Matthew 1:25 Meaning: What 'Until' and 'Firstborn' Mean

Two Greek words carry the weight of the questions readers bring to this verse. The first is heōs, the word behind “until.” In the Bible, this word often marks the time up to an event without saying what happened after. For example, 2 Samuel 6:23 says Michal had no child until the day of her death, no one reads that as meaning she had children later. The word itself does not force a change; it only tells us that up to a certain point, something did not happen.

The second word is prōtotokos, “firstborn.” This was a legal term in Israel for the child who first opened the womb, whether or not other children followed (Exodus 13:2). So the verse protects two things: that Jesus was Mary’s first child, and that he was born before any marital union took place. The text settles the virgin birth, but it does not settle the debate about later children. Both sides of that question read the same words and come to different conclusions, which tells us the verse means to teach something else: Joseph obeyed, God’s plan moved forward, and the Savior received his name.

Christians across traditions agree that this verse clearly teaches Mary was a virgin when Jesus was conceived and born. That much is essential. But they differ on what came after. Catholics and Orthodox hold that Mary remained a virgin for the rest of her life. They see the words “until” and “firstborn” as consistent with that view, pointing to Joseph’s respect for God’s unique work in Mary. Many Protestants understand that Joseph and Mary eventually lived as husband and wife, and that the brothers of Jesus mentioned in the Gospels were Mary’s later children. Calvin, Wesley, and the Jamieson-Fausset-Brown commentary all note that the text does not force either conclusion. Both sides seek to be faithful to Scripture, and neither denies the miracle of the virgin birth.

A common misreading is that the word “until” in this verse proves Joseph and Mary had marital relations after Jesus was born. In fact, heōs (until) does not carry that meaning. It describes what did not happen before the birth, but it says nothing about what happened afterward. The same is true of “firstborn”, it identifies Jesus as the first child, but it does not require that there were more. The verse protects the virgin birth, not the later question.

Joseph did not need to have everything figured out. He received a hard word, his fiancée was pregnant, and the child was not his, and he chose to trust. That is what this verse asks of you this week: when God’s plan makes no sense by your calculations, you can still take the next step he puts in front of you. Joseph took Mary home. He waited. He named the baby Jesus. Each of those actions was small and concrete. You do not need to solve every mystery. You only need to do what God has already told you to do. The name Jesus means “he saves.” You can hold onto that today, whether or not you understand everything else.