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Matthew 1 is the first chapter of the Gospel of Matthew in the New Testament. It contains two distinct sections. The first lists the genealogy of Jesus' legal father Joseph down from Abraham. The second part, beginning at Matthew 1:18, relates the alleged virgin birth of Jesus.

Verses

The genealogy

Matthew opens with the genealogy of Jesus' legal father Joseph, showing that the author considered it to be of much importance. The genealogy served to demonstrate that Jesus belonged to the House of David, and thus his heir. The Gospel also asserts that Jesus was in fact the son of God, and Joseph was thus not actually Jesus' father. Legally, however, Joseph was Jesus' father and some scholars contend it was legal parentage that was of the most importance.

Another important issue is why the genealogy listed here is quite different from that of Luke 3. The list from the Babylonian captivity to Jesus' grandfather is wholly different. The most popular theory among apologists is that, while Matthew is giving the genealogy of Joseph and his father Jacob, Luke is giving the genealogy of Joseph's father-in-law Heli. Other scholars doubt this theory and most who do not believe in the inerrency of the Bible are content to believe that one or both of the pair are not historically accurate. Luke's genealogy contains a more realistic number of names given the time period and Matthew's list also lacks the papponymic naming used in the period. Gundry, for one, believes that the later part of Matthew's list is "a large figure of speech". He argues that at the time it was perfectly acceptable to fill gaps in a historical narrative with plausible fiction.

Another important issue is that Matthew skips several names in portions where the genealogy is well known from other sources. Jehoiakim is left out in Matthew 1:11 and four names are dropped from Matthew 1:8. See the articles on those verses for the disccusion of these omissions.

Unlike most Biblical genealogies Matthew's mentions several figures not on the direct line. These include four women, Tamar, Ruth, Bathsheba, and Rahab. See Matthew 1:3 for a discussion of the various explanations for their inclusion.

Birth of Jesus

The second part of this chapter relates some of the events around the birth of Jesus. While Luke and Matthew disagree on some of the details the most important ideas such as the Virgin Birth and the divine nature of Jesus are shared. Unlike Luke's account Matthew focuses on the character of Joseph. It features Joseph's discovery and concern over his betrothed's pregnancy and the message from an angel telling Joseph to stand by Mary and then quoting Isaiah 7:14 presaging the birth of the messiah.

That this section focuses on Joseph is unusual. Schweizer feels that Matthew is far more concerned with proving Jesus' legal status as the step-son of Joseph, and thus a legal heir of David than he is with proving the Virgin Birth. Schweizer feels this is evidence for Matthew's intended audience having mainly Jewish backgrounds, a pattern that continues throughout the Gospel. The importance placed on the reference to the Old Testament is further evidence of this. Hill feels that the quote from Isaiah was, in fact, the central element of this section and believes the entire last part of the chapter was written to prove that Jesus' story matches the prophecy.

Stendhal, by contrast, sees the second section of this chapter as a large footnote to the last line of the genealogy. An explanation at length of why Joseph is merely the husband of Jesus' mother but also of why Jesus is still a heir to David. Others feel that this section should be attached to the second chapter. That chapter is divided into four sections, each focused on an Old Testament quotation, and this portion is often seen as the first of those sections.

External links

The King James Version of Matthew 1 on BibleGateway. Other translations can also be accessed.

References

• Albright, W.F. and C.S. Mann. "Matthew." The Anchor Bible Series. New York: Doubleday & Company, 1971.
• Brown, Raymond E. The Birth of the Messiah: A Commentary on the Infancy Narratives in Matthew and Luke. London: G. Chapman, 1977.
• France, R.T. The Gospel According to Matthew: an Introduction and Commentary. Leicester: Inter-Varsity, 1985.
• Gundry, Robert H. Matthew a Commentary on his Literary and Theological Art. Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1982.
• Hill, David. The Gospel of Matthew. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1981
• Jones, Alexander. The Gospel According to St. Matthew. London: Geoffrey Chapman, 1965.
• Schweizer, Eduard. The Good News According to Matthew. Atlanta: John Knox Press, 1975

• New Testament chapters