MAT 1:19 Parallel Verse View

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Text critical issues=small word differences Clarity of original=clear Importance to us=normal (All still tentative.)

OET (OET-RV) But Yosef, her husband to be, was a good man, and not wishing to disgrace Maria, he decided to quietly divorce her.

Key: khaki:verbs, light-green:nominative/subject, orange:accusative/object, pink:genitive/possessor.
Note: Automatic aligning of the OET-RV to the LV is done by some temporary software, hence the RV alignments are incomplete (and may occasionally be wrong).

ULT Now Joseph her husband, being righteous, and not wanting to publicly disgrace her, intended to divorce her secretly.

UST Joseph, who was about to marry her, thought that Mary had sex with another man. Joseph usually did what was right, and he also did not want to shame Mary. So, he decided to say in private that he would not marry her.

BLB Then Joseph her husband, being righteous and not willing to shame her publicly, resolved to divorce her quietly.

AICNT And Joseph her husband, being a just man and not wanting to {disgrace her},[fn] planned to divorce her secretly.

1:19, disgrace her: B(03) NA28 SBLGNT THGNT ‖ Some manuscripts read “put her to public shame.” ℵ(01) C(04) W(032) BYZ TR

OEB Her husband, Joseph, was a just man and, since he did not want to disgrace her publicly, he resolved to put an end to their engagement privately.

WEBBE Joseph, her husband, being a righteous man, and not willing to make her a public example, intended to put her away secretly.

WMBB (Same as above)

NET Because Joseph, her husband to be, was a righteous man, and because he did not want to disgrace her, he intended to divorce her privately.

LSV and her husband Joseph being righteous, and not willing to make her an example, resolved to send her away privately.

FBV Joseph, her fiancé, was a good man and didn't want to shame her publicly, so he decided to break the engagement discreetly.

TCNT Because her husband Joseph was a righteous man and did not want to shame her publicly, he intended to send her away privately.

T4T Joseph, her future husband, was a man who obeyed God’s commands. One of those commands was that men must divorce women who had acted immorally. So when Joseph learned that Mary was pregnant, he assumed that she was pregnant as a result of her acting immorally. So he decided to break the engagement. But because he did not want to shame her publicly, he decided to do it privately.

LEB So Joseph her husband, being righteous and not wanting to disgrace her, intended to divorce her secretly.

BBE And Joseph, her husband, being an upright man, and not desiring to make her a public example, had a mind to put her away privately.

Moff As Joseph her husband was a just man but unwilling to disgrace her, he resolved to divorce her secretly;

Wymth But Joseph her husband, being a kind-hearted man and unwilling publicly to disgrace her, had determined to release her privately from the betrothal.

ASV And Joseph her husband, being a righteous man, and not willing to make her a public example, was minded to put her away privily.

DRA Whereupon Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not willing publicly to expose her, was minded to put her away privately.

YLT and Joseph her husband being righteous, and not willing to make her an example, did wish privately to send her away.

Drby But Joseph, her husband, being [a] righteous [man], and unwilling to expose her publicly, purposed to have put her away secretly;

RV And Joseph her husband, being a righteous man, and not willing to make her a public example, was minded to put her away privily.
(And Joseph her husband, being a righteous man, and not willing to make her a public example, was minded to put her away privily/secretly. )

SLT And Joseph her husband being just, and not willing to expose her to disgrace, wished to let her go in secret.

Wbstr Then Joseph her husband, being a just man , and not willing to make her a public example, purposed to put her away privately.

KJB-1769 Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not willing to make her a publick example, was minded to put her away privily.
(Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not willing to make her a publick example, was minded to put her away privily/secretly. )

KJB-1611 Then Ioseph her husband being a iust man, and not willing to make her a publique example, was minded to put her away priuily.
(Then Yoseph her husband being a just man, and not willing to make her a public example, was minded to put her away privily/secretly.)

Bshps Then Ioseph her husbande, beyng a ryghteous man, and not wyllyng to make her a publique example, was mynded priuily to put her away.
(Then Yoseph her husband, being a righteous man, and not willing to make her a public example, was minded privily/secretly to put her away.)

Gnva Then Ioseph her husband being a iust man, and not willing to make her a publike example, was minded to put her away secretly.
(Then Yoseph her husband being a just man, and not willing to make her a publike example, was minded to put her away secretly. )

Cvdl But Ioseph her hussbande was a perfect man, and wolde not bringe her to shame, but was mynded to put her awaie secretely.
(But Yoseph her hussbande was a perfect man, and would not bring her to shame, but was minded to put her away secretly.)

