19
And JosephἸωσὴφ δὲher husband,ὁ ἀνὴρ αὐτῆςbeingὢνa righteous manδίκαιοςandκαὶnotμὴwantingθέλωνto expose her publicly,αὐτὴν δειγματίσαιdecidedἐβουλήθηto send her awayἀπολῦσαι αὐτήνsecretly.λάθρᾳ
Matthew 1:19
Study it in the app“And Joseph her husband, being a righteous man and not wanting to expose her publicly, decided to send her away secretly.”
An angel tells Joseph the child is from the Holy Spirit and will be named JesusWho Jesus Is
With the Greek beneath
Matthew 1:19, word by word
- And JosephἸωσὴφIōsēph
Joseph
Joseph, the name of several men in the Bible: the son of Jacob, Mary's husband (a descendant of David), Joseph of Arimathea, and others.
Where else “Iōsēph” appears- her husbandἀνὴρanēr
husband
The married man, his wife's partner.
Where else “anēr” appears- beingὢνōn
be
To be: says who or what something is.
Where else “ōn” appears- a righteous manδίκαιοςdikaios
righteous
One who lives well, as God wants.
Where else “dikaios” appears- wantingθέλωνthelōn
want
To have the desire or the resolve for something.
Where else “thelōn” appears- to expose her publiclyδειγματίσαιdeigmatisai
disgrace publicly
Expose to public shame, disgrace before everyone.
Where else “deigmatisai” appears- decidedἐβουλήθηeboulēthē
want, intend
Want firmly, resolve, intend.
Where else “eboulēthē” appears- to send her awayἀπολῦσαιapolysai
divorce
To end a marriage by sending the wife away.
Where else “apolysai” appears- secretlyλάθρᾳlathrai
secretly
Secretly, without anyone knowing.
Where else “lathrai” appears
Translation note
“Send her away”: break off the engagement, which was binding like a marriage and could be undone only with a certificate of divorce.
The context
18Now the origin of Jesus the Messiah was like this: when his mother Mary had been engaged to Joseph, before they came together she was found pregnant by the Holy Spirit.
19 · This verse (above)
20And as he was considering these things, look, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take to yourself Mary as your wife, for what has been conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.
To study Matthew 1 in a group
1. What it says
Besides Mary, which women are named in the list of Jesus' ancestors (vv. 3–6)?
2. What it means
Why does Matthew open his book with a long list that ends with “the Messiah” (vv. 1, 17)?
3. How I live it
Being a righteous man, Joseph did not want to expose Mary publicly (v. 19). How can you treat someone with care when news hurts you?