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Mat 1:25. Καὶ, and) St Matthew says “and,” not “but.” He took her, and knew her not: both by the command of the angel.-οὐκ ἐγίνωσκεν αὐτὴν, ἓως οὗ, knew her not until) It does not follow from this ἓως (until) that he did so afterwards. It is sufficient however, that her virginity should be established up to the time of her delivery. With regard to the remainder of her married life, the reader is left to form his own opinion. The angel did not expressly forbid Joseph to have conjugal intercourse with her: but he perceived such a command to be implied by the very nature of the case.-ἓως οὗ ἔτεκε τὸν υἱὸν, until she brought forth the Son) A very old Egyptian version has only these words, without the addition of “her first-born:[69] according to which reading, the address of the angel, the declaration of the prophet, and the act of Joseph [in naming Him as the angel directed] are expressed in words which exactly correspond together.-sc., “She shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name Jesus,”-“She shall bring forth a Son, and they shall call his name Jesus,”-She brought forth TON Υἱὸν, THE Son, and he [Joseph][70] called His name Jesus. The article TON (the) has a relative value here, and refers to Mat 1:21 with the same meaning, “until she brought forth THAT Son” The same reading is found in Codex Barberini I. (by which name we suppose the celebrated Vatican MS. to be intended in this place), and we have assured ourselves that beyond doubt such must have been originally that of the Latin Vulgate. For Helvidius,[71] and Jerome in the commencement of his book against him, thus quote the words of St Matthew-et non cognovit eam, donec peperit filium suum, i.e., and he knew her not till she brought forth her Son; but more commonly they quote thus donec peperit filium, i.e., until she brought forth ([72] or the) Son, without the addition of either suum (her) or primogenitum (first-born); nor can it be argued, that they have in these instances intended to abridge the text, since Jerome in one place thus quotes the passage in full, “Exurgens autem-accepit uxorem suam et non cognovit eam, donec peperit filium: et vocavit nomen ejus Jesum,” i.e., But on rising from sleep-he received his wife, and knew her not until she had brought forth [the] Son: and he called His name Jesus.[73]
[69] The disputed words are found in E. M. Tregelles favours the omission.-(I. B.)
[70] See Text v. 25, “He called his name Jesus.”-ED.
[71] A famous Arian disciple of Auxentius. He lived in the fourth century.-(I. B.)
[72] Vercellensis of the old ‘Itala,’ or Latin Version before Jerome’s, probably made in Africa, in the second century: the Gospels.
[73] BZ. Memph. Theb. b.c. read only ὑιόν (without the article or the words following). Dd. and Vulg. read as the Rec. Text. Lachmann and Tischendorf follow the former reading, as resting on the weightiest authorities.-ED.
Both these writers, after a long dispute upon this passage of St Matthew, seek for a fresh argument grounded on the appellation πρωτότοκος, first-born, not from this passage of St Matthew, but solely from Luk 2:7. If the Codex Barberini I., and the Coptic version already mentioned, obtained this reading from Greek MSS., their testimony is on that ground of great weight: if, on the other hand, they obtained it from Latin sources, they greatly corroborate the genuine reading of the very ancient Latin version. The words αὐτῆς τὸν πρωτότοκον, “her first-born,” appear to have been introduced into St Matthew, from the parallel passage in St Luke already cited: and the very idea of the Son of a Virgin, implies that He must have been the first-born in a pre-eminent and strictly singular manner. [Such as He is expressly declared to be in Luk 2:7, Vers. Germ.]
In some passages our criticism takes a different view of matters from what it did formerly. Yet no one can fairly accuse me of inconstancy; for I do not confine myself to those views, which have gained acceptance by long usage (though I do not reject such assistance where truth requires it): but I proceed to draw forth, by degrees, from their concealment, those things which have been buried out of sight.
Ἐκάλεσε, he called) i.e., Joseph did so; as we learn from Mat 1:21.