Matthew 1 · The Lantern

The Genealogy of Jesus

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

Abraham fathered Isaac; and Isaac fathered Jacob; and Jacob fathered Judah and his brothers;

(in Luc. cap. 3. lib. iii. n. 7, 8.) For Abraham was the first who deserved the witness of faith; "He believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness." It behoved therefore that he should be set forth as the first in the line of descent, who was the first to deserve the promise of the restoration of the Church, In thee shall all the nations of the earth be blessed.

Abraham begat Isaac. Matthew begins the genealogy with Abraham because he was the father of the Hebrews, and because he first received the promises that in his seed all the nations would be blessed (Gen. 22:18).

Having presented the title, the genealogical series is woven. This is divided into three parts according to the three series of fourteen, out of which the aforesaid genealogical series is woven. The first set of fourteen is from Abraham to David, who came forth through patriarchs. The second goes from David to the Babylonian transmigration and proceeds through the kings.

and Judah fathered Perez and Zerah out of Tamar; and Perez fathered Hezron; and Hezron fathered Ram;

and Ram fathered Amminadab; and Amminadab fathered Nahshon; and Nahshon fathered Salmon;

(Vers. 4 seqq.) Naasson, however, fathered Salmon. Salmon, however, fathered Boaz by Rahab. Boaz, however, fathered Obed by Ruth. Obed, however, fathered Jesse. Jesse, however, fathered King David. David, however, king, fathered Solomon by her who had been Uriah's. Solomon, however, fathered Rehoboam. Rehoboam, however, fathered Abijah. Abijah, however, fathered Asa.

But as we believe that the names of these Fathers were given for some special reason under the providence of God, it follows, but Naasson begat Salmon. This Salmon after his father's death entered the promised land with Joshua as prince of the tribe of Judah. He took a wife of the name of Rahab.

Ram was the father of Amminadab, which means voluntarily. For it is in his person that Ps 54 (v. 6) says: "With a freewill offering I will sacrifice to you; I will give thanks to your name, O Lord, for it is good"; (Is 53:7): "He was offered, because he willed it; yet he opened not his mouth"; (Jn 6:38): "I came not to do my will but his who sent me." Aminadab was the father of…

and Salmon fathered Boaz out of Rahab; and Boaz fathered Obed out of Ruth; and Obed fathered Jesse;

But how far wider an extent the Lord assigns to those crimes we are sure: when He defines adultery to consist even in concupiscence, "if one shall have cast an eye lustfully on," and stirred his soul with immodest commotion; when He judges murder to consist even in a word of curse or of reproach, and in every impulse of anger, and in the neglect of charity toward a brother just…

Ruth the Moabitess fulfils the prophecy of Isaiah, Send forth, O Lord, the Lamb that shall rule over the earth, out of the rock of the desert to the mount of the daughter of Sion. (Is. 16:1.)

Salmon was the father of Boaz by Rahab. Here are mentioned fathers born after the entry into the promised land. For Salmon was fathered in the desert and entered the promised land with Joshua; he took as his wife Rahab, a prostitute, from whom Boaz was born. Boaz means strong: "O Lord, my strength and my stronghold" (Jer 16:19).

and Jesse fathered David the king. And David fathered Solomon out of the wife of Uriah;

(ubi sup.) But the holy David is the more excellent in this, that he confessed himself to be but man, and neglected not to wash out with the tears of repentance the sin of which he had been guilty, in so taking away Urias' wife. Herein showing us that none ought to trust in his own strength, for we have a mighty adversary whom we cannot overcome without God's aid.

The Evangelist exposes and derides the passions of our race, its dishonors and ailments, to which the Word of God descended in his mercy. He descended to glorify them and raise them up by his charity. It in no way reflects badly upon the physician that he stoops to the level of those who are sick.

Jesse was the father of David the king. David is taken to mean strong hand and fair to behold; both of which suit Christ, as is evident. For he was strong in overcoming the devil. "But when one stronger than he assails him and overcomes him, he takes away his armor in which he trusted and divides his spoil" (Lk 11:22). Also "he is the fairest of the sons of men" (Ps 45:2).

and Solomon fathered Rehoboam; and Rehoboam fathered Abijah; and Abijah fathered Asaph;

Or; 'the might of the people,' because he quickly converts the people to the faith.

