: 5; Ps. 132:10, 11, compared with Acts 13:23, and John 7:42. The descendant of Abraham; the promise was made to Abraham also. See Gen. 12:3; 21:12; compare Heb. 11:13; Gal. 3:16. The Jews expected that the Messiah would be descended from him; and it was important, therefore, to trace the genealogy up to him also. Though Jesus was of humble birth, yet He was descended from most illustrious ancestors [of course we know it was Christ who made these two men renown, not the other way around]. From these two persons, the most eminent for piety, and the most renowned for their excellencies of all men of antiquity, sacred or profane, the Lord Jesus was descended; and though His birth and life were humble, yet they who regard an illustrious descent as of value [certainly not me], may find here all that is to be admired in piety, purity, patriotism, splendor, dignity, and renown" (Barnes).

The following verses 1-15 are the part of the book of the generations of Jesus Christ. I will not give the literal translation from the Greek, because there is no variation.

Verse 2, Abraham begat Isaac: and Isaac begat Jacob: and Jacob begat Judas and his brethren;

Verse 3, And Judah begat Perez and Zerah of Tamar; and Perez begat Hezron; and Hezron begat Ram;

Verse 4, And Ram begat Ammin'adab; and Ammin'adab begat Nahshon; and Nahshon begat Salmon;

Verse 5, And Salmon begat Boaz of Rahab; and Boaz begat Obed of Ruth; and Obed begat Jesse;

Verse 6, And Jesse begat David, the king; and David, the king, begat Solomon of her that had been the wife of Uriah;

Verse 7, And Solomon begat Rehoboam; and Rehoboam begat Abijah; and Abijah begat Asa;

Verse 8, And Asa begat Jehosh'aphat; and Jehoshaphat begat Joram; and Joram begat Uzziah;

Verse 9, And Uzziah begat Jotham; and Jotham begat Ahaz; and Ahaz begat Hezekiah;

Verse 10, And Hezekiah begat Manasseh; and Manasseh begat Amon; and Amon begat Josiah;

Verse 11, And Josiah begat Jeconiah and his brethren, about the time they were carried away to Babylon.

Verse 12, And after they were brought to Babylon, Jeconiah begat Shealtiel; and Shealtiel begat Zerubbabel;

Verse 13, And Zerubbabel begat Abiud; and Abiud begat Eliakim; and Eliakim begat Azor;

Verse 14, And Azor begat Sadoc; and Sadoc begat Achim; and Achim begat Eliud;

Verse 15, And Eliud begat Aleazar; and Eleazar begat Mathan; and Mathan begat Jacob;

This genealogy of our Lord is traced through the line of David's son Solomon, the royal line. Joseph is not the father of our Lord, only the legal father, the husband of Mary; Christ was not born of natural generation, He was born of the virgin Mary and her genealogy is traced back, by Luke, through David's son Nathan.

"Matthew begins the genealogy of our Lord from Abraham to Joseph. But this was not the blood-line. It was the royal line, however, and carried with it the throne rights. As Son of Abraham, our Lord is the promised Seed in whom all nations of the world shall be blessed: And in your [Abraham's] seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice (Genesis 22:18). As Son of David, He is the King who is to reign in righteousness upon David's throne: For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; And the government will rest on His shoulders; And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace. There will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace. On the throne of David and over His kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness from then on and for evermore. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will accomplish this (Isaiah 9:6, 7). His actual descent from David was through His mother, Mary, who was the daughter of Heli, but was married to Joseph before her Holy Child was born, thus giving Him legal, full title to the throne, though the curse upon Jeconiah (Jer. 22:30) would have precluded His occupancy of it had He actually been the son of Joseph" (H.A. Ironside).

Verse 16, "And Jacob begat Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ."

LGT "And Jacob begat the Joseph, the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, the One called Christ."

Verse 16 finishes the genealogy of our Lord. There is a significant switch here in language in that all the genealogy leading up to the birth of our Lord the word 'begat' is used; now here in this verse we have Jesus being spoken of having been born to the wife of Joseph, Mary. Joseph was not the father of our Lord, for Mary conceived of the Holy Spirit, and thus we have the virgin birth of the Lord Jesus.

"The demonstrative use of the article occurs with the name of Joseph, marking his peculiar relation to Jesus as the husband of Mary: the Joseph, the husband of Mary" (Vincent).

