MATTHEW
The Genealogy of Jesus the Messiah
1:1-17pp— Lk 3:23-38 1:3-6pp— Ru 4:18-22 1:7-11pp— 1Ch 3:10-17
1 This is the genealogy a of Jesus the Mes siah b the son of Da vid, a the son of Abra ham: b
2 Abra ham was the fa ther of Isaac, c Isaac the father of Jacob, d
Ja cob the fa ther of Ju dah and his broth ers, e 3 Judah the father of Perez and Zerah, whose mother was Tamar, f
Perez the father of Hezron, Hez ron the fa ther of Ram, 4 Ram the father of Amminadab, Amminadab the father of Nahshon, Nahshon the father of Salmon, 5 Sal mon the fa ther of Boaz, whose mother was Ra hab, Boaz the fa ther of Obed, whose mother was Ruth, Obed the fa ther of Jesse, 6 and Jesse the fa ther of King Da vid. g
1:1 a 2Sa 7:12-16; Isa 9:6, 7; 11:1; Jer 23:5, 6; Mt 9:27; Lk 1:32, 69; Ro 1:3; Rev 22:16 b Ge 22:18; Gal 3:16
1:2 c Ge 21:3, 12 d Ge 25:26 e Ge 29:35
1:3 f Ge 38:27‐30
1:6 g 1Sa 16:1; 17:12 h 2Sa 12:24
1:10 i 2Ki 20:21
1:11 j 2Ki 24:14-16; Jer 27:20; Da 1:1, 2
Da vid was the fa ther of Sol o mon, whose mother had been Uri ah’ s wife, h 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, i
Manasseh the father of Amon, Amon the father of Josiah,
11 and Jo siah the fa ther of Jec o niah c and his broth ers at the time of the ex ile to
Babylon. j
a 1 Or is an account of the origin b 1 Or Jesus Christ. Messiah( Hebrew) and Christ( Greek) both mean Anointed One; also in verse 18. c 11 That is, Jehoiachin; also in verse 12
1:1— 4:16 Introduction to Jesus’ Ministry. Prior to narrating Jesus’ main public ministry, Matthew provides Jesus’ genealogy, selected events surrounding his birth and childhood, his association with John the Baptist, and his temptations by the devil. 1:1— 2:23 Jesus’ Birth Narrative. Chs. 1 – 2 depict Jesus’ origins. His family tree shows that he has the right credentials for his Godappointed ministry. His fulfilling prophecy points to him as the only possible descendant of David who qualifies to be the Messiah. Ch. 1 also identifies who Jesus is:“ the Messiah the son of David, the son of Abraham”( 1:1) and“ Immanuel”( 1:23). Ch. 2 highlights key locations associated with his youngest days: Bethlehem( 2:5), Egypt( 2:13), Ramah( 2:18), and Nazareth( 2:23). 1:1 – 17 This genealogy introduces a select list of Jesus’ ancestors from Abraham onward in the style of OT genealogies( especially Gen 5:1 – 32). Luke 3:23 – 38 contains a longer but still selective list moving backward from Jesus all the way to Adam and then to God. Matthew probably provides the legal or royal line; Luke, the biological line. 1:1 This is the genealogy. The genealogy demonstrates that Jesus was qualified to be the Messiah, the prophesied liberator of Israel( Greek christos,“ anointed one”). 2 Sam 7:14 requires him to be a descendant of David, the great king of Israel a millennium earlier, which also makes him a descendant of Abraham, the founder of the Israelite nation, through whose offspring all the peoples of the world would be blessed( Gen 12:1 – 3). Jesus will rule as king on earth when he returns( Rev 19:11— 20:4), but first he must die as the suffering servant( Isa 52:13— 53:12). 1:2 – 16 The list of names follows the conventional Jewish practice of itemizing fathers. the father of. Could also mean“ the ancestor of.” Matthew skips generations at times( see also, e. g., 1 Chr 3:10 – 14). 1:2 Judah and his brothers. The 12 sons of Jacob, the ancestors of the 12 tribes of Israel. 1:3 Perez and Zerah. Both mentioned probably because they were twins. Tamar. The daughter-in-law of Judah. She was a Canaanite who disguised herself as a prostitute to trick Judah into impregnating her so that she could bear children for the family line after his successive sons had failed to do so( Gen 38).
She is the first of five mothers included in the genealogy. All, including Mary, were shrouded in suspicions, founded or unfounded, of sexual sin. Jesus will thus be the Messiah for the least, the last, and the lost of the world as well as for the righteous in Israel. 1:5 Rahab. The famous Canaanite prostitute who harbored the Israelite spies( Josh 2). Ruth. A Moabite who followed her motherin-law, Naomi, back to Israel. By lying down at Boaz’ s feet in the middle of the night while he was sleeping— an ancient custom apparently equivalent to a marriage proposal( Ruth 3)— she left herself open to suspicions of illicit sex, even though the charge would have been unfounded. 1:6 Uriah’ s wife. Bathsheba; probably called“ Uriah’ s wife” to recall not only David’ s adultery with Solomon’ s mother but also his indirect murder of her husband( 2 Sam 11). 1:8 Jehoram the father. Matthew calls Jehoram the father of Uzziah, but from 2 Chr 21:4— 26:23 it is clear that several generations were assumed( Ahaziah, Joash, and Amaziah) and that“ father” is used in the sense of“ forefather” or“ ancestor.”