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Home , Nativity of Jesus

1

The Portrayal of Joseph the Carpenter in the of Matthew

The account of the nativity of in the Matthew is relatively short and may be briefly summarized. In ch. 1, the readers are presented a genealogy ofJesus as well as accounts of the marital relationship ofJoseph and Mary, Joseph's fear and concern at the discovery of Mary's preg• nancy, his struggle with this discovery, Joseph's first (directing him to accept the child of Mary as of the Spirit and to name the child, 'Jesus'), his acceptance of Mary and her pregnancy, his abstention from sexual intimacy with Mary, the birth ofJesus, and Joseph's naming of the child. In ch. 2, in tum, readers are presented the accounts of the , Joseph's second dream (directing him to take Mary and the child and flee to ), the , the residence in Egypt, Joseph's third dream (directing him to return to the land of Israel), and the return of the family from Egypt to . Finally, there is also reference to Joseph later in (Mt. 13.55), within the pericope concerning the rejection ofJesus in the synagogue in (13.54-58). Although this reference is brief, it is important, and also war• rants further examination. Thus, readers are introduced to a fascinating portrait of the Joseph in the Matthean nativity that invites acknowledging and analyzing three main issues, through the means ofliterary and narrative analyses: (1) the ways Joseph is presented and represented, (2) the respective characteris• tics and roles that are attributed to and associated with him and, in tum, (3) when and how he is juxtaposed with Mary, and the child, as well as other narrative figures. The first formal mention of 'Joseph' (Iwcrljcp) is found in the last part of the first section of the nativity account, in the pericope concerning the (1.1-1.17), in 1.16b. Here, readers are told that through his father,Jacob (IOC){W~, 1.16), Joseph has descended from very important spiritual Hebrew males, including Abraham, Issac, and [the earlier]Jacob, the father of[the earlier]Joseph (1.2), and King and Solomon (1.6); as well as four important foreign female figures, Tamar 28 Joseph the Carpenter

(1.3), Rahab (1.5), Ruth (1.5), and the wife of Uriah [Bathsheba] (1.6).1 This long list of Hebrew males would certainly have impressed the read• ers, and likely evoked contemplation on the longstanding fidelity and faithfulness of God. Nevertheless, the presence of the specific women in this list of descendants, unexpected and provocative characters and out• siders as they were, may well have evoked the most surprise and reflec• tion and served as a literary precursor to the forthcoming surprises of the special roles of the previously unheralded joseph and Mary in the salva• tion drama and the miraculous birth of the (1.16b, 18-25).2 Still, the primary purpose of this extensive genealogy of the past, indicated in the long list of expected and unexpected heirs of Abraham and David (1.2-16), appears to be to connect joseph with the past, present, and future of the Hebrew people.3 Following this important narration (1.1-16a) of the biological and spiritual children of Abraham and David, which provides an historic, spiritual, and familial context for joseph, he is formally introduced to the

1 With respect to the different ways the women in this genealogy have been under• stood, see especially Bonnard, L'Evangile selon Matthieu, p. 16; H. Benedict Green, The Gospel According to Matthew (Oxford and London: Oxford University Press, 1975), pp. 52-53; Schweizer, The Good News According to Matthew, pp. 24-25; Brown, The Birth cfthe Messiah (1977), pp. 71-74; Brown, The Birth cfthe Messiah (rev. ed., 1993), pp. 590-96; Harrington, The , pp. 28, 30-32; Bruner, The Christbook, pp. 5-8; Davies and Allison, The Gospel According to St. Matthew I, pp. 170-74, 187-88; Smith, Matthew, pp. 32-33; Craig L. Blomberg, The New American Commentary: Matthew, vol. 22 (Nashville, TN: Broadman Press, 1992), pp. 55-56; Margaret Davies, Matthew: Read• ings (Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 1993), p. 31; Donald A. Hagner, -13 (Dallas, TX: Word Books, 1993), pp. 10-12; David E. Garland, Reading Matthew (New York: Crossroad, 1999), pp. 17-19; Keener, A Commentary on the Gospel cf Matthew, pp. 78-81; France, The Gospel cf Matthew, pp. 35-38; Warren Carter, Matthew and the Margins (JSNTS 204; Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 2001), pp. 58-61; Robert H. Mounce, Matthew [NIBC] (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 2002), pp. 8-9; RudolfSchnackenburg, The Gospel cf Matthew (trans. Robert R. Barr, Grand Rapids and Cambridge: Eerdmans, 2002), p. 17; Freed, The Stories cfJesus' Birth, p. 32; Hauerwas, Matthew, pp. 31-32; Luz, Matthew 1-7, pp. 83-85. 2 Reflecting on what readers must have thought, Daniel Patte, The Gospel According to Matthew (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1987), p. 19, writes that they 'can only marvel at God's interventions which raised up children of Abraham with the help of these pro• genitors but also in spite of them.' Therefore, 'The generation of the ... children of Abraham and of David is not merely the result of natural, human procreation but is also the result of supernatural interventions, as is the case of Jesus' birth.' Thus, from his perspective, Patte argues that 'Jesus belongs to this genealogy ... because he fully belongs to this genealogy of people who are children of David and Abraham thanks to God's interventions' . 3Alfred Plummer, An Exegetical Commentary on the Gospel According to St. Matthew (London: Robert Scott, 1928), p. 2, notes that 'Neither Jew nor would derive the birthright ofJesus from his mother'. Thus, it is natural that the genealogy ofJesus is based upon his relationship with Joseph; his being seen or believed to be the true heir of Joseph.