Solomon is interpreted 'peacemaker,' because having subdued all the nations round about, and made them tributary, he had a peaceful reign. Roboam is interpreted 'by a multitude of people,' for multitude is the mother of sedition; for where many are joined in a crime, that is commonly unpunishable. But a limit in numbers is the mistress of good order.

Solomon was the father of Rehoboam. But just as David is taken to mean stronghanded or fair to behold, so Solomon, peaceful: and this is correct, because from the vigor of good activity arises peace of conscience: "Great peace have those who love thy law" (Ps 119:165). But it happens that from peace of conscience a man wants to arrive at the good.

and Asaph fathered Jehoshaphat; and Jehoshaphat fathered Joram; and Joram fathered Uzziah;

Thus the stain of the Gentile alliance being purged, the royal race is again taken up in the fourth following generation.

But it may be asked, why the Evangelist says they were born in the carrying away, when they were born before the carrying away. He says this because they were born for this purpose, that they should be led captive, from the dominion of the whole nation, for their own and others' sins.

Asa was the father of Jehoshaphat, which is taken to mean living on high, because the one appointed judge ought to live on high: "He will dwell on the heights" (Is 33:6). How this happens is told by the Apostle: "Our commonwealth is in heaven" (Phil 3:20). And this befits Christ, because "the Lord is high above all the nations." Joram was the father of Uzziah.

and Uzziah fathered Jotham; and Jotham fathered Ahaz; and Ahaz fathered Hezekiah;

and Hezekiah fathered Manasseh; and Manasseh fathered Amos; and Amos fathered Josiah;

and Josiah fathered Jeconiah and his brothers, at the time of the carrying away to Babylon.

(In Luc. cap. 2.) That there were two kings of the name of Joakim, is clear from the Book of Kings. And Joakim slept with his fathers, and Joachin his son reigned, in his stead. (2 Kings 24:6.) This son is the same whom Jeremiah calls Jeconias. And rightly did St.

The "deportation to Babylon" means the captivity which they later endured when they were all led away into Babylon. For the Babylonians campaigned against them on another occasion, causing less affliction. But on this occasion, the Babylonians carried them all away from their homeland.

Josiah was the father of Jechoniah and his brothers. This is taken to mean the Lord's preparation or the resurrection, and it signifies Christ, who prepared a place for us (Jn 14) and who says: "I am the resurrection and the life" (Jn 11:22). And through this we come to the resurrection.

And after the carrying away to Babylon, Jeconiah fathered Shealtiel; and Shealtiel fathered Zerubbabel;

SO, SINCE THERE ARE FORTY-ONE GENERATIONS, THE EVANGELIST SEEMS TO HAVE COUNTED FORTY-TWO (Matt. 1:17). FOR THREE TIMES FOURTEEN, WHAT DO THEY MAKE IF NOT FORTY-TWO? — According to the number, forty-one generations are counted; but according to the reasoning, forty-two are demonstrated.

But let us see what moral signification these names contain. After Jeconias, which means 'the preparation of the Lord,' follows Salathiel, i. e. 'God is my petition,' for he who is rightly prepared, prays not but of God.

Here is given the third series of fourteen in the genealogy of Christ, and it lists private persons. Concerning Jechoniah, as was indicated above, there were two opinions: for Jerome and Ambrose think that the one was placed at the end of the first series of fourteen and went by the name of Jehoiakim; the other is the one named Jehoiachim.

and Zerubbabel fathered Abiud; and Abiud fathered Eliakim; and Eliakim fathered Azor;

and Azor fathered Zadok; and Zadok fathered Achim; and Achim fathered Eliud;

and Eliud fathered Eleazar; and Eleazar fathered Matthan; and Matthan fathered Jacob;

He is also Jacob, 'that supplanteth,' for not only hath He supplanted the Devil, but hath given His power to His faithful people; as, Behold I have given you power to tread upon serpents. (Luke 10:19.)

He is also Eleazar, i. e. 'God is my helper,' as in the seventeenth Psalm, My God, my helper. He is also Mathan, that is, 'giving,' or, 'given,' for, He gave gifts for men; (Eph. 4:8.) and, God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son. (John 3:16.)

Achim was the father of Eleazar. Here is designated the order of proficients. But one cannot make progress without God's help; hence, the first thing required for making progress is divine help. Therefore, Eliud is rightly followed by Eleazar, which means God, my helper: "Blessed is the man whose help is from you" (Ps 88:6).

and Jacob fathered Joseph the husband of Mary, out of whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ.