TNT The Ioseph her husbande beinge a perfect man and loth to make an ensample of her was mynded to put her awaye secretely.
(The Yoseph her husband being a perfect man and loathe to make an ensample of her was minded to put her away secretly. )

Wycl And Joseph, hir hosebonde, for he was riytful, and wolde not puplische hir, he wolde priueli haue left hir.
(And Yoseph, her husband, for he was rightful, and would not puplische her, he would privily/secretly have left her.)

Luth Joseph aber, ihr Mann, war fromm und wollte sie nicht rügen, gedachte aber sie heimlich zu verlassen.
(Yoseph but, you(pl)/their/her man, what/which pious/devout and wanted they/she/them not rügen, thought but they/she/them secretly to/for leave.)

ClVg Joseph autem vir ejus cum esset justus, et nollet eam traducere, voluit occulte dimittere eam.[fn]
(Yoseph however man his when/with was just, and he/she/it_would_not_like her traducere, wanted secretly to_release her. )

1.19 Justus. Per fidem, qua credebat Christum de virgine nasciturum, et voluit se humiliare ante tantam gratiam. Quod justus erat, hoc est testimonium castitatis Mariæ, ut qui servat innocentem, justus dicatur: sed et pius dum nollet propalare, ex conscientia castitatis justus, ex timore pius. Sciebat illam esse inculpabilem: sed unde vel quid esset ignorabat: et ideo mediam elegit viam effugiendi, ut neque innocentem proderet, neque rei incognitæ consentiendo se reum faceret coram Deo. Vera virtus est, cum nec pietas sine justitia, nec sine pietate justitia, quæ separatæ ab invicem dilabuntur. Et nollet eam. Quam desponsaverat in conjugium ducere, ne videretur quod ignorabat celare. Vel traducere ad pœnam in qua noverat non esse infamiam, quia sciebat se eam virginem accepisse, intactam servasse.

1.19 Yust. Per faith, which believebat Christ/Messiah from/about virgin is_bornum, and wanted himself humiliare before so_much grace. That just was, this it_is testimony castitatis Mary, as who/which keeps innocent, just be_said: but and pious/devout while he/she/it_would_not_like propalare, from conscience castitatis just, from with_fear pious/devout. Sciebat her to_be inculpabilem: but from_where/who or what was ignorabat: and therefore/for_that_reason middle chose way/road effugiendi, as nor innocent proderet, nor of_the_thing incognitæ consentiendo himself guilty would_do before to_God. Vera virtue it_is, when/with but_not pietas without justice, but_not without with_piety justice, which separatæ away each_other dilabuntur. And he/she/it_would_not_like her. How desponsaverat in/into/on marriage to_lead, not it_would_seem that ignorabat celare. Or traducere to punishment in/into/on which he_knew not/no to_be infamiam, because knew himself her a_virgin to_have_received, intactam servasse.

UGNT Ἰωσὴφ δὲ ὁ ἀνὴρ αὐτῆς, δίκαιος ὢν καὶ μὴ θέλων αὐτὴν δειγματίσαι, ἐβουλήθη λάθρᾳ ἀπολῦσαι αὐτήν.
(Yōsaʸf de ho anaʸr autaʸs, dikaios ōn kai maʸ thelōn autaʸn deigmatisai, eboulaʸthaʸ lathra apolusai autaʸn.)

SBL-GNT Ἰωσὴφ δὲ ὁ ἀνὴρ αὐτῆς, δίκαιος ὢν καὶ μὴ θέλων αὐτὴν ⸀δειγματίσαι, ἐβουλήθη λάθρᾳ ἀπολῦσαι αὐτήν.
(Yōsaʸf de ho anaʸr autaʸs, dikaios ōn kai maʸ thelōn autaʸn ⸀deigmatisai, eboulaʸthaʸ lathra apolusai autaʸn.)

RP-GNT Ἰωσὴφ δὲ ὁ ἀνὴρ αὐτῆς, δίκαιος ὤν, καὶ μὴ θέλων αὐτὴν παραδειγματίσαι, ἐβουλήθη λάθρᾳ ἀπολῦσαι αὐτήν.
(Yōsaʸf de ho anaʸr autaʸs, dikaios ōn, kai maʸ thelōn autaʸn paradeigmatisai, eboulaʸthaʸ lathra apolusai autaʸn.)

