Overview

This opening chapter of Matthew sets the stage and the tone and the themes for the entire book. Its main function is to identify Jesus as the long hoped for Messiah of the Jewish people. It also serves to transition from the old to the new, by showing that Jesus is both the fulfillment of the Jewish scriptures and also the beginning of the new work of God, as promised in those very same scriptures.

This first chapter has two sections, the genealogy and the account of Jesus’s birth, as viewed from the perspective of his stepdad Joseph. Matthew presents this as the fulfillment of prophecy. He also brings out the main theme, or thesis, of the entire book by telling us what Jesus’s mission is — to save his people from their sins — which doesn’t entirely line up with what most people expected.

— Verse 1 —

Greek Notes

The word γενέσεως is interesting. Literally — genesis.

A few words very similar to γενέσεως show up in this chapter so it’s important to understand what each one means, and how they differ from each other.

The KJV renders this as generation, which is a bit of an archaism. A good modern translation could be simply genealogy.

On the other hand, I think this first verse is probably referring to the entire Gospel of Matthew, not just the genealogy. If that’s the case, then something like “The biography of …” could be a viable translation.

Matthew packs a lot into his opening line. He begins by declaring who Jesus is, in no uncertain terms. First, he is the Christ, the anointed one. Second, he’s the Son of David, the long awaited King of Israel who, as the Jewish people understood it back then, would restore the historical Kingdom of national Israel.

These two terms — “Christ” & “Son of David” — are synonymous, but they each have their own nuances. The way I tend to think of it that “Christ” refers to the legitimacy of Jesus’s kingship, in the sense that he has been anointed, not by a prophet like Samuel, but by the Holy Spirit, i.e., by God himself. Whereas “Son of David” refers to the authority and power of his role as King to bring about deliverance from political oppression.

Finally, Jesus is the Son of Abraham, which hearkens back to all the promises given by God to the great progenitor of the Jewish people — as well as to those people who would later become the Muslims. Jesus is the “seed” of Abraham, who is to bring blessings to all the families of the earth. This sets the tone of the gospel from the very beginning as being for ALL people, not just those who are the physical descendants of Israel.

The “Son of Abraham” also brings to mind the story of Abraham being willing to sacrifice his son Isaac, who ultimately is a foreshadowing of the sacrificial, substitutionary death of Jesus on the cross.

— Verses 2-6 —

Greek Notes

The word ἐγέννησε occurs in this inflection 39 times in this chapter, and a 40th time in a different inflection. Its lexical form is γεννάω — meaning, to father a child.

This word is in the same semantic group as γένεσις from verse one, and it looks very similar, but it refers specifically to a child being born. The key difference is the double nu (–νν-) versus the single nu in γένεσις.

One thing to note about the syntax of γεννάω is that in the active voice it uses ἐκ to indicate the mother. On the 40th occurrence, in verse 16, we’ll see a slightly different syntax.

Another interesting usage in this section is at the very end where Bathsheba is mentioned, but not by name. In the phrase ἐκ τῆς τοῦ Οὐρίου, she literally gets the single definite article τῆς, used substantively. This is why the KJV has the words “that had been the wife” in italics. It’s a gloss — required in English because we don’t have a similar substantive grammatical construct.

Changes to the TR

Verse 6: WH omitted ὁ βασιλεὺς.

This first section of the genealogy starts off sounding reminiscent of Moses at the burning bush, where God identifies himself as the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Jesus even quotes that verse from Exodus later in Matthew as proof of the resurrection of the dead.

Most people today, I would venture to say, read through this genealogy as fast as they can, or even skip it altogether, assuming it’s just a boring list of names. Nothing could be farther from the truth. The Holy Spirit has packed so much significance into this list of names that I doubt anyone could ever get to the bottom of it. The people aren’t just the ancestors of Jesus. Their very presence in the list shows so much about the nature of the gospel, and of the Lord’s mission here on earth.

One aspect that strikes me is how many people are not actually in the lineage, who are nonetheless still recorded here. We see the brothers of Judah listed, as well as Zara (of the red thread fame). And most strikingly we see Uriah, whose last name was “The Hittite” — a man from one of Israel’s worst enemies, but who is said (by the Holy Spirit) to be more righteous than King David himself. These people show that Jesus is identified with all people, not just his own kindred.

We also see four women listed, which is highly unusual for the time period. And not just any women. Thamar who pretended to be a harlot, but was proven to be more righteous than Judah. Rahab, whose last name literally was “The Harlot.” Ruth, a Moabitess, another from an enemy nation. And the wife of Uriah, who isn’t mentioned by name. In fact in Greek she gets nothing more than a single definite article. Even though everyone knows her name. This indicates that the gospel is for everyone, men and women. Good and bad.