On this break in language here in verse 16 from the usual term 'begat' McGee notes: "You would expect it to continue by saying that Joseph begat Jesus, but it does not say that. Instead, it says, The Jacob begat Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is called the Christ. Obviously, Matthew is making it clear that Joseph is not the father of Jesus. Although he is the husband of Mary, he is not the father of Jesus. What is the explanation of this? Well, Matthew in the rest of this chapter will give us the explanation and will show how it fulfills Old Testament Prophecy."

Verse 17, "So all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations; and from David until the carrying away into Babylon are fourteen generations; and from the carrying away into Babylon unto Christ are fourteen generations."

LGT "Therefore, all the generations from Abraham until David [are] fourteen generations; and from David until the carrying away to Babylon, fourteen generations; and from the carrying away to Babylon until Christ fourteen generations."

Barnes lists the fourteen generations of each of the classes in the following:

The reason that Matthew gives the genealogy in groupings of fourteen is a total mystery to me because I have read so many divergent opinions one more, that is, mine, will not help to clear up the puzzle; I personally feel that it is of no particular significance, else it would have been supplied by Matthew; what is significant is that Christ has no earthly father, that is, He is miraculously virgin born, and this will be brought to light in the next verse.

The Birth of Jesus Christ

Verse 18, "Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise: When as His mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost."

LGT "Now the birth of Jesus Christ in this manner: His mother having been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together, she was found to be with child from [the] Holy Spirit."

"Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on the wise:"

The literal translation of this phrase is: Now the birth of Jesus Christ in this manner. Matthew is relating how the Birth of our Savior took place, which it was not of human origin. The differences of the Greek word here for the 'birth of our Lord' and the Greek word for the 'genealogy' in 1:1 is quite significant; the word used for genealogy in verse one is geneseos meaning a line of descent; here in this verse regarding the birth of the Lord the Greek word used is genesis meaning in this context 'begotten.' "It is in fact the word Genesis. The evangelist [Matthew] is about to describe, not the genesis of the heaven and the earth, but the genesis of Him who made the heaven and the earth, and who will yet make a new heaven and a new earth" (Morison - quoted by A.T. Robertson).

"When as His mother Mary was espoused to Joseph,"

The Greek word for 'espoused' is mnesteutheises meaning 'betrothed' [engaged]. "The narrative implies a distinction between betrothal and marriage. From the moment of her betrothal a woman was treated as if actually married. The union could be dissolved only by regular divorce. Breach of faithfulness was regarded as adultery, and was punishable with death (Deut. 22:23, 24), and the woman's property became virtually that of her betrothed, unless he had expressly renounced it; but, even in that case he was her natural heir" (Vincent). Robertson adds to that the betrothal was treated the same as marriage.

"Before they came together,"

This means before they consummated their marriage, that is, they had no sexual relations. This means that Mary was still a virgin.

"She was found with child of the Holy Ghost."

Jesus was the 'only begotten Son of God.' This is the manner of His incarnation; He was conceived of the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary. I enjoyed reading what Robertson notes on this phrase so much I give it full:

