(M14)
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St Joseph
(†1st
century)
Biographical
In the New Testament, he is the husband of Mary, the mother of Jesus.
He is represented as a descendant of the house of David, and his genealogy
appears in two divergent forms in Matt. 1:1-17 and Luke 3:23-38. The latter
is probably much more complete and accurate in details. The former, obviously
artificial in structure, traces the Davidic descent through kings, and
is governed by an apologetic purpose. Of Joseph’s personal history practically
nothing is recorded in the Bible. The facts concerning him common to the
two birth-narratives (Matt. 1-2; Luke 1-2) are: a) that he was a descendant
of David, b) that Mary was already betrothed to him when she was found
with child of the Holy Ghost, and c) that he lived at Nazareth after the
birth of Christ; but these facts are handled differently in each case.
It is noticeable that, in Matthew, Joseph is prominent (e.g. he receives
an annunciation from an angel), while in Luke’s narrative he is completely
subordinated. The narratives seem to have been current in a poetical form
among the early Jewish-Christian community of Palestine. At Nazareth,
Joseph followed the trade of a carpenter (Matt. 13:55). It is probable
that he had died before the public ministry of Christ because no mention
is made of him in passages relating to this period where the mother and
brethren of Jesus are introduced. From John 20:26 it is clear that he
was not alive at the time of the Crucifixion. Joseph was the father of
several children (Matt. 13:55), but according to ecclesiastical tradition
by a former marriage. The reading of Matt. 1:16 in the Sinaitic Palimpsest
also makes him the natural father of Jesus, and this was the view of certain
early heretical sects, but it seems never to have been held in orthodox
Christian circles. According to various apocryphal gospels, when married
to Mary he was a widower already 80 years of age, and the father of four
sons and two daughters; his first wife's name was Salome and she was a
connexion of the family of John the Baptist. In the Roman Catholic
Church, the 19th of March has since 1642 been a feast in Joseph’s honour.
Two other festivals in his honour have also been established (the Patronage
of St Joseph, 3rd Sunday after Easter, and the Betrothal of Mary and Joseph,
23rd of January). In December 1870 St Joseph was proclaimed Patron of
the whole Church.
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