From Abraham to Christ

¹This is the scroll of the genealogy of Jesus, the Anointed One, the son of David and descendant of Abraham.[#1:1 Or “The book of the origin (genesis) of Jesus Christ.” The Greek text has no definite article (“This is the”) and is most likely to be considered as a caption or title. The Son of God is eternal and had no beginning ( John 1:1; 1 John 1:1). The entire book of Matthew presents the beginning of the glorious story of Jesus, God’s Anointed One. The genealogy given by Matthew presents the legal claim of Jesus to be King through the lineage of David from Joseph all the way back to the promises given to Abraham. Some believe Luke’s account gives the genealogy of Jesus from Mary’s lineage through David all the way back to Adam.; #1:1 The Hebrew name for Jesus is Yeshua and means “ is salvation.”]

²Abraham had a son named Isaac, who had a son named Jacob, who had a son named Judah (he and his brothers became the tribes of Israel) .

³Judah and Tamar had twin sons, Perez and Zerah. Perez had a son named Hezron, who had a son named Ram,[#1:3 Matthew includes four women in this genealogy: Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, and Bathsheba.]

⁴who had a son named Amminadab, who had a son named Nashon,

⁵who had a son named Salmon, who, along with Rahab, had a son named Boaz. Boaz and Ruth had a son named Obed, who was the father of Jesse,

⁶and Jesse had a son named David, who became the king .

⁷Then David and Bathsheba had a son named Solomon, who had a son named Rehoboam, who had a son named Abijah, who had a son named Asa,[#1:7 Or “the wife of Uriah.”]

⁸who had a son named Jehoshaphat, who had a son named Joram, who had a son named Uzziah,

⁹who had a son named Jotham, who had a son named Ahaz, who had a son named Hezekiah,

¹⁰who had a son named Manasseh, who had a son named Amos, who had a son named Josiah,[#1:10 Or “Amon.”]

¹¹who was the father of Jeconiah.[#1:11 In Jer. 22:24–30 God pronounced a curse on Jeconiah’s family line, declaring that they were ineligible to sit on the throne as kings. However, Luke’s genealogy goes through David to Mary via Nathan, not Solomon, thus bypassing the curse of Jeconiah’s lineage. Matthew’s genealogy is meant to establish the legal right of Jesus Christ to be king. So Joseph, as Jesus’ adoptive father, passes the right of David’s throne legally to Jesus and avoids the curse of Jeconiah through Mary’s ancestry. Jesus is the Son of God paternally, and the Son of David maternally through Heli, Mary’s father. See footnote at Luke 3:23–38. From the beginning God said that the coming Savior would be the “seed of the woman.” See Gen. 3:15; Gal. 4:4.]

It was during the days of Jeconiah and his brothers that Israel was taken captive and deported to Babylon.

¹²About the time of their captivity in Babylon, Jeconiah had a son named Shealtiel, who had a son named Zerubbabel,

¹³who had a son named Abiud, who had a son named Eliakim,

¹⁴who had a son named Azor, who had a son named Zadok, who had a son named Achim, who had a son named Eliud,

¹⁵who had a son named Eleazar, who had a son named Matthan, who had a son named Jacob,

¹⁶who was the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary the mother of Jesus, who is called “the Anointed One.”[#1:16 Notice that Joseph is named the husband of Mary, not the father of Jesus.]

¹⁷So from Abraham to David were fourteen generations, and from David to the Babylonian captivity, fourteen generations, and from the Babylonian captivity to Christ, fourteen generations.[#1:17 This would make a total of forty-two generations from Abraham to Christ. However, when the names are counted, there are only forty-one. There is a missing generation. What could this mean? Jesus gave birth to the forty-second generation when he died on the cross, for out of his side blood and water flowed. Blood and water come forth at birth. The first Adam “birthed” his wife out of his side, and so Jesus gave birth to his bride from his wounded side. Jesus wants to reproduce himself in us. His last name is not Christ. Christ is the title that explains who he is. He is the Anointed One. “Christ” is also now a corporate body, the body of Christ. We, as the body of Christ, are also anointed ones (Christians). See 1 Cor. 12:12.]

An Angel Comes to Joseph

¹⁸This is how the birth of Jesus Christ took place.

His mother, Mary, had promised Joseph to be his wife, but while she was still a virgin she became pregnant through the power of the Holy Spirit.

¹⁹Her fiancé, Joseph, was a righteous man full of integrity and he didn’t want to disgrace her, but when he learned of her pregnancy he secretly planned to break the engagement.[#1:19 Or “Her husband.” The Hebrew culture makes no distinction between a fiancé and a husband. The engagement period was a vital part of the marriage custom. See Deut. 22:23–28.; #1:19 Or “divorce her.” The Jewish custom of breaking off an engagement was tantamount to a divorce.]

²⁰While he was still debating with himself about what to do, he fell asleep and had a supernatural dream. An angel from the Lord appeared to him and said, “Joseph, descendant of David, don’t hesitate to take Mary into your home as your wife, because the power of the Holy Spirit has conceived a child in her womb.[#1:20 Or “during his inward passion about these things.”; #1:20 Or “take Miriam your wife.” Once again, the Jewish culture considered the betrothal period as part of the marriage custom.]

²¹She will give birth to a son and you are to name him ‘Savior,’ for he is destined to give his life to save his people from their sins.”[#1:21 Or “Jesus.” The Hebrew name for Jesus is Yeshua (or Y’hoshua ) and means “ is salvation, restoration, and deliverance.” Implied in the text is that Hebrew (Aramaic) speakers would obviously understand how the name Yeshua and salvation were linked, reinforcing the theory that Matthew was originally written in Hebrew. This is lost in the Greek word Iesous (Jesus).; #1:21 As translated from the Aramaic.]

²²This happened to fulfill what the Lord had spoken through his prophet:

²³Listen! A virgin will be pregnant,[#1:23 See also v. 25, which clarifies that Mary was indeed a virgin.]

she will give birth to a Son,

and he will be known as “Emmanuel,”

which means in Hebrew,

“God became one of us.”

²⁴When Joseph woke from his dream, he did all that the angel of the Lord instructed him to do. He took Mary to be his wife,

²⁵but they refrained from having sex until she gave birth to her firstborn son, whom they named “Jesus.”