TC-GNT Ἰωσὴφ δὲ ὁ ἀνὴρ αὐτῆς, δίκαιος ὤν, καὶ μὴ θέλων αὐτὴν [fn]παραδειγματίσαι, ἐβουλήθη λάθρᾳ ἀπολῦσαι αὐτήν.
(Yōsaʸf de ho anaʸr autaʸs, dikaios ōn, kai maʸ thelōn autaʸn paradeigmatisai, eboulaʸthaʸ lathra apolusai autaʸn. )

1:19 παραδειγματισαι ¦ δειγματισαι CT

Key for above GNTs: yellow:punctuation differs, red:words differ (from our SR-GNT base).

SOTN SIL Open Translator’s Notes:

Section 1:18–25: Jesus Christ was born

This section tells us how the Messiah came into the world. The Holy Spirit miraculously caused the virgin Mary to become pregnant with the child Jesus. Such an event had never happened before.

Here are some other possible headings for this section:

The Birth of Jesus Christ (NIV)

The Birth of Jesus the Messiah (NLT)

Here is how Jesus was born

There is a parallel passage for this section in Luke 2:1–7.

1:19a–d

Before you translate 1:19, there are at least two main issues to consider:

Issue 1: Structure of the verse

Notice the overall structure of this verse. The BSB translates the Greek literally:

^19aBecause Joseph her husband ^19bwas a righteous man ^19cand was unwilling to disgrace her publicly, ^19dhe resolved to divorce her quietly.

The main part of the verse is “he [that is, Joseph] resolved to divorce her quietly.” In the middle are two clauses which describe Joseph:

^19bhe was a righteous man

^19che was unwilling to disgrace her publicly

There are several ways to connect the parts of this verse. Here are some examples:

Reorder the clauses to show the main part. For example:
^19aJoseph her husband ^19dhad in mind to divorce her quietly. ^19bHe wanted to do this because he was a righteous man ^19cand he did not want to expose her to public disgrace.
Use the conjunction because to introduce the reason part of a reason-result relationship. For example:
^19a Because Joseph her husband ^19bwas a righteous man ^19cand did not want to expose her to public disgrace, ^19dhe had in mind to divorce her quietly. (NIV)
Use the conjunction so to introduce the result part of a reason-result relationship. For example:
^19aHer husband Joseph ^19bwas an honorable man ^19cand did not want to disgrace her publicly. ^19dSo he decided to break the marriage agreement with her secretly. (GW)

Issue 2: Implied information

There is some implied information here. Joseph did not yet know that it was the Holy Spirit who had caused Mary to become pregnant (1:18d). So when he found out that she was pregnant, he assumed that she had committed adultery. Therefore he no longer wanted to marry her. In some languages, it may be necessary to make some of this information explicit. For example:

^19aBut Joseph her husband did not know how she became pregnant. ^19bHe was a righteous man…

^19aBut Joseph her husband assumed that she had committed adultery. So he no longer wanted to marry her. ^19bHe was a righteous man…

In other languages, it will be good to put some of this implied information in a footnote.

1:19a

Because Joseph her husband

Her future husband Joseph
Her fiancé, Joseph, thought that she had committed adultery.

Joseph her husband: In Jewish law, a man and woman who were engaged were legally considered to be husband and wife. So Joseph was considered to be Mary’s husband, even though they were not yet formally married.

In many languages, the phrase Joseph her husband will imply that Mary and Joseph were already married. So it may be necessary to modify this phrase. For example:

Joseph, her fiancé (NLT)

Joseph, her future husband (JBP)

Joseph, the man she had promised to marry

Verse 1:18b already says that Mary and Joseph were pledged in marriage. So in some languages, it may be best to simply omit the phrase her husband. For example:

Joseph (CEV)

1:19b

was a righteous man

was a man who always did what was right. (GNT)
He always followed/obeyed the law,

was a righteous man: The clause was a righteous man is the first of two characteristics of Joseph. There are two ways to interpret this clause and which part of the sentence it goes with:

