Mary's HUSBAND... or... Adopted Father ?

Sometimes the scholars can identify with  the Apostle's epithet..."your much learning hath made thee mad!" [i.e., confused, out of touch with reality].

Such may be the case here . . . if we stop at Matthew 1:16.  But if we read further to verse 1:18, we discover "who" Yosip really is . . . and he is NOT Mariam's "father." 

 Now the birth of Y'SHUA+, the MASHIYACH was like this: While Maryam His+ mother was betrothed to Yosip, without them being united, she was found pregnant by the RUACH haKODESH.

  in Matthew 1:16, footnote 5, of an acclaimed Aramaic New Testament accompanied with a highly-edited English translation. This is Andrew Roth's AENT.

This scholarly editor has made a statement that simply has no basis in historical fact found either in the Scriptures themselves or in any other place! It is astounding that such a statement could be found placed even near the Holy Scriptures, as surely the clear, blessed, and Holy Aramaic New Testament is. 

Here is this statement (and I quote):

"... Ancient Aramaic ends at verse 17, not 25. The text not only establishes the subject, but shifts from "background history" into the present from intro to body. This means that the Yosip [Joseph] in verse 16 (the guardian or adopted father of Miriyam (Mary) is not the same  Yosip as the husband of Miriyam in verse 19."  

Nowhere is it to be found that the Hebrew virgin Mariam had an ADOPTED "FATHER" !  Or, in other words, nowhere is it to be found that the Hebrew virgin Mariam was adopted !  The Bible is fairly clear on who sired who, even when the story is not pretty and the situation not righteous... because you can't fool GOD!

So, let's look at the verse, Matthew 1:16 in question. We will look at it through the Aramaic, the Hebrew transliteration, the Latin, Pierpont and Robison's Greek Text,  and 3 Aramaic-English translations (not the Aramaic volume in this study, mind you). Here it is. Note the word in yellow.

ܝܥܩܘܒ ܐܘܠܕ ܠܝܘܣܦ ܓܒܪܗ ܕܡܪܝܡ ܕܡܢܗ ܐܬܝܠܕ ܝܫܘܥ ܕܡܬܩܪܐ ܡܫܝܚܐ

 1:16 Matthew- יעקוב אולד ליוסף גברה דמרים דמנה אתילד ישׁוע דמתקרא משׁיחא

Matthew 1:16 -
Iacob autem genuit Ioseph virum Mariæ, de qua natus est Iesus, qui vocatur CHRISTUS

Peshitta (Aramaic) English translations are from John W. Ethridge, James Murdock and George Lamsa , respectively.

Matthew 1:16 in each translation:

Jakub begat Jauseph, husband of Mariam, of whom was born JESHU who is called the Meshicha.

Jacob begat Joseph, the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus who is called the Messiah.

Jacob begot Joseph,  the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus who is called  Christ.

 ܓܒܪܗ     GOWRA = man, husband, person

From From the Syriac Electronic Data Retrieval Archive ( SEDRA) by Dr. George A . Kiraz, distributed by the Syriac Computing Institute. Peshitta verses are taken from the Peshitta NT published by the British and Foreign Bible Society. Found on the DUKHRANA BIBLICAL RESEARCH, PESHITTA TOOLS.

[As an aside: the Dukhrana Biblical Research website is an excellent website to use as a study tool. It has an English grammatical analysis of every Aramaic word on the Peshitta Tool page, called SEDRA so that any English-speaking student of the Aramaic Scriptures may take advantage of this good tool.]

The word in question in all of those languages is HUSBAND. It can also mean man or person, according to the SEDRA. Thus, in addition to having no historic basis for making Mary to have an adopted father (whatever that is) , the Latin, Greek (Nestle's is the same as Pierpont's here in this verse), and all the English translations of the Peshitta previously done by Aramaic scholars themselves ... all these versions agree that the lineage listed in Matthew 1 ... regardless of where the verses stop... are pointing to the lineage of Y'SHUA+ the Divine MASHIYACH, son of David.

The Aramaic Word GOWRA

Now we will come to the Aramaic word gowra which is at the heart of the argument. GOWRA is equivalent to the Hebrew  root GBR. [The Aramaic will oftentimes use "W" instead of the Hebrew "B" or "V"]. The Hebrew geber means "mighty man." [Strong's 1396-1401]  Interestingly enough, a modern Hebrew dictionary lists giborah as "man, male, virile, virility".

Paul Younan's interlinear translation of the Peshitta translates gowra  as kinsman instead of HUSBAND of Miriyam.

Thus the text would read, " Jacob begot Joseph, the kinsman of Mary, of whom was born JESUS Who+ was called The MESSIAH."    That rather misses the mark because in a lineage, one would have to be a father, son, or husband, not a cousin.

However, the footnote 5 in the Aramaic New Testament in question points out this interesting language fact: " The word gowra designates a protector-male or guardian...."   The footnote points out that gowra  is used in at least one other place in the New Testament to mean father instead of husband.   Hence, the confusion. Therefore, this Aramaic New Testament translation inserts GUARDIAN , making the verse read:

Jacob begot Joseph, the GUARDIAN of Mary, of whom was born JESUS,  WHO+ was called the CHRIST. 

>>> The clue to unravel this confusion is found in verse 18 from the Aramaic English New Testament:

Now the birth of Y'SHUA+, the MASHIYACH was like this: While Maryam His+ mother was betrothed to Yosip, without them being united, she was found pregnant by the RUACH haKODESH.

Thus in the Aramaic language, "GUARDIAN" , was precisely WHO Joseph , the husband of Mary, was... before the DIVINE BIRTH of Y'SHUA+ the MASHIYACH  !

Joseph was indeed the guardian, protector-male over the Virgin of Israel until he performed the part of a husband in their physical union... which took place AFTER THE DIVINE BIRTH of The SON+ of GOD, Y'SHUA ha MASHIYACH.

Bless GOD! That wonderful Aramaic Scripture text is the only ancient text that captures the difference and points it out in the text itself. In later verses, gowra changes to ba'alah...  which has as one of its meanings husband. 


THE ERROR here comes in the footnote of Andrew Roth's AENT.    Mr. Roth states that Mariam had an adopted FATHER . He identifies Mariam's guardian as her father, instead of her husband in Matthew's lineage of Y'SHU+ ! 

Scripture corrects the AENT in verse 18, identifying the only YOSIP in the lineage as Mariam's husband,  as can be noted by the careful reader. 

So YES, guardian is very precise; it can be any male-protector, including a father. 

 However, here in this lineage, HUSBAND is who this guardian is, according to verse 18 . . . the very next verse pertaining to lineage. Verse 17 simply delineates the centuries and includes no persons.   
 

+  +  +

In the name of THE FATHER,

WHO created thee;

HIS Beloved, HOLY SON+,

Y'SHUA+  haMASHIYACH 

Who+ saves thee;

And their blessed HOLY SPIRIT,

Who sanctifieds thee.