Matthew - chapter 1


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1 The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.

g.: book of origin; Biblos geneseós. In the LXX, this phrase occurs only in Gen. 2:4 and Gen. 5:1.
Matthew 1:1 can be the title of the entire gospel, not just verses 2-17. Some interpreters even see in this phrase an allusion to the first book of the Bible, which is called Genesis in the Greek text; it would then be "the Book of the (new) creation in Jesus Christ"
why was the genealogy of Jesus important or interesting to Matthew? For one thing, Matthew was writing his gospel for Jews, and for them, questions of family lineage are important. Jesus was Jewish on both his father's and mother's side. God always works out his plan of salvation through a minority and in this case through the Jewish people.
But first, this setting in a historical context shows the extraordinary nature of Christianity in the sense of its historicity. Christianity stands and falls with the historical events concerning Jesus. If these events (including the death and resurrection) did not happen, Christianity is a bunch of nonsense
S.C. Lewis also emphasized this: Christianity has either an absolute meaning or no meaning. If Jesus was not the Son of God, he could not have been anything but a fool unworthy of any interest, much less following

2 Abraham was the father of Isaac, and Isaac the father of Jacob, and Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers,

so Matthew begins with Abraham and proceeds through Judas and David to Joseph, Jesus' father or foster father
Luke introduces his genealogy in chapter 3 and proceeds in the opposite direction, i.e. from the present (again from Joseph) back into the past through David and Abraham to Adam

3 and Judah the father of Perez and Zerah by Tamar, and Perez the father of Hezron, and Hezron the father of Ram,

genealogy analysis is a big science with many aspects
here I will stop only at the things that I find interesting, especially who all unexpectedly got into the Savior's family tree
the forefathers Abraham, Isaac and Jacob are there somehow "automatically" confirming Jesus' descent from the chosen people. We know that the forefathers were not role models, had character flaws and a history of failure. Their main common attribute was that they were worthy of being used by the Lord for his plans
this is a generally valid principle for all people of all times - God is not looking for perfect people, but those who desire to be used by God. Character flaws the Most High can work with, but even He can't deal with indifference.
now we come to Judaone of the brothers who had a hand in selling Joseph into Egyptian slavery. We also know that he slept with his daughter-in-law disguised as a prostitute. Quite a strange qualification for the Savior's lineage.
in the family tree is also .Tamar
Mt 11,12 From the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven has suffered violence, and the violent take it by force. Tamar is a typical example of a person who took the participation in God´s plan by violence

4 and Ram the father of Amminadab, and Amminadab the father of Nahshon, and Nahshon the father of Salmon, 5 and Salmon the father of Boaz by Rahab, and Boaz the father of Obed by Ruth, and Obed the father of Jesse,

we're getting to more "shocking" names
Rachab was a harlot from the city of Jericho. She's not Jewish at all. Her "qualification" was that she correctly discerned that the Israelites were God's people and tried to save her life on that account. After the conquest of Jericho, she joined the Israelites, married and had a son, Boaz
Ruth is another gentile in the family tree: she is a Moabite and has "earned" acceptance among the Jews by her touching loyalty to her mother-in-law
she eventually became the grandmother of King David
Again we see that the desire of the heart is more than all handicaps. When the Most High sees the desire of the heart, He will also prepare the circumstances so that man can be involved in His plans

6 and Jesse the father of David the king. Král And David was the father of Solomon by the wife of Uriah,

we come now to the king David
perhaps unexpected again may be that the family tree continues through Solomonwhich was the "fruit" of infidelity and premeditated murder. Uriah's wife was a "foul-mouthed harlot" who "ran" with David while her husband was on the front lines.

7 and Solomon the father of Rehoboam, and Rehoboam the father of Abijah, and Abijah the father of Asaph. 8 and Asaph the father of Jehoshaphat, and Jehoshaphat the father of Joram, and Joram the father of Uzziah, 9 and Uzziah the father of Jotham, and Jotham the father of Ahaz, and Ahaz the father of Hezekiah, ⁽10 and Hezekiah the father of Manasseh, and Manasseh the father of Amos, and Amos the father of Josiah,⁾ .

Solomon, as we know, was sexually "wild," eventually fell away from God, and his own children didn't work out well
followed by a sequence of kings, better and worse

11 and Josiah the father of Jechoniah and his brothers, at the time of the deportation to Babylon.