But to what shifts you resort, in your attempt to rob the syllable ex (of) of its proper force as a preposition, and to substitute another for it in a sense not found throughout the Holy Scriptures!

Herein we must beware of the error of Nestorius, who thus speaks; "When Divine Scripture is to speak either of the birth of Christ which is of the Virgin Mary, or His death, it is never seen to put God, but either, Christ, or Son, or Lord; since these three are significative of the two natures, sometimes of this, sometimes of that, and sometimes of both this and that together.

But two questions arise here. The first concerns the contrariety which seems to exist between Luke and Matthew: for Luke says that Joseph was from Eli, who was from Matthat; but Matthew says that he was from Jacob. Therefore, there seems to be contrariety between them. The answer is that the two were from the same stock but not from the same family, namely Matthan and Matthat.

All the generations therefore from Abraham to David were fourteen generations, and from David until the carrying away to Babylon fourteen generations, and from the carrying away to Babylon until the Christ fourteen generations.

WHAT IS THE REASON THAT THE APOSTLE MATTHEW, MENTIONED ABOVE, DIVIDED ALL THE GENERATIONS INTO THREE PARTS (Matt. 1:17)? — Causes and times produce divisions. Therefore he distinguished from Abraham up to David. For the first part of the cause is from Abraham up to David, because Abraham is the father of faith and David the father of the kingdom.

(Vigil. Cont. Fel. 12. ap. Aug. t. 8. p. 45.) But not one was the Son of God, and another the son of a man; but the same Christ was the Son of both God and man. And as in one man, the soul is one and the body is another, so in the mediator between God and man, the Son of God was one, and the son of man another; yet of both together was one Christ the Lord.

So all the generations. Having mentioned the generation of Christ, he concludes to the number of generations. The first series of fourteen is from Abraham to David inclusively; hence David is included in that first set of fourteen.

The Birth of Jesus

Now the origin of Jesus Christ was thus. At the pledging of His mother Mary to Joseph, before they came together, she was found having in the womb out of the Holy Spirit.

For what reason did God, deciding that the Savior should be born from a virgin, not choose a virgin who was not betrothed? Might it have been, then, an economy for her to conceive while having a betrothed, so that it might not appear as a disgrace upon her body for her to conceive?

(Serm. 148.) If you are not confounded when you hear of the birth of God, let not His conception disturb you, seeing the pure virginity of the mother removes all that might shock human reverence.

Now this refutes also the false interpretation which some have drawn from the words of Matthew, where he says, "Before they came together she was found to be with child." They interpret this as though the evangelist meant to say, "Later she came together with Joseph like any other wife and lay with him, but before this occurred she was with child apart from Joseph," etc.

And Joseph her husband, being righteous and not willing to disgrace her, purposed to send her away secretly.

But if he had no suspicion of her, how could he be a just man, and yet seek to put her away, being immaculate? He sought, to put her away, because he saw in her a great sacrament, to approach which he thought himself unworthy.

He beheld her to be with child, whom he knew to be chaste; and because he had read, There shall come a Rod out of the stem of Jesse, (Is. 11:1.) of which he knew that Mary was comes, and had also read, Behold, a virgin shall conceive, (Is. 7:14.) he did not doubt that this prophecy should be fulfilled in her.

Her husband Joseph being a just man. After indicating the manner of the generation, he now confirms it with witnesses. For when he had said above that the mother of Jesus was found with child and that this was of the Holy Spirit, someone might believe that the evangelist mentioned this out of respect for the Master.

But while he was pondering these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to receive Mary as your wife; for that which has been conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.

But to what shifts you resort, in your attempt to rob the syllable ex (of) of its proper force as a preposition, and to substitute another for it in a sense not found throughout the Holy Scriptures!

Because Joseph was minded, as has been said, to put Mary away privily, which if he had done, there would have been few who would not rather have thought her a harlot than a virgin, therefore this purpose of Joseph was changed by Divine revelation, whence it is said, While he thought on these things.

But as he considered this... Here we are introduced to the person revealing, and three things are mentioned: first, the time; secondly, the person revealing is introduced; thirdly, the manner of the revelation is expressed. He says, therefore: But as he considered this, i.e., while he was revolving these things in his mind, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared.

