Jerome wrote a response to Helvidius regarding the virginity of Mary. This post is the third part of a fourth in a series of responses to what Jerome wrote.
Jerome wrote:
And although we find it said to Joseph in a dream, “Fear not to take Mary thy wife”; and again, “Joseph arose from his sleep, and did as the angel of the Lord commanded him, and took unto him his wife,” no one ought to be disturbed by this, as though, inasmuch as she is called wife, she ceases to be betrothed, for we know it is usual in Scripture to give the title to those who are betrothed. The following evidence from Deuteronomy establishes the point. “If the man,” says the writer, “find the damsel that is betrothed in the field, and the man force her, and lie with her, he shall surely die, because he hath humbled his neighbour’s wife.” And in another place, “If there be a damsel that is a virgin betrothed unto an husband, and a man find her in the city, and lie with her; then ye shall bring them both out unto the gate of that city, and ye shall stone them with stones that they die; the damsel, because she cried not, being in the city; and the man, because he hath humbled his neighbour’s wife: so thou shalt put away the evil from the midst of thee.” Elsewhere also, “And what man is there that hath betrothed a wife, and hath not taken her? let him go and return unto his house, lest he die in the battle, and another man take her.”
Although the editors treat this as Jerome, it seems as though it is Helvidius' argument. For it is the answer to the alleged self-contradiction between wife and betrothed. Although now we use betrothal differently than then, the term "wife" was sometimes used of a betrothed woman, and she was treated as a wife for purposes of, for example, the law against adultery. Thus, we can understand that she was Joseph's wife, although they were still in the betrothal period.
-TurretinFan
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