Matthew 1:1-17 Jesus' Genealogy

          - a bridge between the OT and the NT

 

Matthew knew the Old Testament very well as can be seen by his use of quotes (some of them obscure verses) to make prophetic connections to Jesus.

 

1:1- "A record of the genealogy of Jesus Christ the son of David, the son of Abraham."

 

"a record of the genealogy" is "biblos geneseos" . "Biblos" is where we get our word Bible" from and it means "book" or "record". The word "geneseos" is the source of words like "genealogy" or "genesis (which means origin or beginning). The could accurately be translated: "book of beginning", "book of genesis", "a record of the genealogy", "the book or the genealogy" (ESV), "record of origins", "book of history".

 

If we are to guess what this phrase refers to we could apply and translate it to:

            1. "record of the genealogy of Jesus Christ" refers only to 1:1-17

            2. "record of the origins of Jesus Christ" refers to 1:1-2:23

            3. "book of the history of Jesus Christ" refers to the entire book of Matthew

This phrase is used twice in the LXX:

            1. Genesis 2:4 in reference to the account of creation

            2. Genesis 5:1 in reference to the genealogy of Adam to Noah

Luke's genealogy is recorded "backwards" when compared to the Jewish style used in Matthew. Luke uses the Greek/Roman style which begins with the living person and moves back. Luke 3:23 says "so it was thought" that Joseph was the father of Jesus.

 

Matthew previews all of Jewish history (almost generation by generation) all the way up to the coming of their Messiah

 

"Christ" is a translation of the Greek "christos" which means anointed one. "Christos" is used in the LXX to translate the Hebrew word for "anointed one" or "Messiah." The term for "anointed one" in the OT was used to refer to the priests, the king, the Persian king Cyrus (Isaiah 45:1) and the promised Anointed One, or the Messiah, the Christ. 

 

Matthew uses  "Christ" (18 times) as a title for Jesus as in "Jesus is the Christ."

 

So, in English, Matthew's book begins in a rather unassuming way.

But, in the Greek as it was read in the Hebrew culture, the opening words were nothing short of astounding as Matthew claimed the title of Messiah for Jesus. The claim that Jesus was the long awaited deliverer is the opening line of the book which means the reader is not trying to figure out what Matthew's point is. We know Matthew's point in the first four words. Matthew's book is:   

Record, History, Jesus, Messiah

 

"Son of David" is used throughout the book of Matthew. David had a covenant with God in Psalm 89:29 and 2 Samuel 7:12-16 that included a son and a throne that would be established forever. Since Jesus was the Son of David he was legally a potential to fulfill these promises.

 

Isaiah mentions a "son" again in Isaiah 9:6-7 who will reign on David's throne forever. Isaiah then lists these titles for the son:

            1. Wonderful Counselor

            2. Mighty God

            3. Everlasting Father

            4. Prince of Peace

 

"Son of Abraham" is important because it brings to mind the original covenant made with the Jewish people - Genesis 12:1- 3; 17:7; 22:18. Through the line of Abraham "all nations" would be blessed. It is through Jesus this will take place. In fact, Matthew ends his book, 28:19, with Jesus sending his disciples to "all nations"  with the blessing of the Good News. Notice these words recorded by Matthew:

            1. John the Baptist in 3:9, "I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham."

            2. Jesus in 8:11, "I say to you that many will come from the east and  the west, and will take their places at the feast with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven."

 

 

2:2-17 - Jesus' genealogy

            1. It showed that Jesus was in line to be the Messiah

            2. It shows how even in the Messiah's linage the Gentiles where not rejected. The line is consistently connected with Jewish males, but the Gentiles have entered it four times with women.

 

Genealogy was important to maintain a person's identification with Israel, a tribe, the royal line or the Levitical priesthood. For example see the occupational loss in Ezra 2:61-63. Lineage was important for the average Jew to gain access into the temple for worship. Where would Matthew have gotten these records?

            1. 1 Chronicles 1-3

            2. Ruth 4:12-22

            3. After the return for exile the records would have been available in the temple. Josephus calls this the "public registers" and Josephus has access to them. These records were kept in the temple until 70 AD, at least. Rabbi Hillel (30 BC09 AD) from the time right before Jesus was a descendent of David according to the scrolls found in Jerusalem.

            4. Even after 70 AD, Emperor Domitian (81-96 AD) ordered the descendants of David to be killed.

 

Matthew 1:2 - "Abraham was the father of Isaac, Isaac the father of Jacob, Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers."

 

"Abraham" -

"was the father of" is "gennao" in the Greek and is used of the male role in procreation.