"She was found with child; this way of putting it, the usual Greek idiom, plainly shows that it was the discovery that shocked Joseph. He did not as yet know what Matthew plainly asserts that the Holy Ghost, not Joseph and not any man, was responsible for the pregnancy of Mary. The problem of the virgin birth of Jesus has been a disturbing fact to some through all the ages and is today to those who do not believe in the pre-existence of Christ, the Son of God, before His incarnation on earth. This is the primal [original] fact about the birth of Christ. The Incarnation of Christ is clearly stated by Paul (2 Cor. 8:9; Phil. 2:5-11; and involved in Col. 1:15-19) and by John (John 1:14; 17:5). If one frankly admits the actual pre-existence of Christ and the real Incarnation, he has taken the longest and more difficult step in the matter of the supernatural Birth of Christ. That being true, no merely human birth without the supernatural element can possibly explain the facts. Incarnation is far more than the indwelling of God by the Holy Spirit in the human heart. To admit real incarnation and also full human birth, both father and mother, creates a greater difficulty than to admit the Virgin Birth of Jesus begotten by the Holy Spirit, as Matthew here says, and born of the Virgin Mary. It is true that only Matthew and Luke tell the story of the supernatural birth of Jesus, though John 1:14 seems to refer to it [it not only seems to, it very definitely, undeniably does]. Mark has nothing whatever concerning the birth and childhood of Jesus and so cannot be used as a witness on the subject. Both Matthew and Luke present the birth of Jesus as not according to ordinary human birth. Jesus had no human father. There is such a thing in nature as parthenogenesis [reproduction without sexual union] in the lower orders of life, but the scientific fact has no bearing here. We see here God sending His Son into the world to be the world's Savior and He gave Him a human mother, but not a human father, so that Jesus Christ is both Son of God and Son of Man, the God Man. Matthew tells the story of the birth of Jesus from the standpoint of Joseph as Luke gives it from the standpoint of Mary. The two narratives harmonize with each other. One credits these most wonderful of all birth narratives according as he believes in the love and power of Almighty God to do what He wills. There is no miracle with God who has all power and all knowledge. The laws of nature are simply the expression of God's will, but He has not revealed all His will in the laws that we discover. God is Spirit. He is Person. He holds in His own power all life. John 3:16 is called the Little Gospel because it puts briefly the love of God for men in sending His own Son to live and die for us" (Word Pictures in the New Testament - A.T. Robertson).

Verse 19, "Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not willing to make her a public example, was minded to put her away privily."

LGT "But Joseph her husband, being righteous and not willing to make her a public spectacle, purposed in his mind to divorce her secretly."

"Then Joseph her husband,"

"The word 'husband' in the original does not imply that they were married. It means here the man to whom she was espoused [or engaged]" (Barnes).

"Being a just man,"

The phrase is literally, being a righteous man. Whenever the Word of God states that a man is 'righteous' it by no means implies that this righteousness was originated from within. Righteousness of God is always imputed. The Mosaic Law would require that Joseph would have Mary put to death by stoning (Deut. 22:23), and this would be perfectly 'just' of Joseph; however, this is not the intent of the original, which means he was a 'righteous' [dikaios] man. Being righteous, Joseph loved Mary very much, and did not want to expose her to public shame or even death.

"And not willing to make her a public example,"

Joseph loved Mary very much and he must have been devastated when he learned that Mary was pregnant; but being a believer who loved God, he was willing to let her go without any public shame. This was very honorable of Joseph and brings out the fact that God knows what He is doing when He chooses men and women for His service; He knew what He was doing when He chose Mary, and He knew what He was doing when He chose Joseph, as we will soon see.

"Was minded to put her away privily."

We read in Deuteronomy 24:1: When a man takes a wife and marries her, and it happens that she finds no favor in his eyes because he has found some indecency in her, and he writes her a certificate of divorce and puts it in her hand and sends her out from his house." Joseph had the legal right under the Law to give Mary a writ of divorcement and let her leave him privately. "Joseph's perplexity, and his care what to do in this case. We may well imagine what a great trouble and disappointment it was to him to find one he had such an opinion of, and value for, come under the suspicion of such a heinous crime. Is this Mary? He began to think. 'How may we be deceived in those we think best of! How may we be disappointed in what we expect most from!' He is loath [unwilling] to believe so ill a thing of one whom he believed to be so good a woman; and yet the matter, as it is too bad to be excused, is also too plain to be denied. What a struggle this occasion in his breast between that jealousy which is the rage of man, and is cruel as the grave, on the one hand, and that affection which he has for Mary on the other!" (Matthew Henry).

Verse 20, "But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost."

LGT "And these things, having meditated on them, behold, an angel of [the] Lord, in a dream, appeared to him saying, Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take to your side Mary, [to be] your wife; for that which in her is begotten of [the] Holy Spirit."

"But while he thought on these things,"

Wuest, in his expanded translation has this phrase: After he had turned these things over in his mind. I think this has the meaning of 'meditating' or 'pondering' quite sufficiently. The 'these things' refers to the dilemma he found himself, of being a law abiding man who loved Mary, and not willing to subject her to public ridicule.

"Behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream,"

Before Joseph had a chance to act on the situation facing him, God took over to assure Joseph that everything was according to His plans.

