The commandment “Be fruitful and multiply” (Gen. 1:28) has always been strongly emphasized in Judaism, both today and in the first century. It is therefore surprising that Jesus, who in every other way observed the commandments, did not marry—at least the New Testament gives no indication that he had a wife or children. On the other hand, it is not explicitly stated in the gospels that Jesus was not married. As Michael Hilton and Gordian Marshall point out, the silence of the gospels might suggest that Jesus was married. A Jew reading the gospels would assume that Jesus was married. If Jesus had not been married, his unusual status probably would have been mentioned in the gospels (The Gospels and Rabbinic Judaism: A Study Guide, p. 135).
The First Commandment
The sages taught that one should perpetuate the human race by marrying. It was considered especially significant that the commandment “Be fruitful and multiply” is chronologically the first in the Pentateuch. The school of Hillel ruled that to fulfill this commandment a man must have at least one son and one daughter:
No man may neglect the commandment “Be fruitful and multiply” unless he already has children: according to the school of Shammai, two sons; according to the school of Hillel, a son and a daughter, as it is written, “Male and female created he them” [Gen. 5:2]. (Mishnah, Yevamot, 6:6; cf. Babylonian Talmud, Yemavot, 64a)
Would the members of first-century Jewish society have respected an unmarried 30-y
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