The King's genealogy
1
📚The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.1:1 The name “Jesus”, like the Hebrew name Joshua, means “the LORD (Jehovah) saves”. The word “Christ” is from the Greek language and means “anointed one”. Its meaning is the same as “Messiah” taken from the Hebrew. One great purpose Matthew had in writing this Gospel was to show that Jesus was the Messiah promised in the Old Testament.
The Messiah was to be anointed by God – that is, set apart and consecrated by God, to fulfill the promises of the Old Testament. He was to be prophet, king, and priest (Deut 18:15; 2 Sam 7:11; Ps 2:2-9; 89:27-29; 110:1, 4; Isa 7:14; 9:6-7; 11:1-9; 52:13—53:12; Zech 6:12-13).
According to the Old Testament the Messiah had to be a descendant of Abraham, the father of the Jewish nation, and of David, Israel's greatest king. To show that this was true of the Lord Jesus, Matthew gives this genealogy. Genealogies were a matter of public record and could be checked by any Jew who wished to do so.
As used in the Bible the word “son” may indicate a variety of relationships. Sometimes, of course, it means a literal son, but it may also mean a grandson, or a disciple, or a person much loved, or a descendant. Here it means that Jesus as to His human nature was descended from David who lived a thousand years before Him, and from Abraham who lived nearly two thousand years before Him.⚜
2 📚Abraham begot Isaac; and Isaac 📖 begot Jacob; and Jacob 📖 begot Judah and his brothers 📖; 3 📚And Judah begot Perez and Zerah by Tamar 📖; and Perez begot Hezron; and Hezron begot Ram 📖; 4 📚And Ram begot Amminadab; and Amminadab begot Nahshon; and Nahshon begot Salmon; 5 📚And Salmon begot Boaz by Rahab 📖; and Boaz begot Obed by Ruth 📖; and Obed begot Jesse
6 📚And Jesse begot David the king; and David 📖 the king begot Solomon 📖 by her who had been the wife 📖 of Uriah; 7 📚And Solomon begot Rehoboam; and Rehoboam begot Abijah; and Abijah begot Asa; 8 📚And Asa begot Jehoshaphat; and Jehoshaphat begot Joram; and Joram begot Uzziah 📖; 9 📚And Uzziah begot Jotham; and Jotham begot Ahaz; and Ahaz begot Hezekiah; 10 📚And Hezekiah begot Manasseh; and Manasseh begot Amon; and Amon begot Josiah; 11 📚And Josiah begot Jeconiah and his brothers about the time the Jews were carried away to Babylon 📖.
1:11 Josiah was the grandfather of Jeconiah (Jehoiachin).⚜
12 📚And after the deportation to Babylon, Jeconiah begot Shealtiel; and Shealtiel begot Zerubbabel; 13 And Zerubbabel begot Abiud; and Abiud begot Eliakim; and Eliakim begot Azor; 14 And Azor begot Zadok; and Zadok begot Akim; and Akim begot Eliud; 15 And Eliud begot Eleazar; and Eleazar begot Matthan; and Matthan begot Jacob; 16 📚And Jacob begot Joseph, the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ.
1:16 Notice Matthew's careful use of language here. Mary was the mother of Jesus, but Joseph was not His father, except in the legal sense. The rest of the chapter makes this clear. It was enough for Matthew to show that in the legal sense Jesus was David's descendant. Luke's purpose in his genealogy (Luke 3:23-38) may have been to show that Jesus was a physical descendant of David through Mary.⚜
17 📚So all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations; and from David until the exile to Babylon 📖 are fourteen generations; and from the exile in Babylon to Christ are fourteen generations.
The King is born of a virgin
18 📚Now the birth of Jesus Christ was like this: After his mother Mary was betrothed 📖 to Joseph, before they came together, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit 📖. 19 📚Then Joseph her husband, being a righteous 📖 man and unwilling to make her a public example, intended to release her from her vows, secretly.
20 📚But while he was thinking about these things, suddenly 📖 the angel of the Lord 📖 appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, for what is conceived in her is by the Holy Spirit.
1:20 Note on angels at Gen 16:7. The Greek word translated “angel” means “messenger”. Here it indicates a spirit being from heaven.⚜
21 📚And she will give birth to a son, and you shall call his name JESUS 📖, for he will save his people from their sins”.
22 📚Now all this took place so there would be a fulfilment of what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying,
1:22 Much of the New Testament records events which were a fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy. This is a strong reason to believe in the full divine inspiration of the Bible. For a list of some of these prophecies see the back of this Bible. Notice that God Himself spoke through the prophets. See Matt 2:15; 4:4; 15:4; 22:43-44; Acts 1:16; 4:25; 28:25; Heb 1:1, 5, 8, 10, 13; 3:7; 4:3, 7; 5:5-6; 7:21; 8:8; 10:5, 15; 13:5. See also 2 Pet 1:21; 2 Tim 3:16.⚜
23 📚See, the virgin will be with child,
and will give birth to a son,
and they will call his name Emmanuel 📖,
which is, being translated,
“God with us”.
24 📚Then Joseph, after he was aroused from sleep, did as the angel of the Lord had commanded him, and took her as his wife.
1:24 Joseph showed he was a righteous man (v 19) by his immediate obedience to God's command. Indeed, there is no true righteousness that does not result in obedience to the true and living God.⚜
25 📚But he did not know her until she had given birth to her firstborn son. And he called his name JESUS.