This is how the Lord communicated with His children in the Old Testament. The word 'angel' does not have the article so it simply means that the Lord came to Joseph and spoke with him in his dream. The Lord does not communicate with His children in any other way today, in this 'Age of Grace', than through His Divinely Inspired Word. Anyone who claims that God spoke to them, and they are referring to anything else than God speaking to them through His Word, is either lying and trying to impress you with their 'holiness,' or they ate too much pizza before going to bed, and had a reaction caused by indigestion.

"Saying, Joseph, thou son of David,"

The Lord addresses Joseph the same as presented in 1: 1, 16. Again we see that our Lord was of the royal line, and the promised heir of king David.

"Fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife:"

This phrase is literally: Do not fear to take to your side, Mary [to be] your wife.

Here we have the messenger of the Lord causing Joseph's mind to be at ease concerning his beloved Mary. The Lord is saying to Joseph, through the messenger, don't hesitate to take Mary to be your wife.

"For that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost."

Here we have the angel assuring Joseph that Mary is as innocent today as when he first met her; the angel is telling Joseph that he should go ahead with his plans regardless of the social stigma that will go along with the marriage, because the baby in the womb of Mary is that 'Holy Promised One.' Barnes notes on conceived in her: "The direct creation of divine power. A body was thus prepared pure and holy, and free from the corruption of sin, in order that He might be qualified for the great work - the offering of a pure sacrifice to God. As this was necessary in order to the great work which He came to perform, Joseph is directed by an angel to receive her as pure and virtuous, and as every way worthy of his love."

Verse 21, "And she shall bring forth a Son, and thou shalt call His name JESUS: for He shall save His people from their sins."

LGT "And she will give birth to a Son, and you will call the name of Him, JESUS: for He will save His people from their sins."

"And she shall bring forth a Son,"

The phrase 'she shall bring forth a Son' is literally: she will give birth (tezetai a future active of tikto - to give birth) to a Son.

"And thou shalt call His name JESUS:"

The name Jesus is the same as the Old Testament name 'Joshua' meaning the same as 'a Savior.'

"For He shall save His people from their sins."

To save 'His people' is of course speaking of the Jews, the people of promise; however, as Paul will bring out later in his doctrine of 'free grace Salvation', all who believe on the Lord Jesus Christ will join the people of promise, in that, there is no difference between Jew and Greek: Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law, having become a curse for us - for it is written, CURSED IS EVERYONE WHO HANGS ON A TREE �in order that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith; There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's offspring, heirs according to promise (Gal. 3:13, 14, 28, 29 - NASB).

Verse 22, "Now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying,"

LGT "Now all this came to be that [God's purpose] might be fulfilled which was spoken through the prophet, saying,"

"Now this was done,"

The word 'this' is referring to all that Matthew had written about the birth of Christ Jesus.

"That it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophets, saying,"

The word 'that' gr. hina, introducing this second phrase is translated either 'in order that' or 'that.' This is the reason I added in my translation in brackets God's purpose. I am personally unable to see the fine distinction.

We must keep in mind that Matthew is writing to the Jews, as a Jew, so he naturally is inclined to stress that which had been previously written by the Old Testament prophets. "It has been said that there are over three hundred prophecies concerning the first coming of Christ that have been literally fulfilled. I don't know how many of them are in Matthew, but I do know that Matthew quoted more from the Old Testament than the other three gospel writers all together. It seems he records things and substantiates them from the Old Testament because he is not primarily trying to give a 'life of Christ' but showing that this is the fulfillment of the Old Testament prophecies concerning Him" (McGee).

"Saying,"

This word introduces the next verse where Matthew quotes from Isaiah 7:14.

Verse 23, "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."

LGT "Behold the virgin will be with child, and will give birth to a Son, and they will call His name Emmanuel, which is, being interpreted, The God with us."

"Behold, a virgin shall be with child,"

In the original Greek the word 'virgin' has an article 'the' in front of it, and this particularizes this specific virgin, Mary. Today there are a lot of pinheaded so-called 'theologians' that deny the virgin birth of Jesus, because they deny all the miracles in the Word; there are others that teach the 'immaculate conception', saying, that Mary was also sinless, which is totally contrary to the Word; Christ was the only human that was born without a sin nature, that is, He was conceived of the Holy Spirit, making Him truly human, through Mary, and truly divine, through the Holy Spirit. I do not believe a person can be saved and deny the virgin birth of our Lord. It takes a lot of finagling to mess with the Word of God to support anything other than what God intended us to receive.

