Testimonia — Early Christian Bible Commentary

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Matthew 1

1The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.

2Abraham became the father of Isaac. Isaac became the father of Jacob. Jacob became the father of Judah and his brothers.

3Judah became the father of Perez and Zerah by Tamar. Perez became the father of Hezron. Hezron became the father of Ram.

4Ram became the father of Amminadab. Amminadab became the father of Nahshon. Nahshon became the father of Salmon.

5Salmon became the father of Boaz by Rahab. Boaz became the father of Obed by Ruth. Obed became the father of Jesse.

6Jesse became the father of King David. David the king became the father of Solomon by her who had been Uriah’s wife.

7Solomon became the father of Rehoboam. Rehoboam became the father of Abijah. Abijah became the father of Asa.

8Asa became the father of Jehoshaphat. Jehoshaphat became the father of Joram. Joram became the father of Uzziah.

9Uzziah became the father of Jotham. Jotham became the father of Ahaz. Ahaz became the father of Hezekiah.

10Hezekiah became the father of Manasseh. Manasseh became the father of Amon. Amon became the father of Josiah.

11Josiah became the father of Jechoniah and his brothers at the time of the exile to Babylon.

12After the exile to Babylon, Jechoniah became the father of Shealtiel. Shealtiel became the father of Zerubbabel.

13Zerubbabel became the father of Abiud. Abiud became the father of Eliakim. Eliakim became the father of Azor.

14Azor became the father of Zadok. Zadok became the father of Achim. Achim became the father of Eliud.

15Eliud became the father of Eleazar. Eleazar became the father of Matthan. Matthan became the father of Jacob.

16Jacob became the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary, from whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ.

17So all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations; from David to the exile to Babylon fourteen generations; and from the carrying away to Babylon to the Christ, fourteen generations.

18Now the birth of Jesus Christ was like this: After his mother, Mary, was engaged to Joseph, before they came together, she was found pregnant by the Holy Spirit.

19Joseph, her husband, being a righteous man, and not willing to make her a public example, intended to put her away secretly.

20But when he thought about these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, don’t be afraid to take to yourself Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit.

21She shall give birth to a son. You shall name him Jesus, for it is he who shall save his people from their sins.”

22Now all this has happened that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying,

23“Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and shall give birth to a son. They shall call his name Immanuel,” which is, being interpreted, “God with us.”

24Joseph arose from his sleep, and did as the angel of the Lord commanded him, and took his wife to himself;

25and didn’t know her sexually until she had given birth to her firstborn son. He named him Jesus.

Early Christian commentary

c. 153–157 AD (date debated) | Justin Martyr

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 to pass, there might be no unbelief, but faith, because of their prediction. But lest some, not understanding the prophecy now cited, should charge us with the very things we have been laying to the charge of the poets who say that Jupiter went in to women through lust, let us try to explain the words. This, then, "Behold, a virgin shall conceive," signifies that a virgin should conceive without intercourse. For if she had had intercourse with any one whatever, she was no longer a virgin; but the power of God having come upon the virgin, overshadowed her, and caused her while yet a virgin to conceive. And the angel of God who was sent to the same virgin at that time brought her good news, saying, "Behold, thou shalt conceive of the Holy Ghost, and shalt bear a Son, and He shall be called the Son of the Highest, and thou shalt call His name Jesus; for He shall save His people from their sins,"—as they who have recorded all that concerns our Saviour Jesus Christ have taught, whom we believed, since by Isaiah also, whom we have now adduced, the Spirit of prophecy declared that He should be born as we intimated before. It is wrong, therefore, to understand the Spirit and the power of God as anything else than the Word, who is also the first-born of God, as the foresaid prophet Moses declared; and it was this which, when it came upon the virgin and overshadowed her, caused her to conceive, not by intercourse, but by power. And the name Jesus in the Hebrew language means Σωτὴρ (Saviour) in the Greek tongue. Wherefore, too, the angel said to the virgin, "Thou shalt call His name Jesus, for He shall save His people from their sins." And that the prophets are inspired by no other than the Divine Word, even you, as I fancy, will grant.

Commentary · The First Apology, Chapter 33 · Original source · Justin Martyr; translated by Marcus Dods; T. & T. Clark, Edinburgh, 1870. Historical transcription supplied by Wikisource contributors. · Licence · Source revision · Whitespace normalized; source pagination and footnote reference markers removed. English wording unchanged.