Juniper B. Carol, O.F.M.
We read in Mt. 1:18 that Mary was espoused to a man named Joseph and we glean from Lk. 1:27 and from the genealogies of the Gospels that he was a scion of David (Mt. 1:1-17; Lk. 3:23-38). But his illustrious origin did not imply social prominence. After the demise of Zorobabel (after 515 B.C.), the house of David seems to have declined steadily in wealth and influence. It is mentioned for the last time in the Old Testament in 1 Par. 3:1 f. So, we find that Joseph was no more than a carpenter of Nazareth not famed for his erudition (Mt. 13:55; Mk. 6:3). This again is a sign that Mary’s parents belonged to the artisan class, for, according to Jewish opinion, bride and bridegroom were supposed to be of the same social and economic status.[2]
That Joseph sought a wife does not surprise us, for marriage was obligatory for a Jew; an unmarried man was stigmatized by the rabbis as not a man and as devoid of joy, blessing, and well-being.[3] But that Mary, who was resolved to preserve perpetual virginity (Lk. 1:38), should consent to espousals seems strange. She may have yielded to pressure from her parents or guardian to conform to the prevailing custom, leaving it to Divine Providence to safeguard her resolution. Perhaps she disclosed her resolve to Joseph and persuaded him to consent to a virginal marriage. It is possible, also, that Joseph entertained the same ideals, so that he needed no persuasion to accept the kind of espousals contemplated by Mary.
A young man usually became betrothed between the ages of eighteen and twenty-four; a girl, between twelve years and one day and twelve years six months, the period when she was classified as a maiden (na’arah).[4] The obligation to secure a husband for her was considered urgent when she became a bogereth,[5] that is, when she reached the legal state of puberty, after the age of twelve and a half.
But these were standards set up by the rabbis; in practice, girls sometimes became betrothed at a more advanced age, although most probably not as late as twenty, as it was thought calamitous to postpone marriage so long.[6]
A great disparity in age between the bride and bridegroom was deprecated, but widowers sometimes were forced to marry young girls.[7] Hence, Mary and Joseph were both youthful at the time of their betrothal, unless Joseph was a widower. Many of the apocryphal gospels and some Oriental writers believed that he was such and that the brothers and sisters of the Lord mentioned in the canonical gospels were Joseph’s children by a first, deceased wife.[8] In the West, St. Jerome gave the deathblow to this opinion by asserting in his reply to Helvidius the perpetual virginity of Joseph.[9] This has been the unanimous belief of the Catholic Church ever since.
Jewish nuptials consisted of two steps: betrothal and marriage proper. After certain financial arrangements concerning the bride had been signed, the bride and bridegroom were betrothed to one another in the house of the bride. The bridegroom gave her a small object having the value of a peruta,[10] the smallest coin, in the presence of two witnesses, saying: “By this you are betrothed to me.” Betrothal could also be accomplished by a written document and by intercourse with the expressed intention of betrothal.[11]
Betrothal was in every respect equivalent to our marriage. The betrothed girl was called the man’s wife; she became a widow if her betrothed died; she was subject to levirate marriage; when widowed or divorced, she could claim the financial settlement accorded to a wife in the same circumstances; in case of infidelity, she was liable to the same punishment as an adulterous wife; like a wife she could not be dismissed without a bill of divorcement. Marital relations were licit in Judea during betrothal. This does not seem to have been customary in Galilee.[12]
If the betrothed woman had not been married previously, she usually waited a year before the second step, the marriage proper, was taken. On the day set for the ceremony the bridegroom conducted his betrothed in solemn procession from her parental home to his own. Thereupon, the wedding was celebrated for a week.[13]
[1] P. Gachter, The Chronology from Mary’s Betrothal to the Birth of Christ, in Theological Studies, Vol. 2, 1941, pp. 347-368; U. Holzmeister, De nuptiis S. Joseph, in Verhum Domini, Vol. 25, 1947, pp. 145-149; E. Neubert, La chronologie depuis les panqailles de Marie jusqua la naissance du Christ, in Marianum, Vol. 4, 1942, pp. 10-20.
[2] J. Bonsirven, Le Judaisme palestinien, Vol. 2, p. 209; W. L. Strack and P. L. Billerbeck, Kommentar zum Neuen Testament aus Talmud und Midrash, Vol. 2 (Miinchen, 1924), pp. 377 – 378.
[3] Bonsirven, op. cit., Vol. 2, p. 208.
[4] na’arah = girl.
[5] Bogereth = Adult woman.
[6] W. L. Strack and P. L. Billerbeck, Kommentar zum Neuen Testament aus Talmud und Midrash, Vol., p. 375; Bonsirven, loc. cit. 2
[7] Strack-Billerbeck, op. cit., Vol. 2, p. 379.
[8] Carlo Cecchelli, Mater Christi, Vol. 2 (Romae, 1948), pp. 51-52.
[9] St. Jerome, De virginitate perpetua B. Mariae adversus Helvidium. PL, 23, 203 AB, 213B.
[10] The prutah was an ancient copper coin of the Second Temple period of Israel with low value. A loaf of bread in ancient times was worth about 10 prutot (plural of prutah). One prutah was also worth two lepta (singular lepton), which was the smallest denomination minted by the kings of the Hasmonean and Herodian dynasties.
[11] Strack-Billerbeck, op. cit., Vol. 2, pp. 384-394.
[12] Ibid., p. 393.
[13] Ibid., Vol. 1, pp. 504-518, on Mt. 9:5; p. 879, on Mt. 22:2.
Mariology vol. 1, pp. 83-85., The Bruce Publishing Company, Milwaukee