Now the birth of Jesus Christ - The circumstances attending his birth.
Was on this wise - In this manner.
Espoused - Betrothed, or engaged to be married. There was commonly an interval of ten or twevle months, among the Jews, between the contract of marriage and the celebration of the nuptials (see Genesis 24:55; Judges 14:8; Deuteronomy 20:7), yet such was the nature of this engagement, that unfaithfulness to each other was deemed adultery. See Deuteronomy 22:25, Deuteronomy 22:28.
With child by the Holy Ghost - See the note at Luke 1:35.