ἐκ
πνεύματος ἁγίου (lit. ‘out of [a] holy spirit’) is a rather
cryptic remark, not well integrated into the syntax of the sentence (the
discovery of the pregnancy is not to be understood as involving from the
beginning an awareness of the role of the Spirit—but see further below). The
phrase anticipates for the sake of the reader a perspective which emerges in
the narrative only at v. 20. The cryptic form suggests a writer’s assumption
that readers are already familiar with the idea involved.
Does ἐκ
πνεύματος ἁγίου imply, however asexually, the taking of the male
role by the Spirit? To this point in Matthew’s narrative ἐκ has consistently
pointed to the female role in reproduction. In the LXX, ἐκ can refer to the male
role when used with ἐν
γαστρὶ λαμβάνειν or συλλαμβάνειν, but not normally with
ἐν γαστρὶ
ἔχειν. Unlike the other LXX
idioms, ἐν γαστρὶ
ἔχειν is concerned with
being pregnant rather than becoming pregnant. In v. 20 we find again the ἐκ, but now the verb is γεννᾶν. Linked with γεννᾶν, ἐκ is used for the male
role (in a metaphorical sense) in the Johannine tradition, but the idiom in Mt.
1:20 is not γεννηθὲν ἐκ, but τὸ
γεννηθὲν ἔστιν
ἐκ, which creates a
measure of separation between the verb and the preposition. It is hard to see
how a statement of divine paternity, no matter how asexually understood, could
function in v. 20 to reassure Joseph of the appropriateness of going ahead with
the marriage. These various considerations count against understanding the
Spirit’s role as providing the male principle. (John
Nolland, The Gospel of Matthew: A Commentary on the Greek Text [New International
Greek Testament Commentary; Grand Rapids, Mich.: Eerdmans, 2005], 93, emphasis
added)