"And they shall call His name Emmanuel,"

This verse implies that everyone who accepts Christ as the Savior of the world will call His name Emmanuel, that is, that God will dwell with man on this earth. It is interesting that at the 'Great White Throne of Judgment', as we have just been studying in the Revelation, every knee will bow and make this confession, that is, even unbelievers. "Emmanuel means 'God with us.' He can't be Emmanuel, God with us, unless He is virgin born. That's the only way! And notice, unless He is Emmanuel, He cannot be Jesus, the Savior. The reason they call Him Jesus, Savior, is because He is God with us. This truth about the One who came down to this earth is one of the most wonderful things in the Bible" (McGee).

"Which being interpreted is God with us."

"But surely the language of Isaiah has had marvelous illustration in the Incarnation [Christ became man] of Christ. This is Matthew's explanation of the meaning of Emmanuel, a descriptive appellation [designation] of Jesus Christ and more than a mere motto designation. God's help, Jesus= the Help of God, is thus seen. One day Jesus will say to Philip: He that has seen Me has seen the Father (John 14:9)" (Robertson).

"Matthew evidently intends more than was denoted by the simple use of such names. He had just given an account of the miraculous conception of Jesus; of His being begotten by the Holy Ghost. God was therefore His Father. He was divine as well as human. His appropriate name, therefore, was 'God with us.' And though the mere use of such a name would not prove that He had a divine nature, yet as Matthew uses it, and meant evidently to apply it, it does prove that Jesus was more than a man; that He was God as well as man. And it is this, which gives glory to the plan of redemption. It is this, which is the wonder of angels. It is this, which makes the plan so vast, so grand, so full of instruction and comfort to Christians: Who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even the death on a cross (Phil. 2:6-8)" (Barnes)

Verse 24, "Then Joseph, being raised from sleep, did as the angel of the Lord had bidden him, and took unto him his wife."

LGT "And Joseph, awakening from the sleep, did as the angel of the Lord had ordered, and he took to himself his wife."

"Then Joseph, being raised from sleep,"

Joseph awakened from 'the sleep' there is a definite article before 'sleep' meaning that it was the sleep that he had the vision.

"Did as the angel of the Lord had bidden him,"

Being fully awake and aware of the situation, obeyed the angels commands.

"And took unto him his wife."

Fully confident in the words of the Lord, through the angel, Joseph took Mary home as his wife.

Verse 25, "And knew her not till she had brought forth her firstborn Son; and he called His name JESUS."

LGT "And he knew her not until she brought forth [the] Son, and he called His name Jesus."

"And he knew her not till she brought forth her firstborn Son:

This phrase tells us that Joseph waited until after Jesus was born before he took up the normal relations of marriage with Mary, not as the Roman Catholic Church teaches, that Mary was a perpetual virgin, not only before marriage, even after. The word 'till' means literally, until after she brought forth the Son.

"Joseph lived in continence [self-denial] with Mary till the birth of Jesus. Matthew does not say that Mary bore no other children than Jesus. Her firstborn is not genuine here, but is part of the text in Luke 2:7. The perpetual virginity of Mary is not taught here. Jesus had brothers and sisters and the natural meaning is that there were younger children of Joseph and Mary and not children of Joseph by a previous marriage" (Robertson).

"And he called His name Jesus."

Joseph named this 'Gift of God' Jesus, as the angel directed him. "That Joseph called His name Jesus, according to the direction given him. God having appointed Him to be the Savior, which was intimated in His giving Him the name Jesus, we must accept of Him to be our Savior, and, in concurrence with that appointment, we must call Him Jesus our Savior" (Matthew Henry).

"But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honor; that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man (Heb. 2:9). He had to be a sacrifice that was acceptable. I couldn't die for the sins of the world. I can't even die a redemptive death for my own sins. But He can! How can Jesus be a Savior? Because He is Emmanuel, God with us. How did He get with us? He was virgin born. I say again, He was called Jesus. He was never called Emmanuel. But you cannot call Him Jesus unless He is Emmanuel, God with us. He must be Emmanuel to be the Savior of the world. That is how important the Virgin Birth is" (McGee).