ΚΑΤᾺ ΜΑΘΘΑΙ͂ΟΝ is adopted in preference to κατὰ Ματθαῖον by the best recent editors on the authority of אBD. The evidence, however, is not conclusive, for in the text even these MSS. admit the other forms in some instances. See Scrivener’s. p. 488.... [ Continue Reading ]
ΒΊΒΛΟΣ ΓΕΝΈΣΕΩΣ, ‘Book of generation,’ i.e. the pedigree extracted from the public archives which were carefully preserved and placed under the special care of the Sanhedrin. The expression recalls, perhaps designedly, Genesis 5:1 αὕτη ἡ βίβλος γενέσεως�(The book of the Generations of Adam). (1) Th... [ Continue Reading ]
ἘΓΈΝΝΗΣΕΝ. In accordance with all the uncial MSS. the final ν (called ἐφελκυστικόν or ‘attached’) is added in the best critical editions before vowels and consonants alike. To this rule Tischendorf admits a few exceptions, as δυσί (ch. Matthew 6:24), βαστάσασι (ch. Matthew 20:12). It is probable tha... [ Continue Reading ]
ΘΆΜΑΡ. St Matthew also differs from St Luke in naming women in the genealogy. Of the four mentioned two—Rahab and Ruth—are foreigners, and three—Thamar, Rahab and Bathsheba—were stained with sin. The purpose of the Evangelist in recording their names may be to show that He who came to save ‘that whi... [ Continue Reading ]
ΣΑΛΜῺΝ … ἸΕΣΣΑΊ. According to the received chronology the space of time between Salmon and Jesse was not less than 400 years. In that space there are only four generations recorded in the text. Either then the received chronology is wrong or the genealogy not complete. In all probability the former... [ Continue Reading ]
ΔΑΥΕῚΔ ΤῸΝ ΒΑΣΙΛΈΑ. A special hint of Christ the king, of whom David was the type. ἘΚ ΤΗ͂Σ ΤΟΥ͂ ΟΥ̓ΡΊΟΥ. For the omission of γυναικὸς cp. ‘Hectoris Andromache,’ _Æn._ III. 319: such ellipse is natural where there would be no difficulty in supplying the missing word. It is at this point that St Luk... [ Continue Reading ]
ἸΩΡᾺΜ ΔῈ ἘΓΈΝΝΗΣΕΝ ΤῸΙ ὈΖΕΊΑΝ (Uzziah). The names of Ahaziah, Joash and Amaziah are here omitted; see note, Matthew 1:17.... [ Continue Reading ]
ἸΩΣΕΊΑΣ ΔῈ ἘΓΈΝΝΗΣΕΝ ΤῸΝ ἸΕΧΟΝΊΑΝ (Jehoiakim); but in the next _v._ Jechonias = Jehoiachin. A step is thus wanting in the genealogy, which is supplied by a very early though probably not genuine reading: Ἰωσείας δὲ ἐγέννησεν τὸν Ἰωακείμ· Ἰωακεὶμ δὲ ἐγέννησεν τὸν Ἰεχονίαν (Jehoiachin). The insertion... [ Continue Reading ]
ἸΕΧΟΝΊΑΣ ἘΓΈΝΝΗΣΕΝ ΤῸΝ ΣΑΛΑΘΙΉΛ. Jehoiachin had no children of his own, ‘write ye this man childless’ (Jeremiah 22:30). Salathiel was the son of Neri (Luke), but heir to Jehoiachin.... [ Continue Reading ]
ΖΟΡΟΒΆΒΕΛ ΔῈ ἘΓΈΝΝΗΣΕΝ ΤῸΝ ἈΒΙΟΎΔ. Here a step is omitted, Abiud—the Hodaiah of 1 Chronicles 3:24—being the grandson of Zerubbabel. Rhesa, who is named as Zerubbabel’s son (Luke 3:27), is conjectured to be a title (Rhesa or Rosh = a Prince): in that case the text in Luke should run, ‘which was the s... [ Continue Reading ]
