The punctuation does not exist in the original text, but is supplied by translators.\u00a0 Since lots of translators assume Joseph didn\u2019t believe Mary was pregnant by the Holy Spirit, they add a semi-colon to the angel\u2019s message to Joseph.\u00a0 However, Jerome, the greatest scripture scholar of antiquity, thought that Joseph believed<\/em> Mary (I think so too) and wanted to put her away, not because he thought her an\u00a0 adulteress, but because he was frightened to assume paternity of the awesome and terrifying child in her womb.\u00a0 Given that, dropping a single semi-colon completely changes the meaning of the angel\u2019s message to Joseph:<\/p>\n Note that the angel in the dream does not say to Joseph, \u201cDon\u2019t suspect Mary of adultery, of being unfaithful to her promise to marry you.\u201d Rather, the angel says, \u201cDo not fear to take Mary your wife.\u201d Instead of reading, \u201cDo not fear to take Mary your wife <stop> for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit,\u201d let\u2019s try dropping the semicolon. If we do that, we get, \u201cDo not fear to take Mary your wife because that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit.\u201d That is, \u201cDo not be afraid to take Mary your wife into your home ON ACCOUNT OF THE FACT THAT the child she is carrying is of the Holy Spirit.\u201d That changes the meaning entirely, doesn\u2019t it!<\/p><\/blockquote>\n