RT Article
T1 Matthew's Birth Story: An Early Milepost in the History of Jewish Marriage Law
JF Biblical theology bulletin
VO 39
IS 3
SP 125
OP 128
A1 Zaas, Peter
LA English
PB Sage
YR 2009
UL https://ixtheo.de/Record/1773470892
AB The New Testament's initial narrative, the Matthean birth story, though immensely well-known, can still provide some surprises. One of its novel elements is its presumption that Joseph requires a divorce in order to sever his betrothal to Mary, pregnant with another's child. That betrothal constitutes a marriage and requires a get to terminate is a commonplace in the law of the Mishna, but appears nowhere in the laws of the written Torah: Matthew, though notoriously anti-Pharisee, is promoting the Pharisaic interpretation of marriage law, and is probably the earliest source available to us for this interpretation. This brief essay suggests some of the new ways that an examination of its contribution to the history of Jewish law provides, to look at this familiar passage.
K1 Jewish Law
K1 Marriage
K1 Divorce
K1 Jesus
K1 birth story
K1 Matthew
DO 10.1177/0146107909106755