NIV Biblical Theology Study Bible NIV Biblical Theology Study Bible | Page 106

Matthew 1:25  | 1699 1:12 k  1Ch  3:17 Ezr 3:2 1:16 m  Lk  1:27 n  Mt  27:17 1:18 o  Lk  1:35 1:19 p  Dt  24:1 1:21 q  Lk  1:31 r  Lk  2:11; Ac 5:31; 13:23, ​28 1:23 s  Isa  7:14; 8:8, ​10 1:25 t  ver  21 l  1Ch 3:19; 12 Af­ter the ex­ile to ­Bab­ylon: Jec­o­niah was the fa­ther of ­She­al­tiel,  k She­al­tiel the fa­ther of ­Ze­rub­ba­bel,  l 13 Ze­rub­ba­bel the fa­ther of ­Abihud, Abihud the fa­ther of ­Eli­a­kim, Eli­a­kim the fa­ther of ­Azor, 14 Azor the fa­ther of ­Za­dok, Za­dok the fa­ther of ­Akim, Akim the fa­ther of ­Elihud, 15 Elihud the fa­ther of ­El­e­a­zar, El­e­a­zar the fa­ther of ­Mat­than, Mat­than the fa­ther of ­Ja­cob, 16 and Ja­cob the fa­ther of Jo­seph, the hus­band of Mary,  m and Mary was the mother of ­Jesus who is ­called the ­Mes­siah.  n 17 Thus ­there were four­teen gen­er­a­tions in all from Abra­ham to Da­vid, four­teen from Da­vid to the ex­ile to Bab­ylon, and four­teen from the ex­ile to the ­Mes­siah. Joseph Accepts ­Jesus as His Son 18 This is how the ­birth of ­Jesus the Mes­siah came ­about  a : His mother Mary was ­pledged to be mar­ried to Jo­seph, but be­fore they came to­gether, she was f ­ ound to be preg­nant through the Holy Spirit.  o 19 Be­cause Jo­seph her hus­band was faith­ful to the law, and yet  b did not want to ex­pose her to pub­lic dis­grace, he had in mind to di­vorce  p her ­qui­etly. 20 But af­ter he had con­sid­ered this, an an­gel of the Lord ap­peared to him in a d ­ ream and said, “Jo­seph son of Da­vid, do not be ­afraid to take Mary home as your wife, be­cause what is con­ceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21 She will give b ­ irth to a son, and you are to give him the name ­Jesus,  c   q be­cause he will save his peo­ple from ­their ­sins.”  r 22 All this took p ­ lace to ful­fill what the Lord had said t ­ hrough the prophet: 23  “The vir­gin will con­ceive and give ­birth to a son, and they will call him Im­man­uel”  d   s (which m ­ eans “God with us”). 24 When Jo­seph woke up, he did what the an­gel of the Lord had com­manded him and took Mary home as his wife. 25 But he did not con­sum­mate their mar­riage un­til she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name ­Jesus.  t a  18 Or The origin of ­Jesus the Messiah was like this    b  19 Or was a righteous man and    c  21  ­Jesus is the Greek form of Joshua, which means the Lord saves.    d  23 Isaiah 7:14    1:16 husband of Mary. Matthew does not say that Joseph was the father of ­Jesus but only that he was the husband of Mary and that Jesus was born of her. 1:17  fourteen generations. By counting both inclusively and exclusively, Matthew selects enough members of ­Jesus’ lineage to create three segments of 14 names. Because Hebrew used letters for nu merals, the consonants of ev- ery Hebrew word added up to a certain number. This practice was called gematria. The gematria for the Hebrew consonants for at least one spelling of “David” was 14 (D + V + D = 4 + 6 + 4). Matthew is probably using a Jewish device for highlighting David as ­Jesus’ key ancestor; David also appears as the 14th name in this genealogy. 1:18 — 2:23  Matthew chooses to narrate five episodes from the events surrounding the conception, birth, and infancy of ­Jesus, all of which fulfill OT prophecy. He continues to demonstrate that ­Jesus is the Messiah (Christ) who has come to save his people. 1:18 – 25  Christians have traditionally labeled this account as “the virgin birth,” but the impor- tant point, theologically, is not that Mary was a virgin at the time ­Jesus was born but that she was a virgin at the time ­Jesus was conceived. 1:18  pledged to be married. Engagement, a legally binding commitment in ancient Judaism. Jewish couples often wed when the young man was about 18 and the young woman was in her very early teens. Prior to marriage they would not live together and were expected to refrain from sexual relations until after their wedding ceremony. pregnant through the Holy Spirit. ­Jesus had no human paternity but was supernaturally conceived by the power of God. the Holy Spirit. The common NT way of referring to the divine Spirit, who in the OT was almost always called “the Spirit of God” or “the Spirit of the Lord” (but see Ps 51:11). Christian reflection on the Biblical word about him (see 3:16 – 17; 28:19; 2 Cor 13:14) led to the understanding that he is one of the three persons of the Trinity. 1:19 to divorce her quietly. Jewish tradition re- quired divorce in the case of adultery. (Sexual relations with another partner even during engagement constituted adultery.) Joseph does not initially believe Mary’s story that she is pregnant without another man having been involved. Joseph wanted to fulfill the law but also show compassion to his fiancée. 1:20 – 21  Not surprisingly, it takes a supernatu- ral appearance of an angel to convince Joseph that Mary has not been unfaithful and that they may proceed with their wedding plans. The an- gel addresses Joseph as “son of David” to pre- pare him for the promise that Mary “will give birth to a son” who will fulfill the role of Mes- siah. But instead of the political liberator for which many Jews longed, this child will grow up to die and bring spiritual salvation to Israel. 1:22 to fulfill. Twelve times (here; 2:15,23; 3:15; 4:14; 5:17; 8:17; 12:17; 13:14,35; 21:4; 27:9) Matthew speaks of the OT being fulfilled in the events of ­Jesus’ life. Some of these prophecies are uniquely fulfilled by ­Jesus, while others are typological, where ­Jesus is the ultimate fulfill- ment of an OT type (see note on 2:15). Here the OT text in question is Isa 7:14. The immediate OT context suggests a partial fulfillment in Isaiah’s day: “Before the boy knows enough to reject the wrong and choose the right, the land of the two kings you dread will be laid waste” (Isa 7:16) refers back to Rezin and Pekah (Isa 7:1). 1:23 virgin. The word in Hebrew can also mean any young woman of marriageable age. But the larger context in Isaiah promises a child who “will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace,” and of “his government . . . there will be no end” (Isa 9:6 – 7). This was never true of any previous Jewish king. The Greek word Matthew uses for “virgin” (parthenos) more consistently refers to a woman who has never had sex. The Septuagint (the pre-Christian Greek translation of the OT) had already cho- sen it in translating the Hebrew text. Appar- ently at least some pre-Christian Jewish circles thought that this passage would have a dou- ble fulfillment. Immanuel. Means “God with us,” which also points to more than just an ordinary child in Isaiah’s day (see note on v. 22). 1:24 – 25  Joseph obeys the angel’s instruc- tions. We do not know when Mary and he had their actual wedding ceremony, but they remain chaste until after ­Jesus is born. 1:25 did not consummate their marriage until she gave birth. The most natural interpreta- tion is that after ­Jesus’ birth they have normal marital relations.