er she had given birth, then did
he know her. Because by reason of her child she surpassed the whole
world in beauty and dignity: since she alone in the narrow abode of
her womb received Him Whom the world cannot contain."

Others again refer this to knowledge by sight. For as, while Moses
was speaking with God, his face was so bright "that the children of
Israel could not steadfastly behold it"; so Mary, while being
"overshadowed" by the brightness of the "power of the Most High,"
could not be gazed on by Joseph, until she gave birth. But afterwards
she is acknowledged by Joseph, by looking on her face, not by lustful
contact.

Jerome, however, grants that this is to be understood of knowledge by
intercourse; but he observes that "before" or "until" has a twofold
sense in Scripture. For sometimes it indicates a fixed time, as Gal.
3:19: The law "was set because of transgressions, until the seed
should come, to whom He made the promise." On the other hand, it
sometimes indicates an indefinite time, as in Ps. 122:2: "Our eyes
are unto the Lord our God, until He have mercy on us"; from which it
is not to be gathered that our eyes are turned from God as soon as
His mercy has been obtained. In this sense those things are indicated
"of which we might doubt if they had not been written down: while
others are left out to be supplied by our understanding. Thus the
evangelist says that the Mother of God was not known by her husband
until she gave birth, that we may be given to understand that still
less did he know her afterwards" (Adversus Helvid. v).

Reply Obj. 4: The Scriptures are wont to designate as the first-born,
not only a child who is followed by others, but also the one that is
born first. "Otherwise, if a child were not first-born unless
followed by others, the first-fruits would not be due as long as
there was no further produce" [*Jerome, Adversus Helvid. x]: which is
clearly false, since according to the law the first-fruits had to be
redeemed within a month (Num. 18:16).

Reply Obj. 5: Some, as Jerome says on Matt. 12:49, 50, "suppose that
the brethren of the Lord were Joseph's sons by another wife. But we
understand the brethren of the Lord to be not sons of Joseph, but
cousins of the Saviour, the sons of Mary, His Mother's sister." For
"Scripture speaks of brethren in four senses; namely, those who are
united by being of the same parents, of the same nation, of the same
family, by common affection." Where