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NASB | Matthew 1:25 but kept her a virgin until she gave birth to a Son; and he called His name Jesus. |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | Matthew 1:25 but he kept her a virgin until she had given birth to a Son [her firstborn child]; and he named Him Jesus (The LORD is salvation). |
Subject: Was Mary a virgin her whole life |
Bible Note: Jawz, your reasoning is flawed because it is weighted down with assumptions and speculations, subjective opinions and idle guesswork, the chief of which is contained in your statement, "The very thought of someone having sexual relations with the one who has been so intimately connected to Christ simply fills me with horror." While you are being filled with horror, consider this: The bond of husband and wife is the most sacred bond there is on earth. Marriage was instituted by God Himself, sanctioned by His Son, and the physical union of a man and his wife is undefiled. "A man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh." (Gen. 2:24). And so it has ever been, that the sanctity of marriage has been held in the highest regard, because God instituted it. Matthew 1 makes it abundantly clear exactly what happened. When Joseph, Mary's betrothed, learned that she was with child, he was of the mind to put her away, i.e., divorce her secretly. But an angel of the Lord intervened, saying "Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take to you Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit." (v.20). Please note that the messenger from the Lord did NOT add, "But you are commanded never to have sexual relations with your wife and she is never to bear you children." So Joseph did what the angel of the Lord commanded him and took Mary as his wife and...and...and did not know her (have sexual relations with her) TILL she had brought forth her firstbon Son. And he called His name Jesus. (cf. Matt. 1:24,25). Your "translation" of this passage goes against every reliable translation that exists in English. You are also reaching far out to assume that Joseph had a housefull of kids by a former union. You have gone to great assumptive lengths in your post, but you have proved nothing. We all of us would find the going much easier if we were willing to read the Bible in the plain sense of what it says and not work ourselves into a tizzy trying to make it say what it clearly doesn't say. --Hank |