24 MRS. A. S. LEWIS^ ON THE GENEALOGIES OP OUR LORD. 



In the Authorized Version we read that Mary was " the espoused 

 wife " of Joseph ; in the Eevised Version that she was " betrothed" 

 to him. The word in the Greek is a participle of the passive voice 

 of the verb mnesteuo. The event specified in Matt, i, 24 — he 

 " took unto him his wife " — was assuredly antecedent to the journey 

 to Bethlehem ; yet in connection with the latter event, the 

 Evangelist Luke seems to find no difficulty in describing Mary as 

 " betrothed " to Joseph (Luke ii, 4, 5, Eevised Version) — the same 

 term as is used in the previous chapter in the story of the 

 Annunciation (Chapter i, verse 27). The circumstances as thus 

 brought before us make it necessary to inquire what the Jews 

 understood by betrothal. 



In the article on " Betrothal " in the Jewish Encyclopcedia (vol. 3) 

 by Rabbi Dr. Drachman, of New York, it is made clear beyond 

 question that the ancient practice in this particular was much 

 different from that which prevails in Israel at the present time. 

 Speaking of the negotiations requisite for arranging marriages, the 

 Rabbi says : " When the agreement had been entered into, it was 

 definite and binding upon both groom and bride, who were 

 considered as man and wife in all legal and religious aspects, except 

 that of actual cohabitation." Note the situation : the betrothed 

 were considered as man and tuife, one condition alone being excepted. 



Dr. Drachman proceeds to show that the Hebrew word drds, 

 ''to betroth," must be taken in this sense, i.e., to contract an actual 

 though incomplete marriage. '' In two of the passages in which it 

 occurs, the betrothed woman is directly designated as 'wife' — 

 II Sam. iii, 14, ' my wife whom I have betrothed^ ; and Deut. xxii, 23, 24, 

 where the betrothed is designated as 'the wife of his neighbour.'" 

 Another such reference is i Mace, iii, 56, " them that were betrothing 

 tcivesJ^ The Rabbi continues : " In strict accordance with this sense, 

 the Rabbinical Law declares that betrothal is equivalent to an actual 

 marriage, and only to be dissolved by a formal divorce." He goes 

 on to explain the " home-taking " of the bride, whereby the 

 marriage was completed, in ordinary circumstances at the end of 

 twelve months, in cases where either of the parties had previously 

 been married, at the end of thirty days. 



In the light of these facts we can trace without difficulty the 

 progress of the events set forth in the Gospel story. After receiving 

 from the angel of the Lord the message " Fear not," Joseph " took 



