"If any man takes a wife, and goes in to her, and detests her, and charges her with shameful conduct, and brings a bad name on her, and says, 'I took this woman, and when I came to her I found she was not a virgin,' then the father and mother of the young woman shall take and bring out the evidence of the young woman's virginity to the elders of the city at the gate. And the young woman's father shall say to the elders, 'I gave my daughter to this man as wife, and he detests her. Now he has charged her with shameful conduct, saying, "I found your daughter was not a virgin," and yet these are the evidences of my daughter's virginity.' And they shall spread the cloth before the elders of the city. Then the elders of that city shall take that man and punish him; and they shall fine him one hundred shekels of silver and give them to the father of the young woman, because he has brought a bad name on a virgin of Israel. And she shall be his wife; he cannot divorce her all his days.
"But if the thing is true, and evidences of virginity are not found for the young woman, then they shall bring out the young woman to the door of her father's house, and the men of her city shall stone her to death with stones, because she has done a disgraceful thing in Israel, to play the harlot in her father's house. So you shall put away the evil from among you.
"If a man is found lying with a woman married to a husband, then both of them shall die—the man that lay with the woman, and the woman; so you shall put away the evil from Israel.
"If a young woman who is a virgin is betrothed to a husband, and a man finds her in the city and lies with her, then you shall bring them both out to the gate of that city, and you shall stone them to death with stones, the young woman because she did not cry out in the city, and the man because he humbled his neighbor's wife; so you shall put away the evil from among you. Deuteronomy 22:13-24
Joseph not wanting to make Mary a public example, would have been in direct contradiction to the law. Under the law, Mary would have been stoned to death. Being pregnant would certainly be a clear sign of her unfaithfulness. Joseph would have been righteous in upholding the law. Of course, I posed the question without any answer. Most, including myself, had never thought about it in that light.
In the end, it doesn't matter. We know that an angel came to Joseph in a dream and told him that Mary was pregnant by Holy Spirit. Her child, his stepson would be the Son of God. Mary had not slept with anyone else.
At home, I read another version of this passage.
Joseph was a man who always did what was right, but he did not want to disgrace Mary publicly; so he made plans to break the engagement privately. Matthew 1:19
It answers my question with a "but". Joseph was a man who did what was right, but he did not want to disgrace Mary publicly. Thank God that Joseph got a good night's sleep and remembered his dream.
Prayer - Lord that You for different versions of the Scripture that provide a deeper understanding or different perspective to answer these little questions we have. Thank You for the birth of Jesus, the fulfillment of prophesy for our salvation. In Jesus name, Amen.
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