"Isaac" - importance here is that it was not Ishmael or any of Keturah's sons

"Jacob" - likewise, not Esau

"Judah and his brother" - Two things here. 1- Jesus came from the core of the 12 tribes. 2- Jesus came from the tribe that among all the brothers was the one chosen to be the royal line by Jacob's oracles of Genesis 49:10

 

1:3 - "Judah the father of Perez and Zerah, whose mother was Tamar, Perez the father of Hezron, Hezron the father of Ram"

 

1:4-6

All four mothers mentioned were Gentiles.

Three of the four women mentioned had improper sexual relations:

            1. Tamar seduced Jacob (Genesis 38:13-19)

            2. Rahab was a prostitute (Joshua 2:1-4; James 2:25)

            3. Bathsheba was involved in adultery (2 Samuel 11:1-21)

            4. Even in the story of Ruth the language describing the behavior at the threshing floor leaves some questions (Ruth 3:3-10; see footnotes on Deut. 22:30))

 

16-11 - The Royal Line of Kings

Several were known as bad or evil kings: Rehoboam, Abijah, Jehoram, Ahaz and Manasseh. The three names left out after Jehoram were evil: Ahaziah, Joash and Amaziah.

 

"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 Christ."

Matthew 1:17

 

 

Abraham to David

David to Exile

Exile to Christ

1

Abraham

(David)1

Jeconiah (Jehoiachin)

2

Isaac

Solomon

Shealtiel

3

Jacob

Rehoboam

Zerubbabel

4

Judah

Abijah

Abiud

5

Perez

Asa

Eliakim

6

Hezron

Jehoshaphat

Azor

7

Ram

Jehoram2

Zadok

8

Amminadab

Uzziah2

Akim

9

Nahshon

Jotham

Eliud

10

Salmon

Ahaz

Eleazar

11

Boaz

Hezekiah

Matthkan

12

Obed

Manasseh

Jacob

13

Jesse

Amon

Joseph

14

David

Josiah3, 4

Jesus

The superscripts 1-4 in the chart above are reference here:

1 - (David) - may be counted twice since this is the way Matthew identified his breakdown: "Abraham to David" and, then, "David to Exile". Matthew may have intended to count David twice?

2 - Jehoram, Uzziah - Between Jehoram and Uzziah are three generations of kings not recorded: Ahaziah, Joash and Amaziah. So, the genealogy should literally read: Jehoram-Ahaziah-Joash-Amaziah-Uzziah. Matthew did not forget them, nor was he ignorant of them. They were recorded in the Jewish Scriptures which were readily available and would have quickly been corrected. These three kings may have been left out because of the infiltration of Jezebel's Phonecian line from northern Israel into the royal line of David. Jehoram married Athaliah (1st), the daughter of Ahab (an Israelite) and Jezebel (Phonecian). Ahaziah (2nd) would have been Athaliah's son and Jezebel's grandson. Joash (3rd) the grandson of Athaliah. Amaziah (4th) would have been the fourth generation of the seed from the wicked Phonecian princess, Jezebel. Jehoram is mentioned because he was of royal line of David. So, possibly, Uzziah is considered cleansed of the wicked blood line.

3 - Josiah - May be considered the king that took Judah up to the time of the exile since once he was killed in 609 the captivity was inevitable. After Josiah's death in 609 the son that succeeded him on the throne was instantly taken to Egypt as a captive and never returned. Then the Babylonian captivity came in three phases with three deportations during the reigns of three different kings: 605, Jehoiakim (Josiah's son); 597, Jehoiachin (Jehoiakim's son and Josiah's grandson); 586, Zedekiah (Josiah's son)

4 - Josiah - The three sons of Josiah (Jehoahaz, Jehoiakim, Zedekiah) are not mentioned by Matthew. There is no need to mention Jehoahaz or Zedekiah since they were not in the line of Jesus the Christ. But, Jehoiakim is. He is not accidently missed, because, once again, it is an exclusion that would be obvious to Matthew and his Jewish readers. One alternative is to recognize that Matthew 1:11 says, "Jeconiah (Jehoiachin) and his brothers". Two options to arrive at an even fourteen names is: 1 - consider the mention of the "brothers" as a reference to Jehoiakim's generation, thus, giving us the missing generation. 2 - consider that Jeconiah (Jehoiachin) has been miscopied (though there is no textual evidence of this) and should read "Jehoiakim and his brothers" which would make it a true statement since the other kings were his brothers, but where not Jeconiah's (Jehoiachin) brothers, but were his uncles.

 

This last point would give us a chart of the three fourteens that could look like this:

"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 Christ."

