Matthew 1:13

Study note

Setting — Matthew addresses a Jewish audience by continuing a recorded genealogical list from the Babylonian exile toward the promised descendant. The narrator shifts focus from Zerubbabel to three subsequent paternal relationships to maintain the documented lineage.

The words — The Greek verb ἐγέννησεν (egennēsen) literally means "begat" or "fathered," serving as the repeated grammatical link between each named individual. This term appears throughout the surrounding genealogical entries to mark direct biological descent.

The thread — The text extends the post-exilical descent chain introduced in Matthew 1:12 and bridges forward to the next generation recorded in Matthew 1:14. It maintains a strict, unadorned succession pattern without adding commentary or alternative names.

Why it lands — The passage requires the reader to accept the unbroken historical continuity of the Davidic line through ordinary familial records. It demands recognition that the promised lineage proceeds through documented generations rather than through narrative embellishment.

Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.