Marriage in the First Century World

"Jewish men regularly married by eighteen, Romans by twenty-five, but Greeks often not until thirty. Girls of all three cultures, however, were usually wed soon after puberty, in their early to mid-teens. There is no reason to doubt, for example, that Mary was just such a teenage bride." Craig L. Blomberg, Jesus and the Gospels: 2nd Edition (Nashville: B&H Academic, 2009) p. 68

To many in Western society (e.g. Americans, Brits, etc.) this may sound odd, even troubling, but we must not forget that ancient culture, not just Jewish culture, was often radically different than ours. It may be difficult to picture Mary as perhaps being only 13 years old or so when she had Jesus, but it shouldn't considering the context and time period. Little details like these often help us put things in perspective.