With regard to the first point, it may be noted that ' after the betrothal the bride was under the same restrictions as a wife. If unfaithful, slie ranked and was punished as an adulteress (Dt 22^'-) ; and, on the other hand, tlie bridegroom, if he wished to break the contract, had tlie same privileges, and had also to observe the same for- malities, as in the ease of divorce. The situation is illustrated in the history of Joseph and Mary,
who were on the footing of betrothal' (art. 'Mar- riage ' in Hastings' DB iii. ; cf. also Nebe, Kind- heitsgeschichte, pp. 199, 200, and Zahn, I.e. p. 71). In this connexion one may also refer to another passage in Dalman with reference to the descent of Jesus : 'A case such as that of Jesus,' he writes, ' was, of course, not anticipated by the Law ; but if no other human fatherhood was alleged, then the child must have been regarded as bestowed by God upon the house of Joseph ; for a betrothed woman, according to Jewish law, already occupied the same status as a wife' (Die Worte Jesu, i. p. 263). See Betrothal.
If we bear this in mind, we can see how easy it is to interpret the reading of the Sinaitic-Syriac palimpsest, of which so much has been made, in Lk 2P 'he and Mary his wife, that they might be enrolled.' All that the words show, if we allow that they are the correct reading, is that Mary was under the full legal protection of Joseph : ' unless, indeed, our Lord had passed in common estimation as the son of Joseph,' it has been well pointed out that it is difiicult to see how Joseph, according to Mt 119, could have gratified his wish * not to expose * Mary. And so again * Joseph was without doubt the foster-father of our Lord ; and if any register of births was kept in the Temple or elsewhere, hewould probably be there described as the actual father. Such he was from a social point of view, and it was therefore no wilful suppression of the truth when the most blessed amongst women said to her Son, **Tbv father and I have sought thee sorrow- ing'"(Mrs. Lewis in the Expos. Times, 1900, 1901, where illus- trations from Eastern social customs may be also found). Cf. W. C. Allen, Interpreter, Feb. 1905, p. 113.
3. Sobriety and delieacy of the narrative. — If we turn again to what we may call the inwardness of St. Matthew's story, we can scarcely fail to be struck with its singular sobriety and reserve. We hear nothing of any anger or reproach on the part of Joseph against his betrothed, although as 'a righteous man' he feels that only one course is open to him. But with this decision other con- siderations were evidently still contending, — con- siderations the very existence of which bore testi- mony to the purity and fidelity of Mary. The words of the angel (Mt 1'-") say nothing of the appeasement of indignation, they speak rather of the befitting conquest of hesitation and doubt: ' fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife,' i.e. to take unto thee one who had and still has a claim to that honoured and cherished name. No wonder that Dean Plumptre could write that the glimpse given us into the character of Joseph is one of singular tenderness and beauty (see Ellicott's Com- mentary, in loco). If any one will read this delicate and beautiful description and place it side by side with that given us in the Protevangelittm Jacobi, where, e.g., both Joseph and the priest bitterly reproach Mary, and a whole] series of prurient details is given, he will again become painfully aware of the gulf which separates the Canonical from the Apocryphal Gospels.
4. Objections taken to the contents of Mt 1. 2.— St. Matthew's record, no less than that of St. Luke, has been the object of vehement and re- lentless attack. It is asserted, for instance, by Usener that in the whole Birth and Childhood story of St. Matthew a pagan substratum can be traced (art. 'Nativity' in £ncuc. Bibl. iii. 3352, and also to the same effect ZNTW, 1903, p. 21). Thus we are asked to find the origin of the story of the Magi worshipping at the cradle of the infant Jesus in the visit paid by the Parthian king Tiridates \nth magi in his train to do hom- age in Rome to the emperor Nero. But the magi of the Parthian king were evidently, like many other magi of the East, claimants to the possession of secret and magical arts, and there is nothing strange in the fact that they are found among the retinue of a Parthian king. But what actual points of resemblance exist between this visit to
I Nero and the \isit of the Magi to Bethlehem it is ] difficult to see. One crucial contrast, at any rate, has been rightly emphasized. Tiridates came to
BIRTH OF CHRIST
BIRTH OF CHRIST
Nero, not of his own accord, but because his only clioioe was to do liomage to Nero or to lose his crown. Here there is no comparison with, but rather an oljvious and essential contrast to, the Wise Men of St. Matthew, who came with joy and gladness to worship the Babe of Bethlehem.