Greek: relocation; [the deportation of Jews into captivity began in 605 B.C. and was completed in 587]
even exile did not prevent God from continuing His plan

12 And after the deportation to Babylon: Jechoniah was the father of Shealtiel and Shealtiel the father of Zerubbabel,

Zerubbabel, as we know, was crucial in the return from exile and the rebuilding of the Temple
four generations have lived in captivity

13 and Zerubbabel the father of Abiud, and Abiud the father of Eliakim, and Eliakim the father of Azor, 14 and Azor the father of Zadok, and Zadok the father of Achim, and Achim the father of Eliud, 15 and Eliud the father of Eleazar, and Eleazar the father of Matthan, and Matthan the father of Jacob, 16 and Jacob the father of sJoseph the husband of Mary, of whom Jesus was born, who is called Christ.

Christos is the translation of h. Mashiach (= Anointed One), hence Messiah; we choose this transliteration where we want to capture the Jewish background.
What is fascinating is the incredible number of circumstances that came into play for each individual - historical, familial, character, genetic. And yet the Most High was able to "keep everything in check"

17 So all the generations from Abraham to David bylo were fourteen generations, and from David to the deportation to Babylon fourteen generations, and from the deportation to Babylon to tthe Christ fourteen generations.

g: : + generation; [the use of the number indicates two characteristics of Mt - the popularity of using numbers and the interest in systematic organization]
From Abraham to Christ, 3×14=42 generations. This is a period of about two thousand years, one generation is therefore less than fifty years, which is a lot even by the standards of long lives at that time. So it's quite possible that some generations were skipped
Moreover, the genealogy in Luke is somewhat different

18 Now the birth of Jesus Christ has took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found ⁽to be with child⁾ from the Holy Spirit.

or: get married
r.: in the belly having
their lives went their separate ways - Mary was already engaged. Wouldn't it be easier if she were single? Sure it was, it would have saved Joseph many dilemmas, but he would have had no one to take care of her.
it was difficult and complicated right from the start
Jesus' life was "one big crisis" from the very beginning
people are put in limit situations when they meet Jesus - they have the opportunity for the best and worst of them to come out
in any case, it was a terrible mess.

19 And her husband Joseph, being ⁽a just man and unwillingto put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly.

[although the betrothed lived without sexual intercourse, the commitment was so firm that they were already called man and wife (vv. 20.24; and the betrothal was dissolved by divorce]
n.: righteous and unwilling - both translations are nice. Either his mercy went somehow beyond his justice. As a righteous man, he had to "make things right" with his unfaithful fiancée, yet he chose to act in an exceedingly merciful way
or has his justice manifested itself in mercy

20 But as he considered these things, behold, yan angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not fearto take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.

it must have been a difficult consideration. No cold logical reasoning. Terrible frustration, anger mixed with the remnants of feelings for Maria. But his kindly nature wouldn't allow him to scandalize
how was Joseph going to do it anyway? What does it mean to release secretly? Apparently to tell everyone that they had agreed to break off the engagement, with the understanding that Mary would secretly go somewhere to give birth. It was almost a death sentence (Tamar was to be burned), although probably at that time, it wasn't so strictly applied
the fact that God spoke to Joseph is reassuring. If God had left everything to Mary's testimony, it would have been beyond human power to believe. Consider that this event is completely unique in history. Except in Mary's case, it has never happened that a woman has become pregnant without sexual intercourse
It's a nice way of expressing a joke: The gynaecologist tells the woman that she is pregnant. But I didn't have anything to do with anyone. The doctor goes to the window and looks out. The woman asks what he is doing, and the doctor replies: The last time this happened, a star came out of the sky.
On the other hand, the fact that the angel spoke to Joseph "only" in a dream is disturbing to me. Dreams are, at least in my experience, too vague, confusing or unclear to base major life decisions on
Of course, a dreams are different, and Joseph's experience was probably powerful and convincing, but I would still "welcome" an angel speaking directly to Joseph (as well as to Mary or Zechariah)
But he clearly got the reassurance he needed. God doesn't use a "digger where a shovel will do"
probably the angel's message was complemented with Joseph's inner conviction that Mary could not have committed infidelity. It didn't fit her, she wasn't like that.
Matthew "blows the whole thing off" in a few sentences, but what happened around Mary's pregnancy must have been dramatic. Mary missed her period, waited a couple of months, then became sick, her belly began to grow. Then she had to tell someone - her mother? Then the families started talking about it amongst themselves. Joseph was shaken. Mary was behaving strangely - people must have thought she was crazy because of her infidelity. etc., etc.

