2 Samuel 6:23 (WEB)
Michal the daughter of Saul had no child to the day of her death.
As quoted in the map (KJV)
2 Samuel 6:23 (KJV)
Therefore Michal the daughter of Saul had no child unto the day of her death.
Key words
- עַד יוֹם מוֹתָהּad yom motah · Hebrew
- 'unto the day of her death' — Michal had no child 'until' she died; obviously she had none afterward either.
- ἕως τῆς ἡμέρας τοῦ ἀποθανεῖν αὐτήνheōs tēs hēmeras tou apothanein autēn · Greek (LXX)
- 'until the day of her death' — the same heōs, 'until,' as Matthew 1:25, 'knew her not until she had brought forth.'
Why it matters
Michal 'had no child until the day of her death.' Pitre calls this the most striking of his examples for what 'until' means in biblical language (p 101): it describes a period of time and implies nothing about what happens afterward, since Michal did not begin bearing children after she died. So Matthew 1:25, 'Joseph knew her not until she had borne a son,' cannot be used to prove that relations began afterward — a point on which, Pitre notes, Protestant and Catholic scholars agree.
Fathers and councils · 2
Athanasius of Alexandria
“Therefore let those who deny that the Son is from the Father by nature and proper to His Essence, deny also that He took true human flesh of Mary Ever-Virgin; for in neither case had it been of profit to us men, whether the Word were not true and naturally Son of God, or the flesh not true which He assumed.” — editor's note: Vid. also Athan. in Luc. (Migne xxvii. 1393 c). This title, which is commonly applied to S. Mary by later writers, is found Epiph. Hær. 78, 5. Didym. Trin. i.…
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Ephrem the Syrian
“For lo, the daughter of Saul who mocked the child, cut off her womb from childbearing; because her mouth derided, the reward of its mouth was barrenness.” — editor's note: 2 Sam. vi. 23.
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