The Genealogy of Jesus the Messiah

1The record of the genealogy of [a]Jesus the [b]Messiah, the son (descendant) of [c]David, the son (descendant) of Abraham:

2Abraham [d]was the father of Isaac, Isaac the father of Jacob, and Jacob the father of [e]Judah and his brothers [who became the twelve tribes of Israel]. 3Judah was the father of Perez and Zerah by Tamar, Perez was the father of Hezron, and Hezron the father of Ram. 4Ram was the father of Aminadab, Aminadab the father of Nahshon, and Nahshon the father of Salmon. 5Salmon was the father of Boaz by [f]Rahab, Boaz was the father of Obed by Ruth, and Obed the father of Jesse. 6Jesse was the father of [g]David the king.

David was the father of Solomon by [h]Bathsheba who had been the wife of Uriah. 7Solomon was the father of Rehoboam, Rehoboam the father of Abijah, and Abijah the father of Asa. 8Asa was the father of Jehoshaphat, Jehoshaphat the father of Joram, and Joram the father of Uzziah. 9Uzziah was the father of Jotham, Jotham the father of Ahaz, and Ahaz the father of Hezekiah. 10Hezekiah was the father of Manasseh, Manasseh the father of Amon, and Amon the father of Josiah. 11Josiah became the father of Jeconiah [also called Coniah and Jehoiachin] and his brothers, at the time of the deportation (exile) to Babylon.

12After the deportation to Babylon: Jeconiah became the father of Shealtiel, and Shealtiel the father of Zerubbabel. 13Zerubbabel was the father of Abihud, Abihud the father of Eliakim, and Eliakim the father of Azor. 14Azor was the father of Zadok, Zadok the father of Achim, and Achim the father of Eliud. 15Eliud was the father of Eleazar, Eleazar the father of Matthan, and Matthan the father of Jacob. 16Jacob was the father of Joseph the husband of Mary, by [i]whom Jesus was born, who is called the Messiah (Christ).

17So all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen; from David to the Babylonian deportation (exile), fourteen generations; and from the Babylonian deportation to the Messiah, fourteen generations.

Conception and Birth of Jesus

18Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows: when His mother Mary had been [j]betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child by [the power of] the Holy Spirit. 19And Joseph her [promised] husband, being a just and righteous man and not wanting to expose her publicly to shame, planned to send her away and divorce her quietly. 20But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, descendant of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, for the Child who has been [k]conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. 21She will give birth to a Son, and you shall name Him Jesus (The LORD is salvation), for He will [l]save His people from their sins.” 22All this happened in order to fulfill what the Lord had spoken through the [m]prophet [Isaiah]: 23“BEHOLD, THE [n]VIRGIN SHALL BE WITH CHILD AND GIVE BIRTH TO A SON, AND THEY SHALL CALL HIS NAME IMMANUEL”--which, when translated, means, “GOD WITH US.” 24Then Joseph awoke from his sleep and did as the angel of the Lord had commanded him, and he took Mary [to his home] as his wife, 25but he kept her a virgin until she had given birth to a Son [her firstborn child]; and he named Him Jesus (The LORD is salvation).

[a] 1 Heb Yeshua (Joshua), meaning The Lord is salvation.
[b] 1 Gr Christos. Greek for Messiah, which means Anointed One. Throughout his gospel, which is directed primarily to Jewish believers, Matthew uses OT Scripture to emphasize the fact that Jesus is their promised Messiah.
[c] 1 The shepherd boy who killed the Philistine giant Goliath, and later became king of Israel.
[d] 2 Lit begot, fathered, from the Greek word gennao, meaning “to father a child” (early modern English beget) and so throughout the genealogy whenever father occurs.
[e] 2 Gr Judas; names of people in the OT are given in their OT form.
[f] 5 The woman who assisted the Hebrew spies before the conquest of Jericho (Josh 2:1-21).
[g] 6 David is the only one addressed as “the king.” The text places an emphasis on David, showing that Jesus is a descendant of David and an heir to the throne of David and the Davidic Covenant.
[h] 6 Lit her of Uriah.
[i] 16 The Greek singular feminine pronoun hes, translated “whom,” shows that Jesus was born of Mary alone, without Joseph’s participation; however, Jesus was considered Joseph’s legal son and heir. Accordingly, Matthew’s genealogy confirms Jesus as a legitimate descendant of David.
[j] 18 The first stage of marriage (called shiddukin in Hebrew) in Jewish tradition and law, usually lasting for a year before the wedding night; unlike an engagement, it was legally binding and required a divorce to nullify it. The woman remained with her parents during the betrothal year and was referred to as a “wife” even though the marriage was not consummated during this period of time (cf Deut 22:23, 24).
[k] 20 Lit begotten.
[l] 21 Those who, by personal faith, accept Him as Savior are saved from the penalty of sin and reconciled with the Father.
[m] 22 The prophets in the Bible always have the ability to foretell the future as revealed to them by God. Scripture provides stringent criteria for testing a prophet’s ability to foretell future events (Deut 18:22).
[n] 23 “Virgin” (Gr parthenos) clearly confirms that Mary was a virgin when she gave birth to Jesus.