
Augustine of Hippo
Catena Aurea · Matthäusevangelium 1
Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not willing to make her a public example, was minded to put her away privily.
Otherwise; if you alone have knowledge of a sin that any has committed against you, and desire to accuse him thereof before men, you do not herein correct, but rather betray him. But Joseph, being a just man, with great mercy spared his wife, in this great crime of which he suspected her. The seeming certainty of her unchastity tormented him, and yet because he alone knew of it, he was willing not to publish it, but to send her away privily; seeking rather the benefit than the punishment of the sinner.