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MATTHEW 1:19 — KING JAMES VERSION 0
Matt 1:18Matt 1:20
“Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not willing to make her a publick example, was minded to put her away privily.”
And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly. Joseph's character is established in a single verse: just and merciful, a man who follows the law (which entitled him to public divorce) while choosing the form of it that protects Mary from maximum exposure. The tension between justice and mercy that will run through Jesus' entire ministry is enacted in miniature by the man who raised him. Deuteronomy 24:1 permitted divorce; Numbers 5 provided a public shaming process for suspected adultery. Joseph chooses neither the full rigor of the law nor its most severe interpretation. He is a righteous man who has not yet learned what righteousness is about to require of him.

Church Fathers on Matthew 1:19

The Evangelist having said that she was found with child of the Holy Ghost, and without knowledge of man, that you should not herein suspect Christ’s disciple of inventing wonders in honour of his Master, brings forward Joseph confirming the history by his own share in it; 'Now Joseph her husband, being a just man.'

Chrysostom · 4th century

Joseph, understanding that Mary was with child, is perplexed that it should be thus with her whom he had received from the temple of the Lord, and had not yet known, and resolved within himself, saying, What shall I do? Shall I proclaim it, or shall I overlook it? If I proclaim it, I am indeed not consenting to the adultery; but I am running into the guilt of cruelty, for by Moses' law she must be stoned. If I overlook it, I am consenting to the crime, and take my portion…

Pseudo-Augustine · 5th century · Serm. in App. s. 195

St. Matthew has beautifully taught how a righteous man ought to act, who has detected his wife’s disgrace; so as at once to keep himself guiltless of her blood, and yet pure from her defilements; therefore it is he says, 'Being a just man.' Thus is preserved throughout in Joseph the gracious character of a righteous man, that his testimony may be the more approved; for, the tongue of the just speaketh the judgment of truth.

Ambrose · 4th century · in Luc., ii, 5
Read all 12 entries in the readerCatena Aurea · St. Thomas Aquinas, tr. J. H. Newman · public domain
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Matthew 1:19 — Community Reflections | HolyStudy