Matthew 1:16

Joseph the husband. Matthew carefully avoids stating that Joseph “begat” Jesus. Joseph was related to Jesus, says Matthew, not as His father, but as the husband of His mother. The generic link “begat,” employed up to this point, is dropped, Matthew thereby emphasizing the fact of the virgin birth.

Mary. Gr. Maria, Mariam in the LXX, from the Heb. Miryam. Like Joseph, Mary was of the house of David (DA 44; cf. Acts 2:30; 3:23; Rom. 1:3; 2 Tim. 2:8), for it was through her alone that Jesus could literally be “the seed of David according to the flesh” (Rom. 1:3; cf. Ps. 132:11). The fact that Mary’s “cousin” (Luke 1:36) was “of the daughters of Aaron” (Luke 1:5) in no way requires that Mary be of the tribe of Levi instead of the tribe of Judah. For the word translated “cousin” see on Luke 1:36.

It seems that Mary spent her early life in Nazareth (Luke 1:26). She had a kinswoman, Elisabeth, the wife of Zacharias (Luke 1:36). Also, she had relatives in Cana, a village near Nazareth (see John 2:1, 5; DA 144, 146). The idea that her mother’s name was Anna is based exclusively on tradition. Mary was highly favored of the Lord and blessed among women (Luke 1:28, 42). From the first promise of a deliverer, who was to be of the “seed” of the woman (Gen. 3:15; Rev. 12:5), devout mothers in Israel hoped that their first-born might be the promised Messiah (DA 31). To Mary this great and unique honor was given.

Mary was no doubt chosen primarily because at the appointed time (Dan. 9:24-27; Mark 1:15; Gal. 4:4) her character more closely reflected the divine ideals of motherhood than that of any other daughter of David. She was one of that select minority who were “waiting for the consolation of Israel” (Luke 2:25, 38; Mark 15:43; cf. Heb. 9:28). It was this hope that purified her life (cf. 1 John 3:3) and qualified her for her sacred role (PP 308; PK 245; DA 69). Every mother in Israel today may cooperate with Heaven as Mary did (DA 512), and may, in a sense, make of her children sons and daughters of God. See on Luke 2:52.

Of whom. In Greek this expression is in the feminine singular, thus making “Mary” the antecedent and expressly excluding Joseph as the natural father of Jesus. But by his marriage to Mary, Joseph became the legal, though not the literal, father of Jesus (see ch. 13:55).