And she will bear a son, and you will call His name Jesus, for He Himself will save His people from their sins.”

And hear again how Isaiah in express words foretold that He should be born of a virgin; for he spoke thus: "Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bring forth a son, and they shall say for His name, `God with us.'" For things which were incredible and seemed impossible with men, these God predicted by the Spirit of prophecy as about to come to pass, in order that, when they came…

He shows the same man to be the Saviour of the whole world, and the Author of our salvation. He saves indeed not the unbelieving, but His people; that is, He saves those that believe on Him, not so much from visible as from invisible enemies; that is, from their sins, not by fighting with arms, but by remitting their sins.

She will bear a Son. Here he foretells the obeisance Joseph will show to the child when born. And he does three things: first, he foretells the virgin birth; secondly, he shows beforehand the obeisance Joseph will show to the child; thirdly, he mentions the name conferred on the child, when he says Jesus. He says, therefore, she will bear a son.

Now all this has come to pass so that what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet might be fulfilled, saying:

"Now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying." In a tone worthy of the wonder, with all his might he hath uttered his voice, saying, "Now all this was done." For when he saw the sea and the abyss of the love of God towards man, and that actually come to pass which never had been looked for, and nature's laws broken, and…

It is the custom of the Evangelist to confirm what he says out of the Old Testament, for the sake of those Jews who believed on Christ, that they might recognize as fulfilled in the grace of the Gospel, the things that were foretold in the Old Testament; therefore he adds, Now all this was done.

The evangelist had indicated that the mother of God was found with child of the Holy Spirit, and he proved this above by the angel's revelation; here he proves it by appealing to an earlier prophecy. Hence, he says: All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet. And it should be noted that this passage can be understood here in two ways.

“Behold, the virgin will have in the womb and will bear a son, and they will call His name Immanuel,” which is, being translated, “God with us.”

Now, it will first by necessary to show what previous reason there was for the Son of God's being born of a virgin. He who was going to consecrate a new order of birth, must Himself be born after a novel fashion, concerning which Isaiah foretold how that the Lord Himself would give the sign. What, then, is the sign?

But if, when their mouths are stopped on this point, they should seek another, namely, what is said touching Mary's virginity, and should object to us other translators, saying, that they used not the term "virgin," but "young woman;" in the first place we will say this, that the Seventy were justly entitled to confidence above all the others.

And this is stated in the prophecy: Behold, a virgin shall conceive; "Like the crocus it shall blossom abundantly, and rejoice with joy and singing" (Is 35:2).

And Joseph, having been awoken from sleep, did as the angel of the Lord commanded him, and received his wife;

The passage for discussion now is, "And Joseph arose from his sleep, and did as the angel of the Lord commanded him, and took unto him his wife and knew her not till she had brought forth a son, and he called his name Jesus." Here, first of all, it is quite needless for our opponent to show so elaborately that the word know has reference to coition, rather than to intellectual…

Then Joseph awoke from sleep and did as the angel of the Lord had bidden him. Behold a wakeful, vigilant soul who immediately obeyed. And took unto him his wife. The evangelist continually calls her "the wife of Joseph" to allay evil suspicion and to show that she was not anyone else's wife but his.

Having proved from the angel's revelation and from the prophet's prediction that the Mother of God conceived of the Holy Spirit, the evangelist plans to show the same thing from the obedience of Joseph, who would not have acquiesced in the angel's words that he take Mary as his spouse, unless he had known that she had been with child of the Holy Spirit.

and he was not knowing her until she had brought forth a son. And he called His name Jesus.

Because there are those who dare to say that Mary cohabited with Joseph after she bore the Redeemer, we reply, 'How would it have been possible for her who was the home of the indwelling of the Spirit, whom the divine power overshadowed, that she be joined by a mortal being, and gave birth filled with birthpangs, in the image of the primeval curse?' If Mary was blessed of women…

And by a new nativity He was begotten, conceived by a Virgin, born of a Virgin, without paternal desire, without injury to the mother's chastity... for a Virgin conceived, a Virgin bare, and a Virgin she remained.

Certain expressions in the evangelical narratives are said to imply that Mary bore other children besides the Lord, and it is even asserted that no unprejudiced person could interpret them otherwise. The justice of this charge may be fairly questioned.

Matthew1

The Genealogy of Jesus

The Birth of Jesus