Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - Matthew 1:19
Matthew 1:19. Joseph her husband, being a just [or righteous ] man That is, as many understand it, a strict observer of the law, and of the customs of his ancestors, and therefore not judging it right to retain her under these circumstances. But the following words, and not willing to make her a public example, seem manifestly to lead to another and even an opposite sense of the word here rendered just, or righteous. Hence some interpret the clause thus: Joseph, being a ... read more
Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - Matthew 1:18
Matthew 1:18 . Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise, ουτως ην , was thus It was not in the ordinary course of nature, or manner in which children are conceived and born, but in the wonderful manner following. Not only the birth, but the conception of Christ, and what preceded it, are here included in the word γεννησις , which some critics have unwarily confounded with the word γενεσις , used in the first verse of this chapter. When his mother was espoused to Joseph According... read more