Matthew 1:17

 

 

Abraham to David

David to Exile

Exile to Christ

1

Abraham

Solomon

Jeconiah (Jehoiachin)

2

Isaac

Rehoboam

Shealtiel

3

Jacob

Abijah

Zerubbabel

4

Judah

Asa

Abiud

5

Perez

Jehoshaphat

Eliakim

6

Hezron

Jehoram2

Azor

7

Ram

Uzziah2

Zadok

8

Amminadab

Jotham

Akim

9

Nahshon

Ahaz

Eliud

10

Salmon

Hezekiah

Eleazar

11

Boaz

Manasseh

Matthkan

12

Obed

Amon

Jacob

13

Jesse

Josiah

Joseph

14

David

(Jehoiakim5)

Jesus

The subscript #5 in above chart is here: 5 - "Jehoiakim" - "The Hebrew name Jeconiah ('Iwakim) occcus in both  the Hebrew text and the LXX in the genealogy of 1 Chronicles 3:16-17 (most, likely, Matthew's source.) The LSS uses the same Hebrew name, Jeconiah, ('Iwakim) for both Jehoiakim and Jehoiachin. Some Greek manuscripts have added Jehoiakim's name.

 

12-16

Jeremiah 22:30 ("record this man as if childless") says Jehoiachin will be "childless" which referred to the fact that he would not have a son sit on the throne of David. Jeremiah 22:28 ("he and his children") even speaks of Jehoiachin's offspring.

 

1:16,

Jesus was clearly born of Mary, but the obvious change in genealogical reference makes it clear that Jesus was NOT born of Joseph

 

The name "Jesus" was the Greek form of the Hebrew name "Joshua". "Jesus" was a very common name at this time and often included a title with it to distinguish it from the others: "Jesus of Nazareth", or, "Jesus Barabbas"

 

1:17

The three sets of 14 (6 - 7's) show that Matthew saw the coming of the Messiah as the fullness of time. Yet, the title of his book indicates he sees it as a beginning. Chapter one shows that time is complete and ready for the Messiah and that a new age has begun.

 

Also, the fact that there were fourteen generations between Abraham until the crowning of David and then, again, fourteen more generations from David until the kingdom went into exile indicates that fourteen more generations would be the appropriate length of time between the fall of the kingdom until the appearance of the king that would restore the kingdom.

 

1:18 - "This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit."

Matthew's story of the birth of Jesus Christ is written from Joseph's point of view.

 

"Pledged to be married" - This 'pledge' would have taken place about a year before marriage. The girl stayed in her father's home, but this pledge was the first phase of the marriage. The man would come after a year and take his wife into his own home. To end this "pledged to be married" during that first year would require divorce proceedings.

 

"before they came together" - "sunerchomai" refers to: 1- the moving in to the same house; 2-sexual relations

"through the Holy Spirit" -

 

1:19 - "Because Joseph her husband was a righteous man and did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly."

 

Notice, Joseph is called "husband" here.

"Righteous" here means Joseph was committed to the Jewish Law and was faithful to keep it

 

Deuteronomy 22:23-27 gives Joseph the "righteous" way of handling this situation. But, Psalm 37:21 also describes the righteous man as being compassionate.)

 

"Public Disgrace" - there were two options for Joseph:

            1) The Public trial were the husband would denounce his wife

            2) The more private trial with 2 witnesses according to the Missnah

 

1:20 - "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."

 

The presence of angels and divine dreams indicate God is continuing to move his plan forward. The genealogy shows God moving through 42 generations, but the angelic activity and the dreams shows God is still directing events for Jesus' birth.

 

"Do not be afraid" - Aorist tense which meant "never fear." It is not present tense which meant "stop fearing." Here the command is to not shrink from action due to fear. The action here that is not to be feared is taking Mary as a wife.

 

 

1:21 - "She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins."

 

"He" is emphatic which means "He and no other"

"Save" refers to deliverance from trouble, affliction, enemies, disease. The Jews would have thought of deliverance from Roman occupation. But, the angels says "save his people from their sins." The Jewish people's real problem was not the Romans, but their own sins. Their own need was deliverance from themselves.

 

 

1:22 - All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet:

 

 

1:23 - " 'The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel' - which means, 'God with us.' "

 

"Virgin" - from Isaiah 7:14 from 735. The Hebrew word is " 'alma" (a woman of marrying age, but not married and is never used of a married women in the Hebrew OT). It is not the Hebrew word "issa" (wife, or women). The LXX translation and here in Matthew is "parthenos" which means "virgin." There is a definite article which means "the virgin" speaking of a particular women, not just a virgin.

 

1:24 - "When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife."

 

1:25 - "But he had no union with her until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus."

 

"until" - imperfect tense and the natural reading would mean they did after