66
“= i 27 Ῥεκατέσσορες *
h Le ee 18. 1 Cor iv. 2.
i again in xxiv. Lk.xx’
j Mt. =. ο -adrous, " εὑρέθη | ἐν γαστρὶ
KALA ΜΑΊΙΘΑΙΟΝ i
καὶ ἀπὸ τῆς µετοικεσίας Βαβυλῶνος ἕως τοῦ Χριστοῦ, γενεαὶ δεκατέσσαρες.
18. ΤΟΥ δὲ ᾿Ιησοῦ] Χριστοῦ ἡ γέννησις ” οὕτως ἦν. iz θείσης vie’: τῆς μητρὸς αὐτοῦ Μαρίας τῷ ᾿Ιωσήφ, πρὶν ἢ συνελθεῖν
© uvnoteu-
€xovoa ἐκ Πνεύματος Ἁγίου. το
Lise ο Ἰωσὴφ δὲ ὁ ἀνὴρ αὐτῆς, / δίκαιος Sv, καὶ μὴ θέλων αὐτὴν παρα.
Rom. v. 7.
1 B inverts the order of the names (X.
1.). 1. X. in KCL, etc. Weiss (Meyer,
Sth ed.) remarks that B has a preference for '' Christ Jesus’’.
2 The best old MSS. read yeveous. . . scribe to bring the text into conformity wi
ith ey
ησις is doubtless a correction of the εγεννησε in the genealogy.
yap omitted in BC}, etc. The sense is clearer without it.
in the three parts is of no importance in itself. It is a numerical symbol uniting three periods, and suggesting comparison in other respects, ¢.g., 49 to different forms of government—judges, kings, priests (Euthy. Zig.), theocracy, mon- archy, hierarchy (Schanz), all summed up in Christ; or as to Israel's fortunes: growth, decline, ruin —redemption ur- gently needed.
Vv. 18-25. ΤΗΕ ΒΙΑΤΗ ον Jesus. bie section gives the explanation which
ἐγονήθη (νετ. 16) leads us to expect. η : be called the justification of the ta (Schanz), showing that while
the birth was exceptional in nature it yet took place in such circumstances, that Jesus might justly be regaided as the legitimate son of Joseph, and there- fore heir of David's throne, The position of the name Τοῦ δὲ |, Χ. at the head of the sentence, and the recurrence of the word yéveons, point back to ver. 1 ; γένεσις, not is the true reading, the purpose being to express the general idea of origin, ortus, ps the δν gear idea of generation (8 peavers-
oP am ee ate ga 1). er. 18 « « αὐτύς
indicates the position of Mary in relation to J h when her pregnancy was dis- ανα λεν ἡ Briefly it was—betrothed, not married. Πρὶν ἢ συνελθεῖν means before they came together in one home as man and wife, it being implied that that would not take place before marriage. σννελθεῖν might refer to sexual intercourse, so far as the meaning of the word is concerned
oseph. Antig. vii. 9, 5), but the evange- list would not think it necessary to state that no such intercourse had taken place between the betrothed. That he would regard as a matter of course. Yet most
of the fathers so understood the word; and rome, Chrysostom, ¢.g., conceived Josepn and Mary to be living together before marriage, but sine concubitu, be- lieving this to have been the usual practice. Of this, however, there is no satisfactory evidence. The sense above assigned to σννελ. corresponds to the verb παραλαβάν, νετ. 20, παρέλαβε, ver. 24, which means to take home, domum ducere. The supposed reason for the practice alleged to have existed by Chry- sost ym and others yrs the protection of the betrothed (δι dc Euthy.). Grammarians (vide Fritzsche) say πρὶν ἢ is not found in ancient Attic, though often in middle Attic. For other instances of it, with infinitive, vide Mk. xiv. ~ Acts vii. 2; without Μι, xxvi. 7. On the construction of πρὶν with ο various moods, vide Her- mann ed. Viger, Klotz ed. ae. ee and Goodwin's Syntax. — ονσα : ο iso ble Olearius, bserv. 2. wt and other older inter- preters.) There was a disco and a
surprise. It was ας. ων προσδόκητον ( a
whom apparent not indicated.” Ἁ μίας
says: '"Νοπ ab alio inventa est nisi a
Joseph, qui pene licentia maritali futurae uxoris omnia noverat".—d& mv. ay. This was not apparent; it belon to the region of faith. The ev ist hastens to add this explanation of a painful fact to remove, as quickly as possible, all occasion for sinister conjecture. The expression points at once to immediate divine causality, and to the holy character of the effect: a solemn protest against profane rie ay