Matthew 1

Matthew opens his Gospel by tracing Jesus’ family line through Abraham and David, showing that He is the promised King and Savior. He then tells how Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit and how Joseph, a righteous man, obeyed God’s word and took Mary as his wife. The chapter shows that God keeps His promises and comes to be with His people.

Matthew 1:1

Matthew begins with Jesus’ family record. He names two men who received great promises from God: David, to whom God promised an everlasting throne, and Abraham, through whom all nations would be blessed. Jesus is the one in whom both promises come true.

BSA: Christ (“the Anointed, Messiah”): Christ is a title, not a surname; it names Jesus as God’s chosen, anointed King.

Greek: γενέσεως (geneseōs, G1078) — “origin, beginning, genealogy.” It is the word from which we get Genesis. Matthew hints that with Jesus a new beginning is starting.

See also: 2 Samuel 7:12-13; Genesis 12:3.

Matthew 1:2

The list starts with the patriarchs. God’s promise passed from Abraham to Isaac to Jacob, and then to Judah, the brother from whose tribe the kings would come. God’s plan moves steadily through the generations.

BSA: Isaac (“his only son, the child of promise”): Isaac was born by God’s promise, which shows that this line rests on God’s faithfulness and not on human strength.

See also: Genesis 49:10.

Matthew 1:3

Matthew does something unusual by naming women in a list of men. Tamar’s story was a troubled one, yet God worked through it. From the start Matthew shows that Jesus’ line includes people with messy and painful histories.

BSA: Tamar (“an Israelite woman”): Her place in the line shows that God’s purposes are not hindered by human failure.

See also: Genesis 38:27-30.

Matthew 1:4

These names, from Ram to Salmon, are a quiet stretch of the family line. They cover the long years between Egypt and the entry into the land. Most of these people are little known, yet God’s promise passed through them faithfully.

BSA: father (“begat, to beget or produce offspring”): The repeated word shows life and promise being handed on from one generation to the next.

Matthew 1:5

Two more women appear, and both were outsiders. Rahab was a Canaanite who trusted the God of Israel, and Ruth was a Moabite who joined His people. God’s Messiah was to come for the whole world, and His own ancestry shows that.

BSA: Rahab (“a Canaanite woman of faith”): She was welcomed into God’s people because she trusted Him. Ruth (“a Moabite woman of God’s choice”): A foreigner became part of the royal line through faith and loyalty.

See also: Joshua 2:11; Ruth 4:13-17.

Matthew 1:6

David is named as the king, the high point of the first section. Then Matthew mentions David’s sin without hiding it. He does not name Bathsheba but calls her Uriah’s wife, which recalls the wrong David did. Yet God’s promise still went forward through grace.

BSA: king (“sovereign ruler, monarch”): Jesus is born into a royal line, and He is the true King that David’s throne pointed toward.

See also: 2 Samuel 11:27; 2 Samuel 12:24.

Matthew 1:7-8

Now come the kings of Judah, one after another. Some were faithful and some were not. The line of David continued through good times and bad because God had promised it, not because every king deserved it.

BSA: Asa (“a king of Judah”): Asa is one of the kings of Judah who sat on David’s throne, as the promise required.

Matthew 1:9-10

The names include Hezekiah, a godly king, and Manasseh, one of the worst. The line still went on. God’s faithfulness is greater than the failures of the people He works through.

BSA: Hezekiah (“the strength of Jehovah”): The name means that the Lord is the real strength of the throne, whoever sits on it.

See also: 2 Kings 18:5-6; 2 Kings 21:1-2.

Matthew 1:11

The royal line comes to a sad turning point: the exile to Babylon. God’s people were carried away from their land because of their sin. But even here the promised line was not broken.

BSA: exile (“deportation, forced relocation”): It was a painful uprooting, the low point of Israel’s history, yet God’s promise survived it.

Greek: μετοικεσίας (metoikesias, G3350) — “a moving of one’s home, deportation.” The word pictures a whole people being forced to pull up roots and settle in a foreign land.

See also: 2 Kings 24:14-16.

Matthew 1:12

After the exile the family line continues through Jeconiah, Shealtiel and Zerubbabel. Zerubbabel later led a group of the people home and helped rebuild the temple. Even in captivity, God kept the line of David alive.

BSA: Zerubbabel (“a leader in the restoration of Israel”): He is a sign that God brings His people back after judgment.

See also: Ezra 3:8.

