NIV, Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible CBSB_Digital Sampler | Page 31

Matthew 1:14  | 1607
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
This is the ge­ne­al­o­gy  of J ­ esus the
1 Abra­ Mes
si­ah  the son of Da­vid,  the son of
ham:
a
b
a
b
2 Abra­ham was the fa­ther of Isaac,  c
Isaac the fa­ther of Ja­cob,  d
Ja­cob the fa­ther of Ju­dah and his
broth­ers,  e
3 Ju­

dah the fa­ther of Pe­rez and Ze­
rah, w
­ hose moth­er was Ta­mar,  f
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 Sal­
mon the fa­ther of Boaz, ­whose

moth­er was Ra­hab,
Boaz the fa­ther of Obed, w
­ hose
moth­er was Ruth,
Obed the fa­ther of Jes­se,
6 and Jes­se the fa­ther of King Da­vid.  g

Da­vid was the fa­ther of Sol­o­mon,
whose moth­er had been Uri­ah’s
wife,  h
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
1:12 k  1Ch 3:17
l  1Ch 3:19;
Ezr 3:2
1:1  genealogy of J ­ esus. “The book of the genealogy” here
uses the exact Greek phrase found in the Greek transla-
tion of Ge 5:1, including the Greek word from which we
get our name for the book “Genesis.” Similar phrases
appear with other genealogies in Genesis. The phrase
in Matthew functions differently, however. In Genesis,
the phrase is followed by a list of the person’s descen-
dants, who depend on their ancestor for their meaning.
Matthew, by contrast, lists not ­Jesus’ descendants but his
ancestors. ­Jesus is so pivotal for Israel’s history that even his
ancestors depend on him for their purpose and meaning.
When Jewish people spoke of the “son of David”
they usually thought of David’s descendant par excel-
lence, the Messiah (i.e., the Davidic king; cf. 22:42). ­Jesus
is thus the fulfillment of God’s promise to raise up a king
from David’s line. Although Ishmaelites and others also
claimed descent from Abraham, Jewish people custom-
arily applied the title “children of Abraham” to Jewish
people in particular. Matthew presents ­Jesus as both
Israel’s rightful ruler and as one identified fully with his
people. Many scholars find this identification with J ­ esus’
people’s heritage also in 2:15,18; 4:1 – 11 (see applicable
notes there).
1:2  Abraham . . . Isaac . . . Jacob. For the births of Isaac,
Jacob, and Jacob’s sons, see Ge 21 – 30; 35:18.
1:3  Tamar. Ancient genealogies often omitted women.
Jewish hearers would have expected that if Matthew
included any women, he would have chosen some of
the famous matriarchs: Sarah, Rebekah, Leah and (out-
side Judah’s line here) Rachel. Instead he includes four
women with Gentile associations. In Ge 38, Tamar was
likely a Canaanite; she had married into Judah’s family but
tragedy prevented her from bearing an heir in Judah’s
line. Unable to secure a brother-in-law to fulfill the levi-
rate custom of providing her husband an heir through her,
she deceived Judah himself into doing it. Judah, who had
helped sell his brother Joseph into slavery (Ge 37:26 – 27),
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 Jo­si­ah the fa­ther of Jec­o­ni­ah  c

and his broth­ers at the time of
the ex­ile to Bab­ylon.  j
12 Af­ter the ex­ile to Bab­ylon:
Jec­o­ni­ah was the fa­ther of She­al­ti­el,  k
She­al­ti­el the fa­ther of Ze­rub­ba­bel,  l
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,
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   
is confronted with his own sinfulness (Ge 38:26) and
changes (Ge 44:33 – 34).
1:5  Rahab. Because Rahab joined Israel, it was natural
for her to marry into Israel. Though not an Israelite, she
hid Israel’s spies on her roof, betrayed Jericho and saved
her family; she contrasts with Achan of Judah, who hid
loot under his tent, betrayed Israel and destroyed his fam-
ily (Jos 2:1 – 21; 6:23 – 25; 7:1 – 26). Already in the book of
Joshua, then, God used Rahab to show that he valued loy-
alty to his covenant more than ethnic background. Ruth.
Normally Moabites were not allowed to become Israelites
(Dt 23:3), but God welcomed Ruth because she followed
him (Ru 1:16), and she became an ancestor of King David.
1:6  Uriah’s wife. Matthew calls Solomon’s mother not by
her name (Bathsheba) but the woman who “had been Uri-
ah’s wife,” his widow. Bathsheba may have been from Judah
(compare her father’s name in 2Sa 11:3 with 2Sa 23:34), but
she had married into a Hittite family (2Sa 11:3). Thus each
of the four women in Matthew’s genealogy (vv. 3 – 6) is
somehow closely associated with Gentiles.
1:7 – 11  The list of David’s royal descendants summarizes
the history of Judah until the exile (the material cove