“Abraham begot Isaac, Isaac begot Jacob, and Jacob begot Judah and his brothers. Judah begot Perez and Zerah by Tamar, Perez begot Hezron, and Hezron begot Ram. Ram begot Amminadab, Amminadab begot Nahshon, and Nahshon begot Salmon. Salmon begot Boaz by Rahab, Boaz begot Obed by Ruth, Obed begot Jesse, and Jesse begot David the king. David the king begot Solomon by her who had been the wife of Uriah.”
1:2
Abraham begot Isaac, Isaac begot Jacob, and Jacob begot Judah and his brothers.
Verses two through six show the lineage from Abraham to David.
Matthew names only the fourth son of Jacob because the Messiah came from Judah (Ge 49:10). The ruling tribe should have been Reuben, but he stepped out of line so God gave the line to Judah (1 Chron 5). Reuben lost the privileges of the firstborn.
1:3
Judah begot Perez and Zerah by Tamar, Perez begot Hezron, and Hezron begot Ram.
Verses three and four start the line of Judah.
The inclusion of five women—Tamar, Rahab (v. 5; Jos 2:1), Ruth (v.5; Ruth 2:11-12), Solomon’s mother Bathsheba (v.6; 2 Sa 11-12), and Mary—is unusual but not without precedent in genealogies. All of these women had questionable backgrounds. Normally women did not appear in genealogies of the Old Testament. Four of these women were Gentiles, which was also unusual (two Canaanites, one Moabite, one Hittite–Bathsheba). All this shows the grace of God. Two were harlots (Tamar and Rahab).
We find Tamar’s story in Genesis 38. Tamar is in the Bible because she sinned. Tamar, the Gentile, married the oldest son of Judah, who was named Er. He died suddenly because of sin. Judah asked his next son, Onan, to marry her. God killed him because he committed coitus interruptus. When Judah tried to save his last son, Shelah, by delaying giving Tamar to him, she took matters into her own hands by disguising herself as a prostitute and having sexual relations with Judah. When Judah discovered her pregnancy, he declared her more righteous than himself since he withheld Shelah from her. Out of that union the twins Perez and Zerah were born. Through this she became an ancestress of David.
1:4
Ram begot Amminadab, Amminadab begot Nahshon, and Nahshon begot Salmon.
Salmon was one of two men sent out on patrol to reconnoiter the fortifications of Jericho. These men got into a jam and ran for protection into a second-class hotel. A prostitute by the name of Rahab not only gave them a room but she hid them—in a room for manufacturing rope. Out of this contact, Salmon ultimately married Rahab the whore. She then took her place officially in the line of the Messiah. Rahab had no illusions about herself, but God bestowed His grace on her.
1:5
Salmon begot Boaz by Rahab,
This is not an exhaustive genealogy but an over-all trend in genealogy.
Rahab was a prostitute who became a follower of the Lord (He 11:31). She found herself in the genealogy of Jesus because she became a believer.
Boaz begot Obed by Ruth, Obed begot Jesse,
Ruth was a Gentile Moabite. The Moabites were under a special curse of the Mosaic Law (Deut 23:3-8). God turned Ruth’s cursing into blessing.
Jesse was David’s father. Jesse had eight sons and David was the eighth. The eldest son had great ability but not a whole lot of courage. David, the shepherd, became the king of Israel. This is also grace.
1:6
and Jesse begot David the king.
This verse begins the Davidic dynasty. The addition of the words “the king” strengthens the link between David and Jesus the Messiah.
David the king begot Solomon by her who had been the wife of Uriah.
The “wife of Uriah” was Bathsheba. Bathsheba committed adultery with David, violating her marriage covenant with Uriah. It is the grace of God that He included Bathsheba in Jesus’ lineage.
PRINCIPLE:
God’s faithful providence guarantees the Messiahship of Jesus.
APPLICATION:
Who and what we are does not depend on us but on who and what God is and does for us. This is strictly the grace of God in action.
can you tell me where in the bible that salmon married rahab i reall would appreciate it thanks charlie
Charlie, make sure that you do not confuse Salmon, the husband of Ruth and father of Boaz(Ruth 4:20, 21), with Solomon. He married Rahab of Joshua according to this verse. It is possible that the Jews of Jesus day got this from tradition passed down from the fathers.
can you tell me where rahab and solomon was married charlie
in matthew chapter 1 verse 5 is that the same woman rachab as rahab if so is there any other referance to to her and salmon thank you so much for replying charlie
Charlie, there is no reference as to where they were married. Rahab was from Jericho but Jericho was destroyed completely.
Yes Rahab of Joshua is the same as Rahab of Matthew 1. Some believe that she is a different woman but that is hard to establish. There is more evidence for her being the same person as Rahab the harlot. Boaz may have been one of the spies.
is this bible the old must die and the young shall if it is where is it found thank you charlie
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well organized commentary
grace
This is by far the best and straightforward commentary available. Dr Grant breaks each verse and makes it extremely simple to grasp. I also love that he includes cross references, which help to further substantiate the fulfillment of the Old Testament. Thank you Dr Grant for your diligence. The scriptures have now become alive and applicable to this growing Christian and many others. May God richly bless!
Hi there, sir. Hope your doing well today. I have a question that pertains to the name “Ram” in (v.3). The question is of whether his name is either Ram or Aram and whether Hezron had 3 sons or 4.
The ESV uses “Ram” in (Mt.1:3/ 1 Chr.2:9)
The KJV uses “Aram” in (Mt.1:3) but uses “Ram” in (1 Chr.2:9).
I have heard three different sources explain three different ways:
Source 1 says:
* In the Masoretic Text of (1 Chr.2:9), it says Hezron had 3 sons, “The sons of Hezron that were born to him: Jerahmeel, Ram, and Chelubai.”
But in the Septuagint of (1Chr.2:9), it’s says Hezron had 4 sons, “The sons of Hezron that were born to him: Jerahmeel, Ram, Chelubai, and Aram.”
Matthew is using the LXX which came before the Masoretic Text and is most likely correct.
Source 2 says:
* “Ram” and “Aram” in the Septuagint are the same person, named twice by different names, but not sure why the Chronicler would do that.”
Source 3 says:
* It’s a spelling variation
Would you happen to know if any of this is true?
Thank you
Have you heard any of this before?
Donnie, I have not studied this in detail, but my guess is that “Ram” is a variation of “Aram.” Ἀράμ m: a person in the genealogy of Jesus—‘Aram’ (Mt 1:3, 4; Lk 3:33, apparatus).
Louw, J. P., & Nida, E. A. (1996). In Greek-English lexicon of the New Testament: based on semantic domains (electronic ed. of the 2nd edition., Vol. 1, pp. 818–819). United Bible Societies.