It means that Joseph did what was just/right according to the law, and it goes together with the word “divorce.” The law required that a man divorce a woman for adultery, and Joseph thought that Mary had committed adultery. In order to follow the law, he decided to divorce her. For example:
Joseph was a man who always did what was right (GNT) (BSB, NIV11, GNT, and many commentaries)The commentators who support this interpretation are: Turner (2008), pages 65–66; Filson, page 54; Lenski, pages 42–43; France (2007), pages 51–52; Nolland, pages 94–95; Hagner, page 18; Gibbs, pages 96–97, 104–105; Carson, page 75; Mounce, page 10; Hendriksen, pages 130–131; Morris, pages 27–28.
It means that Joseph was a good/kind man, and it goes together with the word “quietly.” As a kind man, he did not want to embarrass Mary. So he decided to divorce her quietly or in private. For example:
Joseph was a good man (CEV) (CEV, NLT, JBP, NCV)

It is recommended that you follow interpretation (1) because many commentaries support this interpretation. Many English versions translate this clause in a way that makes it difficult to tell which interpretation they follow.

Here are some other ways to translate this phrase:

Joseph obeyed the laws of Moses

Joseph always wanted to do what the law said

It is also possible that the word righteous includes elements of both interpretations. So if possible, translate in a way that both interpretations can be understood. For example:

Joseph was straight/upright

Joseph obeyed the law and was also good/kind

1:19c

and was unwilling to disgrace her publicly,

But he did not want to publicly shame her,
and yet he did not want to embarrass/disgrace her before people.

and was unwilling to disgrace her publicly: This clause is the second characteristic of Joseph. If you follow interpretation (1) above for the word “righteous,” this clause contrasts with 1:19d. The contrast is that Joseph followed the law (and so had to divorce Mary), but yet he did not want to divorce her in a way that would shame her.

Here are some ways to show this contrast:

but he did not want to disgrace Mary publicly (GNT)

and yet he did not want to shame her

was unwilling to disgrace her publicly: The Greek verb that the BSB translates as disgrace her publicly in this context refers to publicly announcing that someone had sinned or broken the law. This act would have caused Mary great shame. It would also have prevented her from getting married to someone else.

Here are some other ways to translate this expression:

did not want to expose her to public disgrace (NIV)

did not want to embarrass Mary in front of everyone (CEV)

1:19d

he resolved to divorce her quietly.

so he decided to end the marriage agreement with her privately.
So he planned to secretly end/break the engagement with her.

he resolved: The Greek verb that the BSB translates as resolved also means “planned” or “decided.” For example:

he made plans (GNT)

Joseph…decided (NJB)

to divorce her: In Jewish law, ending an engagement to marry required a divorce. At that time, a Jewish man only had to give the woman a certificate of divorce (Matthew 5:31, Mark 10:4). He could write the certificate himself with two people as witnesses.

Here are some other ways to translate this phrase:

end the engagement

break the marriage agreement (GW)

not marry her

separate from her

quietly: The Greek word that the BSB translates as quietly also means “secretly.” It refers to doing something in a way that no one will know.

Here are some other ways to translate this word:

privately (GNT)

secretly (GW)

without making it public

UTN uW Translation Notes:

Note 1 topic: grammar-connect-words-phrases

δὲ

(Some words not found in SR-GNT: Ἰωσήφ Δέ ὁ ἀνήρ αὐτῆς δίκαιος ὤν καί μή θέλων αὐτήν δειγματίσαι ἐβουλήθη λάθρᾳ ἀπολῦσαι αὐτήν)

Here, the word Now introduces the next major event in the story. If it would be helpful in your language, you could use a word or phrase that introduces the next event, or you could leave Now untranslated. Alternate translation: [Then,]

Note 2 topic: figures-of-speech / explicit

Ἰωσὴφ & ὁ ἀνὴρ αὐτῆς

Matthew implies that Joseph did not know that the baby came from the Holy Spirit. Joseph thought that Mary had become pregnant after having sex with another man, which is why he wanted to divorce her. If it would be helpful in your language, you could clarify that Joseph did not know that the Holy Spirit had caused Mary to be pregnant. Alternate translation: [Joseph her husband thought that she had been unfaithful, so]

Note 3 topic: figures-of-speech / explicit

ὁ ἀνὴρ αὐτῆς & ἀπολῦσαι αὐτήν

the (Some words not found in SR-GNT: Ἰωσήφ Δέ ὁ ἀνήρ αὐτῆς δίκαιος ὤν καί μή θέλων αὐτήν δειγματίσαι ἐβουλήθη λάθρᾳ ἀπολῦσαι αὐτήν)