Matthew 1

The Genealogy of Jesus Christ

1 The scroll1 of [the] lineage of Jesus Christ, son of David son of Abraham:

2 Abraham begat2 Isaac,
and Isaac begat Jacob,
and Jacob begat Judah and his brothers,
3 and Judah begat Perez
and Zarah by Tamar3,
and Perez begat Hezron,
and Hezron begat Aram,
4 and Aram begat Aminadab,
and Aminadab begat Nahshon,
and Nahshon begat Salmon,
5 and Salmon begat Boaz by Rahab4,
and Boaz begat Obed by Ruth5,
and Obed begat Jesse,
6 and Jesse begat King David.

And David begat Solomon by the [wife] of Uriah6.
7 And Solomon begat Rehoboam,
and Rehoboam begat Abijah,
and Abijah begat Asaph,
8 and Asaph begat Jehoshaphat,
and Jehoshaphat begat Joram,
and Joram begat Uzziah,
9 and Ussiah begat Jotham,
and Jotham begat Ahaz,
and Ahaz begat Hezekiah,
10 and Hezekiah begat Manasseh,
and Manasseh begat Amos,
and Amos begat Josiah,
11 and Josiah begat 7 Jechoniah and his brothers in the time of the Babylonian exile.

12 After the Babylonian exile, Jechoniah begat Salathiel,
and Salathiel begat Zerubbabel,
13 and Zerubbabel begat Abiud,
and Abiud begat Eliakim,
and Eliakim begat Azor,
14 and Azor begat Zadok,
and Zadok begat Achim,
and Achim begat Eliud,
15 and Eliud begat Eliezer,
and Eliezer begat Matthan,
and Matthan begat Jacob,
16 and Jacob begat Joseph the husband of Mary,
by whom8 was born Jesus the [one] being called Christ.

17 Therefore all the generations from Abraham until David [are] fourteen generations, and from David until the Babylonian exile [are] fourteen generations, and from the Babylonian exile until the Christ [are] fourteen generations.

The Birth of Jesus Christ

18 Now the birth of Jesus Christ was thus: Mary his mother having been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together 9 she was found having [life] in the belly by the Holy Spirit. 19 And Joseph her husband-to-be, being just, and not wishing to put her to open shame10 , purposed to dismiss her secretly. 20 So having pondered these [things], behold [an] angel of the Lord in a dream appeared to him saying: Joseph son of David, you should not fear to take to yourself Mary your wife. For what has been conceived in her is by the Holy Spirit. 21 And she will bring forth [a] son, and you will call his name Jesus, for he himself will save his people from their sins. 22 This whole [thing] came about so that the [things] said by the Lord through the prophet be fulfilled when he says11:
23 Behold a virgin 12 will have [life] in the belly
And will bring forth [a] son,
And they shall call his name "Emmanuel" 13

which is, being translated: "God [is] with us." 24 And Joseph having arisen from his sleep, did as the angel of the Lord ordered, and took to himself his wife. 25 And he did not know her until she brought forth [a]14 son, and she called his name Jesus.


1BIBLOS (βιβλoς ) The word comes from byblos, which denoted the papyrus plant that grew in marshes or river banks, primarily along the Nile. Writing material was made from the papyrus plant by cutting the pith of the plant in one foot strips and setting it in the sun to dry. The strips were then laid in horizontal rows with rows of vertical strips glued to the horizontal rows in a criss-cross fashion similar to the way plywood is constructed today. The horizontal rows were smoother and became the writing surface. Sections of these strips were glued together to form a scroll up to thirty feet in length.

Books as we know them weren't invented until sometime in the 2nd through 4th centuries. Thus, in the 1st century they would still have been using scrolls.

2GENNAO "gen-AH-oh" (γενναω) is used of `begetting' by the father, and `birthing' by the mother in the Greek literature in general as well as the Septuagint. Thus it refers to the reproductive process as a whole. GENNAO is also used of the special relationship between a Master and his disciples, where no literal begetting or birthing is involved. Since there isn't really an English word that encompasses the whole reproductive cycle, GENNAO is reluctantly translated as 'born' except in those contexts where it would be strange to the English reader to say 'born of a father' or 'begotten by a mother'.

3Gen.38:12–19

4Josh.2:1

5Ruth 3:1–14

62 Sam.11:2–5

7 insert "Joachim; and Joachim begat" few [it won't be fourteen generations if this reading is included. See vs. 17]; as the text reads: ℵBW vg KH all

8"whom" is feminine, thus referring to Mary

9The connotation of the Greek is `before they came together in marital and domestic union'. See Danker (2000) 970 (s.v. συνερχoμαι)

10In those days, being pregnant out of wedlock could get you stoned to death (see Deut.22:22). In the Jewish context, "full betrothal was so binding that its breaking required a certificate of divorce, and the death of one party made the other a widow or widower". See NET (2003), 2, fn. 8

11Isa.7:13–15

12Opinions vary on the word PARTHENOS (παρθενoς), here translated "virgin". Danker (2000), a lexicon for specifically N.T Greek, says this word means 'virgin'. LS (1996), however, a lexicon for Ancient Greek literature in general, says "maiden", "young girl", and cites instances of PARTHENOS (in Sophocles, for example) where it refers to unmarried non-virgin women. However, if the sense is merely `young girl', then this `fulfilled prophecy' becomes meaningless as young women have been conceiving since time immemorial. Also, the context says that Mary conceived `by the Holy Spirit', before she and Joseph `came together'. Thus the Gospel's author clearly must have had `virgin' in mind.

13Curiously, there is no record of anyone actually calling Jesus `Emmanuel'.

14"a son" ℵB; "her first born son": DKH all