This is the genealogy[a] of Jesus
the Messiah[b] the son of David, the son of Abraham:
2 Abraham was the father of Isaac, Isaac
the father of Jacob,
Jacob the father of Judah and his
brothers,
3 Judah the father of Perez and
Zerah, whose mother was Tamar,
Perez the father of Hezron,
Hezron the father of Ram,4 Ram the
father of Amminadab,
Amminadab the father of Nahshon,
Nahshon the father of Salmon,
5 Salmon the father of Boaz, whose
mother was Rahab,
Boaz the father of Obed, whose
mother was Ruth,
Obed the father of Jesse,
6 and Jesse the father of King
David.
David was the father of Solomon,
whose mother had been Uriah’s wife, Bathsheeba
7 Solomon the father of Rehoboam,
Rehoboam the father of Abijah,
Abijah the father of Asa,
8 Asa the father of Jehoshaphat,
Jehoshaphat the father of Jehoram,
Jehoram the father of Uzziah,
9 Uzziah the father of Jotham,
Jotham the father of Ahaz,
Ahaz the father of Hezekiah,
10 Hezekiah the father of Manasseh,
Manasseh the father of Amon,
Amon the father of Josiah,
11 and Josiah the father of
Jeconiah[c] and his brothers at the time of the exile to Babylon.
12 After the exile to Babylon:
Jeconiah was the father of
Shealtiel,
Shealtiel the father of Zerubbabel,
13 Zerubbabel the father of Abihud,
Abihud the father of Eliakim,
Eliakim the father of Azor,
14 Azor the father of Zadok,
Zadok the father of Akim,
Akim the father of Elihud,
15 Elihud the father of Eleazar,
Eleazar the father of Matthan,
Matthan the father of Jacob, (Jacob
is the blood father of Joseph)
16 and Jacob the father of Joseph,
the husband of Mary,
and Mary was the mother of Jesus who
is called the Messiah.
[Matthew avoided calling Joseph the father of
Jesus and instead he called Mary the mother of Jesus This action of Matthew
skipping calling Joseph the Father of Jesus is apparently to stress the point
that Joseph is only the legal father of Jesus with regards to the claim to the
throne of David as king. He may not also the information on the genealogy of
Jesus on the Mother side which must also come from the same tribe but of
different branch]]
17 Thus there were fourteen
generations in all from Abraham to David, fourteen from David to the exile to
Babylon, and fourteen from the exile to the Messiah.
Joseph Accepts Jesus as His Son
18 This is how the birth of Jesus the
Messiah came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married
to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through
the Holy Spirit. 19 Because Joseph her husband was
faithful to the law, and yet did not want to expose her to public
disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.
20 But after he had considered this,
an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son
of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is
conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21 She
will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus,[f] because he will save his people from
their sins.”
22 All this took place to
fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: [Isaiah 7:14] 23 “The
virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”).
24 When Joseph woke up, he did what
the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. 25 But
he did not consummate their marriage until she gave birth to a son. And he gave
him the name Jesus. [Verse 25 has always been used by the Protestants to prove that Mary and Joseph have other children as mentioned in...]
NOTES:
NOTES:
1:1–2:23 The infancy narrative forms the prologue of the gospel.
Consisting of a genealogy and five stories, it presents the coming of Jesus as
the climax of Israel’s history, and the events of his conception, birth, and
early childhood as the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy. The genealogy is
probably traditional material that Matthew edited. In its first two sections
(Mt 1:2–11) it was drawn from Ru 4:18–22; 1 Chr 1–3. Except for Jechoniah,
Shealtiel, and Zerubbabel, none of the names in the third section (Mt 1:12–16)
is found in any Old Testament genealogy. While the genealogy shows the
continuity of God’s providential plan from Abraham on, discontinuity is also
present. The women Tamar (Mt 1:3), Rahab and Ruth (Mt 1:5), and the wife of
Uriah, Bathsheba (Mt 1:6), bore their sons through unions that were in varying
degrees strange and unexpected. These “irregularities” culminate in the supreme
“irregularity” of the Messiah’s birth of a virgin mother; the age of
fulfillment is inaugurated by a creative act of God.
