Matthew 1 - Peake Arthur S. and Grieve A. J. - Peake's CommentMatthew 11 The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham. 2 Abraham begat Isaac; and Isaac begat Jacob; and Jacob begat Judas and his brethren; 3 and Judas begat Phares and Zara of Thamar; and Phares begat Esrom; and Esrom begat Aram; 4 and Aram begat Aminadab; and Aminadab begat Naasson; and Naasson begat Salmon; 5 and Salmon begat Booz of Rachab; and Booz begat Obed of Ruth; and Obed begat Jesse; 6 and Jesse begat David the king; and David the king begat Solomon of her that had been the wife of Urias; 7 and Solomon begat Roboam; and Roboam begat Abia; and Abia begat Asa; 8 and Asa begat Josaphat; and Josaphat begat Joram; and Joram begat Ozias; 9 and Ozias begat Joatham; and Joatham begat Achaz; and Achaz begat Ezekias; 10 and Ezekias begat Manasses; and Manasses begat Amon; and Amon begat Josias; 11 and Josias begat Jechonias and his brethren, about the time they were carried away to Babylon: 12 and after they were brought to Babylon, Jechonias begat Salathiel; and Salathiel begat Zorobabel; 13 and Zorobabel begat Abiud; and Abiud begat Eliakim; and Eliakim begat Azor; 14 and Azor begat Sadoc; and Sadoc begat Achim; and Achim begat Eliud; 15 and Eliud begat Eleazar; and Eleazar begat Matthan; and Matthan begat Jacob; 16 and Jacob begat Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ. 17 So all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations; and from David until the carrying away into Babylon are fourteen generations; and from the carrying away into Babylon unto Christ are fourteen generations. The Birth of Jesus18 Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise: When as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost. 19 Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not willing to make her a publick example, was minded to put her away privily. 20 But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost. 21 And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins. 22 Now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, 23 Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, And they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us. 24 Then Joseph being raised from sleep did as the angel of the Lord had bidden him, and took unto him his wife: 25 and knew her not till she had brought forth her firstborn son: and he called his name JESUS. Matthew 1Mat 1:1-17 . The Genealogy of Jesus (cf. Luk 3:23-38 ).—The Biblical part of this genealogy (Mat 1:2-12 ) is taken from 1 Chronicles 1-3, with some help from Rth 4:18-20 , Gen 38:16 ff., and other OT passages. It contains devices for assisting the memory, e.g. (a) three groups each of fourteen names, though one name is missing from the third group (cf. Mat 1:17 ); (b) the three fourteens may be connected with the number (three) and the numerical value (fourteen) of the letters in the Heb. name David; (c) notes like “of Rahab,” “of Ruth” (Mat 1:5 ), “of her of Uriah” (Mat 1:6 ), and the reference to the Captivity (Mat 1:11 ). There are some slips in the Gr., e.g. Asaph (mg.) for Asa, Amos (mg.) for Amon. Three generations are omitted in Mat 1:8 through a confusion of the Gr. name for Uzziah; and Jehoiakim, son of Josiah, is confused with Jehoiachin (Jeconiah, Mat 1:11 ) of the next generation. The second group should really have included eighteen names (cf. Cod. Bezæ in Luk 3:23 ff.). Shealtiel and Zerubbabel (Mat 1:12 ) are the last biblical names; the remainder rests on tradition, and varies widely from Lk.’s list. It is incredible that son should unfailingly succeed father in David’s line for twenty generations: the Heb. for “his son” often means simply “his heir.” Legal, not physical, descent is meant throughout. The rabbis regard Rahab as a famous proselyte (cf. Heb 11:31 , Jas 2:25 ). While Mt.’s list is of kings and (after the Exile) of claimants to the throne, Lk.’s may be a list from the Bethlehem land-register of owners of Jesse’s property. During the Exile no Jew held the land, and to fill the gap the names of Shealtiel and Zerubbabel as heirs of David might be inserted (Wright, Synopsis3, 299). The explanation that Lk. gives the line of Mary is not found in early Christian writers. Their view (Eusebius, Hist., i. 7) was that Joseph was the real son of Jacob (Mt.) but the legal son of Heli through a levirate marriage (p. 110, Deu 2:5 ff.*). |