Matthew 1:24
Encyclopedia
Matthew 1:24 is the twenty-fourth verse of the first chapter of the Gospel of Matthew
Gospel of Matthew
The Gospel According to Matthew is one of the four canonical gospels, one of the three synoptic gospels, and the first book of the New Testament. It tells of the life, ministry, death, and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth...

 in the New Testament
New Testament
The New Testament is the second major division of the Christian biblical canon, the first such division being the much longer Old Testament....

. Joseph
Saint Joseph
Saint Joseph is a figure in the Gospels, the husband of the Virgin Mary and the earthly father of Jesus Christ ....

 has just been informed of the nature of Jesus and what he should do by an angel. In this verse Joseph carries out the angels instructions.

The original Koine Greek
Koine Greek
Koine Greek is the universal dialect of the Greek language spoken throughout post-Classical antiquity , developing from the Attic dialect, with admixture of elements especially from Ionic....

, according to Westcott and Hort
The New Testament in the Original Greek
The New Testament in the Original Greek is the name of a Greek language version of the New Testament published in 1881. It is also known as the Westcott and Hort text, after its editors Brooke Foss Westcott and Fenton John Anthony Hort...

, reads:
εγερθεις δε [ο] ιωσηφ απο του υπνου εποιησεν ως προσεταξεν
αυτω ο αγγελος κυριου και παρελαβεν την γυναικα αυτου


In the King James Version of the Bible the text reads:
Then Joseph being raised from sleep did as the angel
of the Lord had bidden him, and took unto him his wife:


The World English Bible
World English Bible
The World English Bible is a public domain translation of the Bible that is currently in draft form. Work on the World English Bible began in 1997 and was known as the American Standard Version 1997...

translates the passage as:
Joseph arose from his sleep, and did as the angel of the
Lord commanded him, and took his wife to himself;


For a collection of other versions see BibRef Matthew 1:24

Joseph carries out the angel's instructions exactly. "Taking his wife" refers to the second portion of the marriage ritual. Mary and Joseph had already been wed, but by tradition the bride stayed in her father's home for another year or so. At that point the husband would take the wife into his home. It is this second phase of the marriage that "take his wife" refers to. The Greek and the later text make clear this is not a euphemism for sexual relations. Jones notes that rapid and unquestioning obedience, as shown here by Joseph, is an important virtue in the Gospel.
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