Was the Virgin Mary married or single?

Question

If married, don't you have to have sex to officially be married? Consummation or whatever.

And if single, could it be that she lied about having sex with someone?

I am just trying to make sense of everything, not trying to stir anything up.

Answer 1

I'm a Catholic and attended Catholic school from grades k-12, I think I've got Bible studies down, so let me try and enlighten you...

Mary was a virgin, at least at the time she had Jesus, biblically-speaking. The angel Gabriel came to her and told her she would be the mother of God's son. She accepted, God put the seed in her, and out popped little Jesus. She was engaged to Joseph at the time, didn't tell him about all this, and when he found her pregnant the townspeople told him to have her killed as an adulteress. God then came to him in a dream, told him what had taken place, and he stayed with her. I do believe that after all this they got married, and depending on who you talk to, marry may or may not have died a virgin. It is likely she lost her virginity after Jesus was born since her and Joseph wed...at least that's what I believe, there's really no proof, it's all a matter of Faith. Also, no, you do not HAVE to have sex for it to be a legal marriage. Hope I helped =]

Answer 2

she was engaged in Jewish custom she this would generally be a year. during that time the couple would be "as married" but it would not be consummated until the end of that engagement. She was afraid when she became pregnant, because she could be put to death for having sex outside of marrige. So I doubt someone else. And Joseph struggled with this at first so I doubt it was him. It is also important to note that Christ was said to be without sin. Yet, we are taught that everyone is born into sin because of Adam. So how could Christ be sinless. The key is in the blood. The sperm of a man determines the blood of a child. therefore the blood is from the man. Jesus could only be born sinless if he was not born of man. This was the reason for a virgin birth. The blood would Be from God. This little tid bit about the blood is science fact that they would not have known then. So how would they know to make it a Virgin birth if it was a man made story?

Answer 3

I'm no expert on Jewish tradition and culture of the time, but I believe that Mary was considered to be "betrothed" to Joseph at the time of the conception and birth of Jesus... now, some translations of the scriptures do call her Joseph's wife in and around the infancy narratives, so I don't know if the terms mean the same as they do today. The other thing is that Joseph could have chosen to not tell people about the true state of their relationship, consummated or not.

Answer 4

In Mary's time, there were 3 marital statuses; single, betrothed, and married. Mary was betrothed th Joseph. Wit ha betrothal, they were considered legally married and would have to apply for and receive a divorce decree to separate. They could not, however, have sex until after the marriage ceremony.

Many people claim that Mary did have sex prior to marriage. In fact, it is used often as a claim to deny the divinity of Christ. However, there is nothing to suggest this other than our natural inclination to decount the miraculous. But, since God created the entire universe out of nothing, I'm sure he could have done a small task like creating life in a womb outside of the normal way.

A different, though related question, is did Mary remain a virgin afterwords? Catholics hold that she did. Protestants, at least all that I know of, hold the position that Mary and Joseph had several children together after Jesus was born.

Answer 5

In the day in which Jesus was born couples would be betrothed to one another, this was a time set to do several things one, that she was a true virgin, and the second the time available to pay the bride price asked for by the bride's family, in most cases it took a long time, in the interm time the were legally by law viewed as married and any fornication was looked as adultery which the penalty was stoning. Mary was conceived by the Holy Spirit who formed Christ's sinless body in the womb of Mary, so that He would be qualified to be the Savior of the world. Joseph upon hearing that she was pregnant was shocked untl the angel announced how this came to pass. He was a humble man, and Mary was his first wife. Because it took awhile for men to have enough to get married, not like today. After Jesus was weaned about 2 years of age Joseph did not have a sexual reltionship with Mary, they did have children from Mary these are Jesus' (half brothers ) yet in Israel they were actually viewed as full brothers.

Answer 6

Aw man, "Not trying to stir things up"? That's what you call this? OK here's the deal:

The Virgin Mary according to the bible was inpregnated with the son of God by God. If she was out having sex in that time, she would have and could have been stoned to death.

She was due to be married to Joseph so they hadn't had sex. Remember back then premarital sex=dishonor household=someone is getting stoned to death.

Could she have lied? I suppose it's possible but you have to assume that a midwife could feel a hymen back then and if she had laid down with someone and got pregnant, that could have been found out. The Hymen would have been torn.

Answer 7

She was engaged to Joseph.

"But the birth of Jesus Christ was in this way. During the time his mother Mary was promised in marriage to Joseph, she was found to be pregnant by holy spirit before they were united. However, Joseph her husband, because he was righteous and did not want to make her a public spectacle, intended to divorce her secretly. " -Matthew 1:18, 19

It is fact that Mary was a virgin when she birthed Jesus. The Bible foretold that a virgin would birth Jesus (Isaiah 7:14) . The fact that Mary was declared by the angel as someone highly favored shows that she was keeping the law, part of which forbid fornication. (Luke 1:26-28; Deuteronomy 22:23-27)

Answer 8

The Bible says she was betrothed and that Joseph protected her as his wife, but it never says they had a marriage ceremony, it never says they consummated their marriage and it never says they had any children together.

Single women in the time of Mary were far more protected than they are today. In the daytime, Mary would have been busy with chores and rarely alone as people lived and worked in communities and were always around each other (Middle-eastern nomads still live this way). Houses didn't have separate bedrooms for each person. There weren't any street lights or things, so it wasn't like you could go sneaking around in the night unnoticed because you had to carry your light with you and people always notice moving lights. So the idea that she was sneaking off to have a private sex life is actually pretty far-fetched.

Answer 9

Mary was married to Joseph and after Jesus was born, she had normal marital relations with Joseph and had other children. Mary was fertilized by God and conceived Jesus before her marriage to Joseph and was not intimate with Joseph until after Jesus was born so that there could be no mistake who Christ's father really was. Mary was a special person and her offspring, Jesus, was a special case. God made an exception for her in order to bring Christ into the world.

Answer 10

Yes she was married to Joseph, and yes, contrary to the teachings of Catholicism, they had sex. It says, "When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. But he had no union with her until she gave birth to a son." Matthew 1:24,25

Furthermore concerning marriage your are right that sex must be involved for it to be a legitimate marriage. For Jesus pointed out, ' 'For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh' Mt 19:5 when he defined marriage.