Bible Strands
Matthew 1:19
Because Joseph her husband was a righteous man and was unwilling to disgrace her publicly, he resolved to divorce her quietly.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The narrator reports Joseph’s internal resolution immediately after Mary’s pregnancy is confirmed in Matthew 1:18.
The words — δίκαιος (dikaios) = righteous describes Joseph’s character, which directly motivates his choice to avoid public shame.
The thread — The verse contrasts Joseph’s quiet divorce with the public stoning mandated in Deuteronomy 22:21, while operating within the legal framework for divorce recorded in Deuteronomy 24:1.
Why it lands — The text states a factual decision without moral commentary, requiring the reader to note how Joseph’s declared righteousness dictates his immediate course of action.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Greek words
King James Version
Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not willing to make her a publick example, was minded to put her away privily.
Cross-references
- Deuteronomy 22:21 she shall be brought to the door of her father’s house, and there the men of her city will stone her to death. For she has committed an outrage in Israel by being promiscuous in her father’s house. So you must purge the evil from among you.
- Deuteronomy 24:1 If a man marries a woman, but she becomes displeasing to him because he finds some indecency in her, he may write her a certificate of divorce, hand it to her, and send her away from his house.
- John 8:4 and said, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery.
- Mark 6:20 because Herod feared John and protected him, knowing that he was a righteous and holy man. When he heard John’s words, he was greatly perplexed; yet he listened to him gladly.
- Genesis 38:24 About three months later, Judah was told, “Your daughter-in-law Tamar has prostituted herself, and now she is pregnant.” “Bring her out!” Judah replied. “Let her be burned to death!”
- Leviticus 20:10 If a man commits adultery with another man’s wife—with the wife of his neighbor—both the adulterer and the adulteress must surely be put to death.
- Psalms 112:4 Light dawns in the darkness for the upright—for the gracious, compassionate, and righteous.
- Luke 2:25 Now there was a man in Jerusalem named Simeon, who was righteous and devout. He was waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him.
- Mark 10:4 They answered, “Moses permitted a man to write his wife a certificate of divorce and send her away.”
- Leviticus 19:20 If a man lies carnally with a slave girl promised to another man but who has not been redeemed or given her freedom, there must be due punishment. But they are not to be put to death, because she had not been freed.