有一木匠与一女订了婚,但他们尚未进行交合,就发现女人已经怀孕 (1),木匠当然知道这胎儿不是自己的,但不想让女人公开受到羞辱,于是准备暗中解除婚约 (2)。女人说,她本是处女,有天一个帅哥天使来找她 (3),告诉她将与神灵交合(4),天使走后(5),她怀孕了(6)。其后,木匠说他做了一个梦,梦中有天使告诉他,这个胎儿确实是神灵与女人交合而成 (7)。但木匠并没有立刻娶女人,而是等婴儿出生之后才与女人结了婚(8)。
(1) "His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant..." (Matthew 1:18)
(2) "Because Joseph her husband was faithful to the law, and yet did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly." (Id. 1:19)
(3) "The virgin’s name was Mary. The angel Gabriel went to her and said, 'Greetings, you who are highly favored!'" (Luke 1:27-8)
(4) " 'The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. '" (Luke 1:35).
(5) Then the angel left her. (Luke 1:38)
(6) "she was found to be pregnant". (Matthew 1:18)
(7) "an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, 'Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.'" (Matthew 1:20)
(8) "But he did not consummate their marriage until she gave birth to a son." (Matthew 1:25)
后注:以上的故事完全是根据圣经写成,所有事实陈述都来自圣经路加福音与马太福音。这里有一个很有意思的地方,就是在圣经中,女人的陈述是与天使直接见面,而木匠与天使是在梦中相见。