References (15)
Jacob begot Joseph, the husband of Mary [Miriam];
through her was born Jesus, who is called the Anointed One (Messiah, Christ).
[In Greek, Joseph is in the definite form to give emphasis. Mary is the Greek form of the Aramaic name Mariam (from the Hebrew Miriam). Here there is a nice connection to the first covenant and Moses, who received the teachings and commandments from God. The woman chosen to give birth to the Messiah, who fulfills the Torah, is named Mirjam – the same name as Moses' sister! It was she who watched over Moses and saved his life, see .]
The birth of Jesus the Anointed One (Messiah, Christ) happened like this: When his mother Mary was (had become) betrothed to Joseph [i.e., when the marriage vows had already been exchanged], it turned out – before they came together [as husband and wife] – that she (literally: her womb) was pregnant through (from/by) the Holy Spirit [the Holy Spirit].
But since Joseph, her [future] husband, was righteous and did not want to expose her to disgrace (to be publicly shamed) [and to general ridicule], he decided to divorce her secretly [privately and quietly] (to release her; to set her completely free). [The Jewish betrothal was so binding that a letter of divorce was required to break it, see .]
But while he was thinking (reasoning back and forth) about all (these things), behold, an angel of the Lord (messenger – Gk. aggelos) appeared to him in a dream and said, "Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary [Miriam], your wife, for what has been conceived (brought forth, produced – Gk. gennao) in her is from (has its origin in) the Holy Spirit.
When Joseph awoke from his sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord (messenger) had commanded him and took his wife to himself,
Now after they
[the wise men] had departed, an angel of the Lord appeared to
Joseph in a dream and said, "Get up, take the child and his mother under your protection, and flee to
Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod will search for the child to kill him."
When Herod was dead, an angel of the Lord suddenly appeared in a dream to
Joseph in
Egypt.
to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, of the line of David. The maiden’s name was Mary.
[It is likely that Mary is somewhere between the ages of fourteen and eighteen when this happens. She was Jewish, her Hebrew name was Miriam.]
Joseph also went up from Galilee, [out] from the city of Nazareth to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, in Judea – because he was of the house and lineage (family – Gk. ) of David.
So they hurried there and found Mary and Joseph and the newborn baby lying in the manger.
When the feast days were over and they went home [probably already after the first three days of the Passover, which were the greatest], the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem [to continue listening to the teaching for the remaining days of the Passover]. His parents did not know it,
[Luke often portrays events from Mary's perspective. He describes the angelic visit to Nazareth, her song of praise and the journey to Elizabeth. The Greek word huios, which is used before each name in the family tree below, is a general word for kinship that can be translated: son, grandson or son-in-law. The second name in the genealogy, Eli, could thus be Joseph's father or his father-in-law. The presence of the Greek definite genitive form tou in front of all the names except Joseph's may indicate that he is mentioned only because he is married to Mary.
The family tree has 77 names that can be divided into eleven groups with seven names in each. In addition to the literal meaning, there can be a deeper meaning in names. The meaning of the last ten names from Adam to Noah form a sentence that speaks prophetically about Jesus! It is important to emphasize that word symbolism is not an exact science, see for more information.]
Jesus was about thirty years old when he began his ministry [ states that a priest should be 30 years old when he enters the ministry]
It was believed (the general opinion was) that
he was the son of Joseph,
son-in-law of Heli [Mary's father],
All of them testified to what they had heard Jesus say (speaking well of him, confirming what they had heard Jesus say and do), and they were amazed at the gracious (joyful, positive) words that came from his mouth. [Words of grace can also be translated "words of mercy", which fits what Jesus just read in verses 18-19.] They [also] kept saying, "Isn't this Joseph's son? "
[The question presupposes a positive answer. From Jesus' response in the following verses, we understand that the locals were skeptical. Jesus had spoken beautifully and impressively,but could a simple local man they knew make such claims? This was their real question, see also .]
Philip sought out Nathanael and said to him, "We have found the one Moses wrote about in the Law
(Torah – Gk. nomos) and the prophets wrote about – Jesus of
Nazareth, the son of
Joseph [adopted]."
They said, "Isn't this Jesus, the son of Joseph? We know both his father and mother. How can he say that he has come down from heaven?"
