Commentaries:
People's Commentary (NT)
Matthew 1:16
Jacob begat Joseph. The descendant of a long line of kings was a
poor carpenter of Nazareth. As the husband of Mary he was the legal
father of Jesus, and Matthew gives his line of descent. A comparison of
the table given by Luke will show that it differs in part from that of
Matthew. Between David and Joseph the lists are widely different.
Several views, all possible, have been presented, but the most probable
explanation is that Matthew gives the line of Joseph, the legal line,
and that Luke gives the line of Mary, the mother of our Lord. As the
Jews regarded only male descent, unless Joseph, the supposed father,
was a descendant of David they would not have recognized the genealogy
as a fulfillment of the prophecies that Christ should be the Son of
David; while Luke, himself a Gentile and writing for Gentiles, was more
particular to give the line that shows that Jesus is really the Son of
David. If Mary was the daughter of Heli, especially if an heiress,
Joseph, by marriage, would become the "son of Heli". That there is no
contradiction between the two tables is shown by the fact that the Jews
who best understood their genealogies never charged it. These tables
were preserved with great care, for various reasons, until Christ was
born, but it is asserted that Herod destroyed them. If this is
incorrect, they did not survive the destruction of Jerusalem.
Other commentary entries containing this verse:
Matthew 1:16
Luke 3:23-38
Romans 1:3
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