1:18 Now the birth of Jesus Christ happened this way. While his mother Mary was engaged to Joseph, but before they came together, 1 she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit. 1:19 Because Joseph, her husband to be, 2 was a righteous man, and because he did not want to disgrace her, he intended to divorce her 3 privately.
1 tn The connotation of the Greek is “before they came together in marital and domestic union” (so BDAG 970 s.v. συνέρχομαι 3).
2 tn Grk “husband.” See following note for discussion.
3 tn Or “send her away.”
sn In the Jewish context, “full betrothal was so binding that its breaking required a certificate of divorce, and the death of one party made the other a widow or widower (m. Ketub. 1:2; m. Sota 1:5; m. Git. passim…)” (R. H. Gundry, Matthew: A Commentary on his Literary and Theological Art, 21).