— Verses 7-11 —

Greek Notes

The Greek text here, and in the following section, is straightforward, simple, and repetitive, giving it a cadence and making it easier to read and remember.

The only interesting word is μετοικεσίας, which is a compound of μετά and οἶκος — literally, a change of house (dwelling, abode). By extension — relocation, carrying away.

Changes to the TR

Verses 7 & 8: WH changed Ἀσά to Ἀσάφ.

Verse 10: WH changed Ἀμών to Ἀμώς.

In this second section of the genealogy, we see a list of kings of Judah. This serves to show that Jesus is the true descendant of this line of kings. That was understood to be one of the requirements of the Messiah. It shows many more things beyond that though.

The men listed here are a mixture of great heroes of the faith — righteous men who followed the Lord, like Hezekiah — and of horrible apostate men, like Manasseh, who sacrificed their own children to devils. And yet there’s no attempt to either highlight the good or sweep the evil under the rug. Jesus identifies with all of us. The good, the bad, and the ugly.

Another thing to note is the descent from the dizzying heights of King Solomon, who ruled over all Israel and subdued all their enemies and most importantly built the temple in Jerusalem. But from there it was basically all downhill, and it ended rather badly with the destruction of Jerusalem, the burning down of the temple, and the entire nation being carried away to Babylon as war captives. Jesus embraces this history of his people, both the highs and the lows. His mission after all is to save his people from their sins.

— Verses 12-16 —

Greek Notes

Here we have γεννάω in the passive voice. Literally — was begotten, but rendered more simply as was born. And again ἐκ (or ἐξ here, since it’s followed by a word beginning with a vowel) is indicating the mother.

I find this final section of the genealogy to be interesting for other reasons. Here we see many people whose stories we don’t know. They are really just names in a list. We know that the Jewish people, like many other ancient cultures, kept their geneologies very meticulously. So I have no doubt of the authenticity of this list, despite the fact that most of these people lived in utter obscurity and never had their life stories recorded in history.

What this says to me is that Jesus also identifies with the rest of us, the unknown masses of humanity. We who live and die and whose lives seem to leave no permanent mark on the world. And yet we are — in a certain sense — listed vicariously in the geneology of the most important man ever to have walked the face of the earth.

And of course we see at the end that Matthew is very deliberate to show that Joseph was only the husband of Mary, but was not the father of Jesus. The second half of the chapter elaborates on this very important point.

— Verse 17 —

Greek Notes

Here we have a third word — γενεά — that looks and sounds very similar to the others. This one is also translated as generation, but in a different sense. It’s more like our modern usage, indicating a single person listed in a genealogy, and typically with that person representing the standard time period that passes between one generation and the next.

Here Matthew summarizes the genealogy, showing that there were fourteen generations in each of the three sections. Many have pointed out that there are some gaps, where certain of the kings — and a queen — got left out. In my opinion, this actually provides some balance, since as we saw there were quite a few people added into the list who weren’t actually in the lineage.

— Verses 18-21 —

Greek Notes

Not to harp on this point too much, but here we have γέννησις, which looks almost identical to γένεσις. The double nu is the only difference. However, the meanings of each are quite different.

The noun γένεσις is a more generic term, indicating the origin or source of a thing or a person.

Whereas the adjective (used substantively) γέννησις is more specific, referring to a person’s birth or nativity.

In this section, we transition from genealogy to normal narrative, and we finally get some more interesting vocabulary and syntax.

The word μνηστευθείσης (betrothed) is a bit obscure, occurring only three times in the New Testament. And of course any time you see a genitive participle at the beginning of a sentence, there’s a strong probability that it’s a genitive absolute construction, which we have here.

An interesting idiom shows up here — ἐν γαστρὶ ἔχουσα — which is a bit of a euphemism for being pregnant, literally — having in the stomach.

Another interesting word — παραδειγματίσαι (something like, to show evidence publicly) — which is related to the more familiar δεικνύω, to show (or shew, in Elizabethan English).

Yet another one — ἐνθυμηθέντος — rendered as thought in the KJV, but carrying the connotation of strong emotion or passion. Based on θυμός, meaning a sudden passionate emotion of anger or literally heat. This is different from ὀργή, which is more deliberate anger or wrath. Think first degree (ὀργή) versus third degree (θυμός) murder. Not that Joseph has murder in his heart, but he’s clearly and understandably upset.