Matthew 1:13-15

These names are mostly unknown to us, since the Old Testament does not tell their stories. They lived in the quiet years of waiting. Matthew shows that God was still at work in ordinary families, bringing His promise nearer.

BSA: Eleazar (“having God’s help”): The name means God helps, a fitting reminder that He was carrying the line forward.

Matthew 1:16

The pattern now changes. It no longer says Joseph fathered Jesus, but that Joseph was the husband of Mary, of whom Jesus was born. Matthew carefully signals that Jesus’ birth is unlike all the others. Jesus is the Christ, the promised King.

BSA: husband (“adult male, spouse”): Joseph is named as Mary’s husband, which gives Jesus a legal place in David’s line, while the wording leaves Jesus’ birth set apart.

Greek: ἐγεννήθη (egennēthē, G1080) — “was born.” Matthew uses a passive form here, ‘was born,’ in place of the repeated ‘fathered.’ The pattern is broken, and the focus turns to Mary.

Matthew 1:17

Matthew sums up the list in three sets of fourteen: the rise to the kingdom, the fall into exile, and the coming of the Christ. The tidy pattern shows that history has a design and that God was leading it toward Jesus.

BSA: fourteen (“a specific number”): Matthew presents the history in an orderly pattern, which points to God’s guiding hand.

Matthew 1:18

Mary and Joseph were pledged to each other. In that day this was a binding agreement, stronger than a modern engagement, though they were not yet living together. Before that, Mary was found to be with child, and Matthew tells us at once that it was by the Holy Spirit.

BSA: pledged in marriage (“espoused, promised to marry”): The pledge was legally serious, so Mary’s pregnancy was a grave matter for Joseph.

See also: Luke 1:34-35.

Matthew 1:19

Joseph knew the child was not his and wanted to do right. He did not want to shame Mary or have her publicly exposed. So he planned to end the engagement privately. His righteousness was shown in mercy as well as in obedience to the law.

BSA: righteous (“just, upright, obedient to God’s commands”): Joseph wanted to honor God’s law, yet he tempered it with kindness. quietly (“privately, secretly, without public notice”): He chose a way that would protect Mary from public disgrace.

Matthew 1:20

While Joseph was thinking it over, God spoke to him in a dream. The angel called him a son of David, reminding him of the royal line he belonged to. He was told not to fear, because the child in Mary was from the Holy Spirit.

BSA: afraid (“fearful, intimidated”): Joseph had good reason to be anxious, and God met that fear with His word. embrace (“take, receive”): He was invited to take Mary fully into his home and under his care.

See also: Luke 1:35.

Matthew 1:21

The angel gives the child’s name and its purpose. Jesus means ’the Lord saves.’ His mission is not first to rule or to fight, but to rescue His people from their sins, which is the deepest trouble we face.

BSA: sins (“missing the mark, falling short of God’s standards”): Sin is falling short of what God asks, and Jesus came to deal with it. save (“rescue, deliver from the consequences of”): Jesus delivers us from sin’s guilt and its results.

Greek: σώσει (sōsei, G4982) — “will save, will rescue.” The verb is related to the name Jesus. The angel ties the name to the work, which is saving.

See also: Acts 4:12.

Matthew 1:22-23

Matthew shows that this birth fulfills what God spoke through Isaiah long before. The child is called Immanuel, ‘God with us.’ In Jesus, God does not stay distant but comes to live among His people.

BSA: virgin (“unmarried, pure, chaste”): The word marks the birth as a sign from God and not an ordinary one. Immanuel (“God with us, Emmanuel, having God’s presence”): The name tells us who Jesus is: God Himself present among us.

See also: Isaiah 7:14; John 1:14.

Matthew 1:24

Joseph woke up and obeyed at once. He took Mary into his home as his wife, though it would cost him his reputation. His quiet, prompt obedience shows a faith that trusts God’s word over his own plans.

BSA: commanded (“ordered, instructed”): Joseph treated the angel’s words as God’s instruction and acted on them.

Matthew 1:25

Joseph kept Mary a virgin until Jesus was born, which confirms that the child’s conception was from God alone. Then he named the child Jesus, as he had been told. In naming Him, Joseph took Him as his own son.

BSA: name (“character, authority”): A name stood for who a person is, so ‘Jesus’ tells us what He is and does.

Greek: ἐγίνωσκεν (eginōsken, G1097) — “he knew, he had union with.” The Greek literally says ‘he did not know her,’ a gentle expression for marital relations.