But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, son of David, fear not to take unto you Mary your wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit.
All Commentaries on Matthew 1:20 Go To Matthew 1
Rabanus Maurus
AD 856
How the Angel appeared to Joseph is declared in the words, “In his sleep;” that is, as Jacob saw the ladder offered by a kind of imagining to the eyes of his heart.
Or, “to take her,” that is, in marriage union and continual converse.