Thomas Aquinas Commentary Matthew 1:24-25

"And Joseph arose from his sleep, and did as the angel of the Lord commanded him, and took unto him his wife; and knew her not till she had brought forth a son: and he called his name JESUS." — Matthew 1:24-25 (ASV)

Above, the Evangelist proved that the Mother of God conceived of the Holy Ghost from two things: namely, from the revelation of the angel and from the foretelling of the prophet. He also intends to show this from the obedience of Joseph, who would not have acquiesced to the words of the angel to take Mary as his spouse, unless he had known that she was with child of the Holy Ghost. And he did two things concerning this. Firstly, the obedience of this spouse to the angel is set forth; and secondly, the manner of the obedience is described, where it is said, And he took unto him. And note that because through the disobedience of the first man we have fallen into sin; By the disobedience of one man, many were made sinners (Romans 5:19); therefore obedience is placed in the beginning of our reparation.

And we can note four things that are necessary for obedience.

1. The first quality is that it be ordered. And I say “ordered” because, firstly, vices are to be forsaken, and afterwards, one must follow the practice of the virtues: Break up anew your fallow ground, and sow not upon thorns (Jeremiah 4:3), etc. And so here it is said that Joseph, rising from sleep—that is, from the sleep of sluggishness and doubtfulness. Concerning this sleep, it is said in Ephesians 5:14: Rise thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead.

2. The second, in fact, is that it ought to be quick: and this is what is said in Sirach 5:8: Delay not to be converted to the Lord, and defer it not from day to day. For his wrath shall come on a sudden. And so here it is said that immediately He did as he had commanded him; and the Gloss reads, “Whoever are advised by God ought to give up delays, rise from sleep, do what he is enjoined.”

3. The third, in fact, is that it ought to be perfect, so that not only is what is commanded done, but it is done in the same manner that it is enjoined, and in the same manner it is commanded. Therefore, here where it is said, As he had commanded, the Gloss reads, “This is perfect obedience.” Children obey your parents in all things (Colossians 3:20).

4. The fourth quality is that it ought to be discerning: that one obey him who is to be obeyed, and in what matters he is to be obeyed, so that nothing happens which is opposed to God. When he says that he did as the angel had commanded him, the angel is not a bad angel but the Lord’s angel; Believe not every spirit, but try the spirits if they be of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world (1 John 4:1), etc.

And he took unto him. Here it is shown in what things he obeyed, and three things are set forth: Firstly, the obedience which he showed to the angel; secondly, the reverence which he showed to the Mother; and thirdly, the guardianship he showed toward Christ after He was born. The angel ordered Joseph, Fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife, and Joseph did as he ordered, etc. From this, it is clear that he gained a good woman.

But was there ever a time he did not have her in his house? Why, therefore, does it say, Rising… he took unto him?

Chrysostom replies: “It is because he had not cast her out from his house, but from his heart.” Or it is because first she was married, and afterwards the nuptials were to be celebrated, and then it is affirmed that she is also his wife. And lest anyone suspect that carnal intercourse occurred, it is added, And he knew her not.

It should be known here that this verb “to know” is used in two senses in Sacred Scripture. Sometimes it is used for knowledge: Henceforth you shall know him, and you have seen him (John 14:7). Sometimes it is used for carnal intercourse, as in Genesis 4:1: And Adam knew Eve, his wife, etc.—that is, carnally.

But it is objected: Why does it not say simply, he knew her not, etc., instead of, till she brought forth her son? From this it would seem to follow that he knew her afterwards. Therefore, Helvidius also said, “Although a Virgin conceived Christ, nevertheless, afterwards she had other children from Joseph.”

And so Jerome says that until sometimes means something limited and determinate, as if I were to say, ‘I will not come until I eat,’ because I signify that I am about to come afterwards. At other times it means something unlimited and indeterminate, for example in 1 Corinthians 15:25: For he must reign, until he hath put all his enemies under his feet. Will He not reign forever afterwards? He will indeed.

But Scripture uses such a manner of speaking because it intends to remove that which could be doubted. For it could have been doubted whether He would reign when He had not put His enemies under His feet. Likewise, it could have been doubted, when the blessed Virgin had given birth, whether before the birth she had been known by Joseph.

But from the start, we cannot possibly doubt; namely, because the angels sang: Glory to God in the highest; and on earth peace to men of good will (Luke 2:14). And thus, the Evangelist intends to say this.

And so, Jerome argues against Helvidius: “You say, O Helvidius, that, before they came together, Joseph did not know her, because he was warned in his sleep by an angel. If, therefore, a warning in sleep was influential enough that he would not unite himself to Mary, how much more the knowledge of the angels, and the adoration of the shepherds and wise men?”

Chrysostom, however, takes this “knowing” to refer to intellectual understanding. So when it is said He knew her not, one ought to understand—namely, that he did not understand that she was of such great dignity; but after she gave birth, he knew this.

Others say that it is to be taken as sensible knowledge, and their opinion is indeed sufficiently probable. For they say that Moses, from his conversing with the Lord, had so great glory in his face that the children of Israel could not behold it (2 Corinthians 3:7). Therefore, if Moses had this from his association with God, much more did this blessed Virgin, who carried Him in her womb, have such great glory in her countenance that Joseph did not know her. But the first exposition is more literal.

Helvidius also says this because the text says, Till she brought forth her firstborn son. He is called the first with respect to a subsequent child. Therefore, she had other children.

Jerome replies that it is customary in Sacred Scripture that those whom other children do not precede are called firstborn. In Exodus 13, it is said that the firstborn of the Jews are to be offered to the Lord. Jerome asks, ‘Was it fitting then to wait because they are not to be offered until a second child was born?’ Therefore, those who do not precede other children are also called firstborn; and so it is understood here.

The guardianship follows. Luke described this more fully (Luke 2), while Matthew briefly touches upon it. For thus the Holy Ghost wills, that what one has said, the other passed over in silence. He called His name Jesus. This name indeed was well known and desired by the ancients: I will look for thy salvation, O Lord (Genesis 49:18). And: But I will rejoice in the Lord; and I will joy in God my Jesus (Habakkuk 3:18).