Now the birth of Jesus the Messiah was as follows: when His mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be pregnant by the Holy Spirit.
Parallel translations
- WEB Now the birth of Jesus Christ was like this; for after his mother, Mary, was engaged to Joseph, before they came together, she was found pregnant by the Holy Spirit.
- KJV Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise: When as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost.
- BSB This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about: His mother Mary was pledged in marriage to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit.
- NKJV Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows: After His mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Spirit.
- NLT This is how Jesus the Messiah was born. His mother, Mary, was engaged to be married to Joseph. But before the marriage took place, while she was still a virgin, she became pregnant through the power of the Holy Spirit.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Matthew explains that Mary was pregnant by the Holy Spirit before she and Joseph came together. This is the miracle of the virgin conception.
Overview
In Jewish custom betrothal was a binding commitment, so Mary's unexplained pregnancy looked like unfaithfulness. Matthew states plainly that the child was conceived by the Holy Spirit, not by any man, fulfilling the unique entrance of God's Son into the world. This affirms both Jesus' true humanity and his divine origin.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 9
- Gal 4:4–5But when the fullness of the time came, God sent out his Son, born to a woman, born under the law,
- Luke 1:27–38to a virgin pledged to be married to a man whose name was Joseph, of David’s house. The virgin’s name was Mary.
- Job 14:4Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? Not one.
- Heb 10:5Therefore when he comes into the world, he says, “Sacrifice and offering you didn’t desire, but you prepared a body for me.
- Gen 3:15I will put hostility between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring. He will bruise your head, and you will bruise his heel.”
- Heb 7:26For such a high priest was fitting for us: holy, guiltless, undefiled, separated from sinners, and made higher than the heavens;
- Job 15:14What is man, that he should be clean? What is he who is born of a woman, that he should be righteous?
- Matt 1:1The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.
- Luke 1:25“Thus has the Lord done to me in the days in which he looked at me, to take away my reproach among men.”
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Pastoral
On the genealogy and the name Immanuel.
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Christ at the center
Matthew presents Jesus as the promised King — son of David, son of Abraham — the new Moses and true Israel in whom every prophecy reaches 'that it might be fulfilled.'
How Matthew 1:18 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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