21 She will bear a son, ⁽and zyou shall call his name⁾ Jesus, afor he will save his people from their sins.”

r.: you call (/name) his name.
H. the name Jehoshua (Gr. Jesús) is derived from the root j-š-' = "to deliver"
r.: their
it's gonna be a boy
and I already have a name for him
Joseph, of course, like Mary, could have "twitched" and refused to act in this drama
this is not what an "ordinary person needs" to get "involved" in such strange and yet worldly events. He could have been living an ordinary life with an ordinary girl and suddenly such complications
it's a universal rule. Participation in God's plan of salvation always brings complications to life. This participation can be refused, but it means a missed opportunity and a loss in life.
It is worth remembering that when the Lord was "seeking" a suitable mother for His son, He was certainly considering her future mate. If my son is to be raised by a surrogate father, let him be the best he can be. Joseph must have been fine.
the choice is not easy: I know many many families where I would not place my child in foster care, and few where I would

22 To všechno se událo, aby se naplnilo, co bylo řečeno od Pána skrze proroka:

[14× Mt mluví o naplnění StS – 2:15. 2:17, 2:23; 4:14; 5:17; 8:17; 12:17; 13:14. 13:35; 21:4; 26:54. 26:56; 27:9];
To the unbiased eye, it is more than interesting how many NT prophecies were fulfilled in the life of Jesus. It is also interesting that the Jews don't see it that way. As we shall see below, their fulfillment is obvious to those who do not rule out the possibility in advance, but they do not convince those who do not want to admit it as a possibility.

23 Hle, ta panna otěhotní a porodí syna a dají mu jméno Immanuel‘, což v překladu znamená: ‚Bůh s námi.‘

[the first of at least 47 citations of OT in Mt];
It is a quotation from Isaiah 7:14: Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.
But the name Jesus means the Lord saves, which is partly different, partly similar - both expressing that God is doing something for people.
If the name of the Messiah had been written in the OT - directly - it would have been difficult for the Messiah to get this name: either somebody would have given it to himself or nobody would have dared to give this name to his son.
It must be admitted that Immanuel and Jesus have "just enough" in common. Certainly those who understand the name Jesus as a fulfillment of the prediction of Isaiah 7 will not make a mistake. On the other hand, it must be admitted that a certain amount of uncertainty remains, and that those who insist that the Messiah must be named Immanuel directly have their arguments.

24 Když se Josef probudil ze spánku, učinil, jak mu nařídil Pánův anděl, a přijal svou ženu.

r.: rose;
The dream had to be compelling enough to cause Joseph to react immediately.
What exactly did he do? He went to Mary and told her what had happened to him. He reassured her that he already trusted her and would therefore marry her. I'm sure she was happy to agree.
Joseph must have been a really good guy, plus it greatly eased Maria's insecurities in life.
What would Mary actually do if Joseph refused to be involved in God's scenario? Jesus would have grown up as an illegitimate son, which would certainly have been very very difficult (infinitely more difficult than today)
the wedding took place so quickly and Jesus was born only somewhat prematurely, e.g. six months after the wedding.

25 Ale nepoznal ji, dokud neporodila to a son. syna. A dal mu jméno Ježíš.

g: knew her not - means he didn't live with her as a man;
Jasná explicitní informace, že po porodu (a šestinedělí) spolu Josef s Marií spát začali (Ježíš měl ostatně ještě řadu sourozenců – Mt 13,55 Není to ten syn tesařův? Nejmenuje se jeho matka Marie a jeho bratři Jakub, Josef, Šimon a Juda? 45 A nejsou všechny jeho sestry u nás?
RC comments that try to prove that "until" doesn't mean "until" but "never" are (euphemistically speaking) argumentatively weak. Much like the argument that brother actually means cousin. And the idea of spouses living together but not sleeping together is perverse.
It would be interesting (but not important) to know whether Joseph was advised by an angel to abstain temporarily (until the birth) or whether he assessed the situation himself. In any case, he was a good man.

Vít Šmajstrla

Vit.Smajstrla@bormed.cz