Institute for Creation Research

Matthew 1:1

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

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Abraham begat Isaac; and Isaac begat Jacob; and Jacob begat Judas and his brethren;

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And Judas begat Phares and Zara of Thamar; and Phares begat Esrom; and Esrom begat Aram;

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And Aram begat Aminadab; and Aminadab begat Naasson; and Naasson begat Salmon;

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And Salmon begat Booz of Rachab; and Booz begat Obed of Ruth; and Obed begat Jesse;

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And Jesse begat David the king; and David the king begat Solomon of her that had been the wife of Urias;

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And Solomon begat Roboam; and Roboam begat Abia; and Abia begat Asa;

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And Asa begat Josaphat; and Josaphat begat Joram; and Joram begat Ozias;

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And Ozias begat Joatham; and Joatham begat Achaz; and Achaz begat Ezekias;

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And Ezekias begat Manasses; and Manasses begat Amon; and Amon begat Josias;

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And Josias begat Jechonias and his brethren, about the time they were carried away to Babylon:

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And after they were brought to Babylon, Jechonias begat Salathiel; and Salathiel begat Zorobabel;

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And Zorobabel begat Abiud; and Abiud begat Eliakim; and Eliakim begat Azor;

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And Azor begat Sadoc; and Sadoc begat Achim; and Achim begat Eliud;

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And Eliud begat Eleazar; and Eleazar begat Matthan; and Matthan begat Jacob;

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And Jacob begat Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ.

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So all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations; and from David until the carrying away into Babylon are fourteen generations; and from the carrying away into Babylon unto Christ are fourteen generations.

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Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise: When as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before ° they came together, she was found with child ° ° of the Holy Ghost.

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Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not willing to make her a public example, was minded to put her away privily.

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But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost.

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And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins.

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Now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying,

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Behold, a virgin shall be with child, ° and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.

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Then Joseph being raised from sleep did as the angel of the Lord had bidden him, and took unto him his wife:

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And knew her not till she had brought forth her firstborn son: and he called his name JESUS.

Matthew

Introduction to Matthew

The author of the Gospel According to Matthew was one of the original twelve disciples chosen by Jesus (Matthew 9:9; 10:3). He does not identify himself as the author, but the uniform tradition of the early church attributes it to him, and there is no reason not to accept him as the author.

Matthew had been a publican, or tax collector, before Jesus called him. This profession was considered sinful by the Jews, since the publicans often exacted heavy taxes from the Rome subjects, keeping the excess for themselves. Matthew, however, was different. He had evidently become a disciple of John the Baptist (Acts 1:21-22), and was immediately ready to follow Jesus when He called him (Mark 2:14-17). Mark identifies Matthew as also going by the name of Levi, but both authors give his name as Matthew in their respective lists of the twelve (Matthew 10:3; Mark 3:18).

Matthew undoubtedly wrote his gospel primarily for the Jews to whom he first ministered, as is evident not only from the genealogy of Jesus that he gives in Matthew 1:1-17 but also from the numerous citations from the Old Testament. Matthew especially refers to the Old Testament Messianic prophecies as being fulfilled in Jesus Christ (Matthew 1:22-23; 2:5-6; 3:3).

The time of writing was considerably after the time of Christ’s resurrection (compare Matthew 28:15) but obviously before the A.D. 70 destruction of Jerusalem as predicted in Matthew 24:2. A controversy still exists among scholars as to whether Matthew or Mark was the first gospel record of the life of Christ.

Matthew describes twenty miracles (out of thirty-five passages in the gospels describing miracles) and twenty-one parables of Jesus (out of fifty-one passages dealing with parables in the gospels). He uses the term “kingdom of heaven” thirty-two times, whereas Mark and Luke use only “kingdom of God.” Matthew is the only gospel author who mentions the future “church” (Matthew 16:18; 18:17).

Whether or not Matthew’s gospel was the first one written down, as many scholars believe, it has always been placed first in the New Testament canon, and is probably the most widely read of all the New Testament books (with the possible exception of John). With its genealogy in the first chapter, it obviously would form the most natural transition, at least to the Jewish mind, from the old covenant to the new covenant.

Matthew 1:1

1:1 The book. Compare this with “the book of the generations of Adam” (Genesis 5:1), the only other place in the Bible where this phrase is found. This seems symbolic. The Old Testament describes the effect of the first Adam on the human race, whereas the New Testament deals with the “second Adam” and His work for mankind.

Matthew 1:1

1:1 generation. This word (Greek genesis) is obviously the word from which we get the title of the first book of the Bible. It is used only this once in the New Testament (the very first verse) except for James 3:6, where it is translated “nature.” However, it is used in the Greek Septuagint translation of the Old Testament as the translation of toledoth (“generations”), which is the key word in identifying the different original documents from which Moses compiled Genesis (see notes on Genesis 2:4 and 5:1).

Matthew 1:1

1:1 Jesus Christ. A few skeptics have questioned the historical existence of Jesus Christ, arguing that the only references to Him are in Christian sources, and these are biased. The fact is, however, that Christ has been mentioned by several secular writers of the time, including Tacitus (a Roman historian), Josephus (the Jewish historian), Suetonius (another Roman historian), Pliny the Younger (a Roman magistrate), Lucian the Cynic (a Greek satirist), and Celsus (a pagan philosopher). There is no doubt whatever that He really lived and that the Christian religion was established on the strong belief that He died for our sins and then defeated death by His bodily resurrection.

Matthew 1:1

1:1 the son. The use of “son” in this opening verse of the New Testament reminds us that God had promised a very special son to both David and Abraham (II Samuel 7:12-16: Genesis 22:18). Note also the promise of Isaiah 9:6.

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