ἸΑΚῺΒ ΔῈ ἘΓΈΝΝΗΣΕΝ ΤῸΝ ἸΩΣΉΦ. ‘Joseph which was the son of Heli’ (Luke), see last note; probably Joseph was the son of Heli and the heir to Jacob. It is conjectured with much probability that Jacob was Mary’s father. In that case, although both genealogies show Joseph’s descent, they are in fact equ... [ Continue Reading ]
This division into three sets, each containing fourteen steps of descent, is an instance of a practice familiar to readers of Jewish antiquities. Lightfoot says, ‘They do so very much delight in such kind of concents, that they oftentimes screw up the strings beyond the due measure and stretch them... [ Continue Reading ]
(α) ἸΗΣΟΥ͂, now read by Tisch. (ed. 8), though absent from editions 5 and 7, is supported by all the _Greek_ codices, but rejected by some critics, chiefly on the evidence of Irenæus, who (as appears from the Latin version of his works) read τοῦ Χριστοῦ and sustained it on special grounds; but also... [ Continue Reading ]
THE BIRTH OF JESUS CHRIST Luke 1:26-56; Luke 2:4-7 St Mark and St John give no account of the birth of Jesus, St Luke narrates several particulars not recorded by St Matthew, (1) the annunciation, (2) Mary’s salutation of Elizabeth in a city of Juda (or Juttah), and (3) the journey from Galilee to... [ Continue Reading ]
ΔΊΚΑΙΟΣ ὬΝ, ‘since he was a just man,’ i.e. one who observed the law, and, therefore, feeling bound to divorce Mary. But two courses were open to him. He could either summon her before the law-courts to be judicially condemned and punished, or he could put her away by a bill of divorcement before wi... [ Continue Reading ]
ἸΔΟΎ. Used like the Hebr. _hinneh_ as a particle of transition. See note ch. Matthew 2:7. ΚΑΤʼ ὌΝΑΡ for classical ὄναρ. ΠΑΡΑΛΑΒΕΙ͂Ν, the technical word for receiving a bride from her parents: καὶ τί ἄν, ἔφη ὁ Σωκράτης, ἐπισταμένην αὐτὴν παρέλαβες (Xen. _Œcon._).... [ Continue Reading ]
ΚΑΛΈΣΕΙΣ ΤῸ ὌΝΟΜΑ ΑΥ̓ΤΟΥ͂ ἸΗΣΟΥ͂Ν. _Jesus_ represents the Greek form, while _Joshua_ represents the Hebrew form of the same name. The same Hebrew root occurs in the salutation _Hosanna_: see note, ch. Matthew 21:9. Joshua who led the Israelites into the Promised Land, and Joshua or Jeshua, who was h... [ Continue Reading ]
ΚΥΡΊΟΥ not τοῦ κυρίου. Κύριος, in the sense of Jehovah—the triune God—is almost invariably without the article. 22. ὍΛΟΝ. For the Hellenistic use of ὄλος in preference to πᾶς cp. French ‘_tout_’ from _totus_, adopted rather than any word derived from _omnis_. Possibly the similarity to Hebr. _col_... [ Continue Reading ]
Ἡ ΠΑΡΘΈΝΟΣ ἘΝ ΓΑΣΤΡῚ ἝΞΕΙ. Not _a_ Virgin as A.V. but _the_ Virgin: so also the Hebrew, which differs from this quotation only in having the singular ‘she shall call.’ The citation agrees with the LXX. where however the reading varies between ἕξει and λήψεται and between καλέσεις and καλέσουσιν. See... [ Continue Reading ]
ΥἹῸΝ (א B) for τὸν υἱὸν αὐτῆς τὸν πρωτότοκον. The reading of the receptus is probably due to Luke 2:7, where πρωτότοκον is unchallenged. The insertion may have been made for controversial reasons, as slightly favouring the view that ‘the brethren of the Lord’ were his full brethren. But this is unli... [ Continue Reading ]