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When Mary became pregnant with Jesus, she was “betrothed” to Joseph. Betrothal (in Hebrew, kiddushin) at that time was somewhat similar to our modern-day “engagement,” with a few significant exceptions. First, girls as young as twelve and boys as young as thirteen were considered old enough for betrothal and marriage. More importantly, this kind of…

The Bible actually says very little about Jesus’ adoptive father, Joseph. Here’s what we know: Joseph was a carpenter by trade (Matthew 13:55), which meant “building and repairing in wood, stone, or metal.” He had a reputation as “a just man” (Matthew 1:19), likely referring to his devout, religious character. He was compassionate, as seen…

Matthew’s historical account emphasizes Jesus as Messiah and King for a primarily Jewish audience. As a result, one scholar notes, “The [Old Testament] casts a long shadow over Matthew’s gospel. No other evangelist or [New Testament] writer, including Paul or the author of Hebrews, drew upon the OT writings as Matthew did.” In fact, Matthew…

Read Matthew 1:1-17 and Luke 3:23-38 side by side and you’ll probably notice a problem: The two genealogies are not identical. Some have decided that this means the biblical accounts of Jesus are untrustworthy, but most Bible scholars find that to be a shortsighted view. They point to other possible explanations for this literary discrepancy.…
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