to a virgin pledged to be married to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin's name was Mary.
Luke identified Joseph as a descendant of David. He evidently considered Jesus a legitimate heir to David’s throne since Joseph was Jesus’ guardian (cf. Luke 3:23). In Semitic society it was not necessary to be a blood descendant to possess family inheritance privileges (Genesis 15:3; Genesis 17:12-13; cf. Genesis 48:5; Exodus 2:10; 1 Kings 11:20; Esther 2:7). Since Joseph was Jesus’ legal guardian, Jesus thereby qualified to inherit as a legitimate son of Joseph. This fact has important bearing on the promise in Luke 1:32 b.