Matthew 1:9

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Matthew 1:9 is the ninth verse of the first chapter of the Gospel of Matthew in the Bible. The verse is part of the non-synoptic section where the genealogy of Joseph, the legal father of Jesus, is listed, or on non Pauline interpretations the genealogy of Jesus. The purpose of the genealogy is to show descent from the line of kings, in particular David, as the Messiah was predicted to be the son of David (2 Samuel 7:12; Psalms 89:3, 132:11, among others) , and descendent of Abraham (Genesis 12:3; 22:18) .

In the King James Version of the Bible the text reads:

And Ozias begat Joatham;

and Joatham begat Achaz;

and Achaz begat Ezekias;

The World English Bible translates the passage as:

Uzziah became the father of Jotham.

Jotham became the father of Ahaz.

Ahaz became the father of Hezekiah.

This part (the second section - David to the Babylon Removal - as summarized in Matthew 1:17) of the list of Jesus' ancestry coincides with the list of the Kings of Judah that is present in a number of other parts of the Bible,. Unlike other parts of Matthew's genealogy this list is fully in keeping with the other sources (but see #Missing kings below). Ozias, King of Judah (809 BC - 759 BC) (Amos 1:1) . According to W.F. Albright, Jotham ruled from 742 BC until 735 BC and his son Ahaz ruled from his death until 715 BC. Ahaz's son Hezekiah ruled from 715 BC to 687 BC. Hezekiah was the king whose actions prompted the Babylonians to take the Jews into captivity, as prophesied in Isaiah 38 and mentioned in the genealogy at Verse 11. Hezekiah had fifteen years added to his lifespan by God, due to his piety.

These kings are also listed in 2 Kings 14-16, together with narrative about their reigns.

The kings in Matthew 1:9

The people mentioned in this section of the genealogy are all Kings of Judah.

Family tree

                   The Line of the Kings: Matthew 1:9

       Line of the kings  Matthew 1:8              Zadok
                      |                              |
              Ozias (Matthew 1:8)   =     Jerushah  (2 Kings 15:33)
                      |
       ---------The missing kings--------
       |              |                 |
       |            Joash               |
       |              |                 |
       |           Amaziah              | (1 Chronicles 3:11-12)
       |              |                 |
       |           Azariah              |
       |              |                 |
       ----------------------------------
                      |
                   Jotham                        Zachariah
                      |                              |
            Achaz, (2 Kings 15:38)   =       Abi  (2 Kings 18:2)
                      |
          Hezekiah, (2 Kings 16:20)                    
                      |
       Line of the kings (Matthew 1:10

Missing kings

1 Chronicles 3:11-12 lists three generations between Osiah and Jotham (Joash, Amaziah, and Azariah). As John Gill and others have commented the Greek word "εγεννησε" cannot be translated as strictly as "was the father of". There are two apparent reasons for omitting these (and Jehoiakim in Matthew 1:11), besides transcription errors, which may be thought unlikely at such an early part of the New Testament (although the evangelist may have obtained the genealogy from an intermediate source), firstly the symmetry, for poetic or mystical reasons, of the three sets of fourteen generations, and secondly the reputation or length of reign of the various kings. These missing kings were by no means the worst (see for example Manasseh of Judah, nor yet the shortest reigning of the line of kings.

Text

See above for two English versions, the King James and World English Bible. See the external links for many more modern translations.

Vulgate (Latin) text

The Latin Vulgate of St. Jerome gives:

Ozias autem genuit Ioatham Ioatham autem genuit Achaz Achaz autem genuit Ezechiam.

Greek text

The Koine Greek Byzantine text or majority text, and the textus receptus both read:

οζιας δε εγεννησε τον ιωαθαμ ιωαθαμ δε εγεννησε τον αχαζ αχαζ δε εγεννησε τον εζεκιαν

Tischendorf gives rather Οζειας for the first king.

Westcott-Hort offers the main reading and also a variant αχας for the third king.

Nestle-Aland has εγεννησεν instead of εγεννησε.

Peshitta text

The Peshitta text is substantially different, translated it is: Awazea fathered Yoram Yoram fathered Yahoshapat fathered Khizaqea.

References

Albright, W.F. and C.S. Mann. "Matthew." The Anchor Bible Series. New York: Doubleday & Company, 1971.
Information on the fresco

External links

Parallel texts accessed 13 March 2006.
Parallel text and translations. accessed 13 March 2006.
Peshitta text accessed 13 March 2006.
Skeptics Bible accessed 13 March 2006.

Gospel of Matthew
Preceded by: Matthew 1:8	Chapter 1	Followed by: Matthew 1:10