Lastly, in verse 20 we have γεννάω again, in the passive voice, but this time ἐκ is indicating not the mother but the Holy Spirit. And here we have to translate it with something like conceived, since Jesus hasn’t been born yet as the angel is speaking.

Changes to the TR

Verse 18: WH changed γέννησις to γένεσις.

Verse 18: WH (margin) omitted Ἰησοῦ.

Verse 18: WH omitted γὰρ.

This section starts the second half of the chapter, moving from the genealogy to the account of the birth of Jesus. Matthew records this from the prespective of Joseph, who is called a rigtheous man. He finds himself in an unprecedented situation. What I mean is that it was (and still is) pretty normal for a man to find out that his soon to be wife — whom he has never been intimate with — is already pregnant. Joseph’s situation, however, is not that. The text says that Mary was found to be pregnant by the Holy Spirit.

This puts this righteous man in a bind. His initial reaction was to want to protect Mary from public humiliation, and the only way he could think of to do that was to quietly — without any publicity — end the betrothal. However, God had other plans.

Joseph ponders this for some time. He understands — or at least strongly suspects — that this natural solution doesn’t really make sense given the supernatural situation he finds himself in. But thankfully God steps into the picture just in the nick of time.

Joseph has a prophetic dream where the angel of the Lord first confirms that, yes, the child in Mary’s womb really is begotten by the Holy Spirit. And then the angel — I’ve always assumed it was Gabriel, but the text doesn’t mention his name — tells him exactly how to handle the situation. Joseph is to “Fear not!” and to proceed with the marriage.

And in verse 21, the angel tells Joseph what name to give the child, and why. And here we have what I see as the thesis statement of this gospel, and in fact of the entire New Testament — For he shall save his people from their sins. I imagine that Joseph himself was shocked by this. He most likely had assumed that the Messiah’s primary mission was to reestablish the kingdom of national Israel, which would entail delivering them from the oppression of the Roman empire. But God’s ways are higher than our ways. Joseph got this lesson directly from God himself.

— Verses 22-25 —

Greek Notes

The language here is again very straightforward. One word which looks intimidating is μεθερμηνευόμενον. However, when you break it down you see that it’s actually pretty simple.

It’s based on the word ἑρμηνεύω — to interpret — which is where we get our word hermeneutics, which will be familiar to anyone who’s studied literature, and especially to anyone who’s been to Bible college.

Changes to the TR

Verse 24: WH changed διεγερθεὶς to ἐγερθεὶς.

Verse 25: WH omitted τὸν from before υἱὸν.

Verse 25: WH omitted αὑτῆς τὸν πρωτότοκον.

Matthew wraps up the story of the birth of Jesus by showing us that all of this happened to fulfill the ancient prophecy, well known to every Jewish person, that a virgin will give birth to the promised Messiah, whose name shall be Emmanuel. And then we have a perfect example showing why Joseph is called a righteous man. As soon as he woke up, he immediately obeyed God and did what the angel had told him to do by proceeding with the marriage. And once again Matthew makes certain to reemphasize that Joseph still refrained from being intimate with Mary until the child conceived by the Holy Spirit was born. And finally, he named him JESUS.

Summary

This chapter presents the gospel — the Good News — by showing us who Jesus is. Later Jesus asks his disciples this most important question. Here Matthew explains to us in great detail that Jesus really is the long-awaited Messiah, the son of David, the son of Abraham. He has come into the world to save his people from their sins. And based on the geneology, his people are really much more than the Jewish nation. We are all his people, and he came to save all of us from our sins. Jesus identifies with all of us, each of us. He is one of us. Yet at the same time, he is unique. He is the only man in human history that was begotten by God himself. He is the Son of God, who came in to the world to save us.

Matthew invites each of us to pay close attention to this man, to really look at him. And this is my reason for wanting to present this to you in this slightly different way. I want to show you who Jesus really is. We have to look past our default assumptions of Jesus, which we all picked up from the cultures we grew up in. If we strip away those presuppositions, we have a better chance of truly seeing him, as the Holy Spirit intended us to see him.

I encourage everyone to set aside your assumptions and to seek to know the real Jesus. He came to save you and I from our sins because our sins are the real problem. They are killing us. And without the savior we are lost. I pray that you will be encouraged to seek the Lord while there’s still time. Because each of us is just one heartbeat away from eternity. We will all very soon stand before Jesus, before the judgment seat of God.

The choice for each of us is to take advantage of the opportunity God has given us in this life to know the real Jesus now, or else to procrastinate until it’s too late. Jesus came to save us from our sins. We need to stop running away from him and instead allow him to reveal himself to us and to save us.

— Richard Ewald
March 9, 2025