Church Fathers Commentary Matthew 1:19

"And Joseph her husband, being a righteous man, and not willing to make her a public example, was minded to put her away privily." — Matthew 1:19 (ASV)

St. John Chrysostom: After the Evangelist said that she was found to be with child by the Holy Spirit, and without a man's knowledge, he presents Joseph to confirm the story by his own part in it, so that you would not suspect Christ's disciple of inventing wonders in his Master's honor: Now Joseph her husband, being a just man.

Pseudo-Augustine: Joseph, realizing that Mary was with child, was perplexed that this could be so with her, whom he had received from the temple of the Lord and had not yet known. He debated within himself, saying, "What shall I do? Should I make it public, or should I overlook it? If I make it public, I am not consenting to adultery, but I become guilty of cruelty, for by the law of Moses she must be stoned. If I overlook it, I am consenting to the crime and share the guilt of adulterers. Since it is evil to overlook this, and worse to proclaim the adultery, I will simply put her away." ¹

St. Ambrose of Milan: St. Matthew has beautifully taught how a righteous man ought to act when he has discovered his wife's disgrace, so that he might keep himself both guiltless of her blood and pure from her defilement. Therefore, he says, Being a just man. In this way, the gracious character of a righteous man is preserved in Joseph, so that his testimony may be more readily accepted, for the tongue of the just speaks the judgment of truth. ²

St. Jerome: But how is Joseph called just when he is willing to hide his wife's sin? For the Law enacts that not only the doers of evil, but also those who are aware of any evil done, shall be held guilty.

St. John Chrysostom: It should be known that just here is used to denote someone who is virtuous in all things. There is a particular justice, which is freedom from covetousness, but there is also a universal virtue, and it is in this sense that Scripture generally uses the word justice.

Therefore, being just—that is, kind and merciful—he was minded to put her away secretly, even though according to the Law she was liable not only to dismissal but to death. But Joseph remitted both penalties, as though living above the Law. For just as the sun lights up the world before it shows its rays, so Christ, before He was born, caused many wonders to be seen.

St. Augustine of Hippo: Alternatively, if you alone know of a sin that someone has committed against you and you desire to accuse them of it before others, you are not correcting them but rather betraying them.

But Joseph, being a just man, with great mercy spared his wife in this great crime of which he suspected her. The seeming certainty of her unfaithfulness tormented him, yet because he alone knew of it, he was willing not to make it public but to send her away secretly, seeking the sinner's benefit rather than her punishment.

St. Jerome: Or this may be considered a testimony to Mary, that Joseph, confident in her purity and wondering at what had happened, covered in silence the mystery which he could not explain.

Rabanus Maurus: He saw that she was with child, whom he knew to be chaste; and because he had read, There shall come a Rod out of the stem of Jesse, from which he knew Mary had comeⁱ

Origen of Alexandria: But if he had no suspicion of her, how could he be a just man and yet seek to put her away, since she was immaculate? He sought to put her away because he saw in her a great mystery, to which he considered himself unworthy to approach.

Glossa Ordinaria: Or, he was just in seeking to put her away; his mercy is shown in that he sought to do it secretly, defending her from disgrace. Being a just man, he was minded to put her away; and being unwilling to expose her in public and so disgrace her, he sought to do it secretly. ³

St. Ambrose of Milan: But since no one puts away what he has not received, in that he was minded to put her away, he admits to having received her. ⁴

Glossa Ordinaria: Or, being unwilling to bring her to his house to live with him forever, he was minded to put her away secretly; that is, to postpone their marriage. For that is true virtue when mercy is not observed without justice, nor justice without mercy, as both vanish when separated from each other. ⁵

Or, he was just because of his faith, in that he believed that Christ would be born of a virgin; therefore, he wished to humble himself before so great a favor.

1. Serm. in App. s. 195
2. Luc., ii, 5
3. ap Anselm
4. Luc., ii, 1
5. part ap. Anselm, part in Ordinaria