Drawing upon both biblical tradition and Jewish stories,
Matthew portrays Jesus as reliving the Exodus experience of Israel and the
persecutions of Moses. His rejection by his own people and his passion are
foreshadowed by the troubled reaction of “all Jerusalem” to the question of the
magi who are seeking the “newborn king of the Jews” (Mt 2:2–3), and by Herod’s
attempt to have him killed. The magi who do him homage prefigure the Gentiles
who will accept the preaching of the gospel. The infancy narrative proclaims
who Jesus is, the savior of his people from their sins (Mt 1:21), Emmanuel in
whom “God is with us” (Mt 1:23), and the Son of God (Mt 2:15).
1:1 The Son of David, the son of Abraham: two links of the
genealogical chain are singled out. Although the later, David is placed first
in order to emphasize that Jesus is the royal Messiah. The mention of Abraham
may be due not only to his being the father of the nation Israel but to
Matthew’s interest in the universal scope of Jesus’ mission; cf. Gn 22:18 “….
in your descendants all the nations of the earth shall find blessing.”
1:7 The successor of Abijah was not Asaph but Asa (see 1 Chr
3:10). Some textual witnesses read the latter name; however, Asaph is better
attested. Matthew may have deliberately introduced the psalmist Asaph into the
genealogy (and in Mt 1:10 the prophet Amos) in order to show that Jesus is the
fulfillment not only of the promises made to David (see 2 Sm 7) but of all the
Old Testament.
1:10 Amos: some textual witnesses read Amon, who was the
actual successor of Manasseh (see 1 Chr 3:14).
1:17 Matthew is concerned with fourteen generations,
probably because fourteen is the numerical value of the Hebrew letters forming
the name of David. In the second section of the genealogy (Mt 1:6b–11), three
kings of Judah, Ahaziah, Joash, and Amaziah, have been omitted (see 1 Chr
3:11–12), so that there are fourteen generations in that section. Yet the third
(Mt 1:12–16) apparently has only thirteen. Since Matthew here emphasizes that each
section has fourteen, it is unlikely that the thirteen of the last was due to
his oversight. Some scholars suggest that Jesus who is called the Messiah (Mt
1:16b) doubles the final member of the chain: Jesus, born within the family of
David, opens up the new age as Messiah, so that in fact there are fourteen
generations in the third section. This is perhaps too subtle, and the
hypothesis of a slip not on the part of Matthew but of a later scribe seems
likely.
On Messiah, see note on Lk 2:11.
1:18–25 This first story of the infancy narrative spells out
what is summarily indicated in Mt 1:16. The virginal conception of Jesus is the
work of the Spirit of God. Joseph’s decision to divorce Mary is overcome by the
heavenly command that he take her into his home and accept the child as his
own. The natural genealogical line is broken but the promises to David are
fulfilled; through Joseph’s adoption the child belongs to the family of David.
Matthew sees the virginal conception as the fulfillment of Is 7:14.
1:18 Betrothed to Joseph: betrothal was the first part of
the marriage, constituting a man and woman as husband and wife. Subsequent
infidelity was considered adultery. The betrothal was followed some months
later by the husband’s taking his wife into his home, at which time normal
married life began.
1:19 A righteous man: as a devout observer of the Mosaic
law, Joseph wished to break his union with someone whom he suspected of gross
violation of the law. It is commonly said that the law required him to do so,
but the texts usually given in support of that view, e.g., Dt 22:20–21 do not
clearly pertain to Joseph’s situation. Unwilling to expose her to shame: the
penalty for proved adultery was death by stoning; cf. Dt 22:21–23.
1:20 The angel of the Lord: in the Old Testament a common
designation of God in communication with a human being. In a dream: see Mt
2:13, 19, 22. These dreams may be meant to recall the dreams of Joseph, son of
Jacob the patriarch (Gn 37:5–11, 19). A closer parallel is the dream of Amram,
father of Moses, related by Josephus (Antiquities 2:212, 215–16).
1:21 Jesus: in first-century Judaism the Hebrew name Joshua
(Greek Iēsous) meaning “Yahweh helps” was interpreted as “Yahweh saves.”
1:23 God is with us: God’s promise of deliverance to Judah
in Isaiah’s time is seen by Matthew as fulfilled in the birth of Jesus, in whom
God is with his people. The name Emmanuel is alluded to at the end of the
gospel where the risen Jesus assures his disciples of his continued presence,
“…I am with you always, until the end of the age” (Mt 28:20).
1:25 Until she bore a son: the evangelist is concerned to
emphasize that Joseph was not responsible for the conception of Jesus. The
Greek word translated “until” does not imply normal marital conduct after
Jesus’ birth, nor does it exclude it.
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