Bible Strands
Matthew 1:2
Abraham was the father of Isaac, Isaac the father of Jacob, and Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The author addresses a Greek-speaking audience by recording a formal genealogical list, placing Jesus within the established ancestral line of Israel. This verse appears immediately after the introduction to Jesus Christ as the son of David and the son of Abraham.
The words — The text uses ἐγέννησεν (egennēsen), rendered literally as "begat" or "fathered," to establish direct paternal succession from Abraham to Isaac, then to Jacob, and finally to Judah and his brothers.
The thread — This ancestral chain continues in Matthew 1:3 with Judah fathering Perez and Zerah, and aligns with the patriarchal records cited in Genesis 21:2 and Acts 7:8.
Why it lands — The passage requires the reader to accept Jesus’ legitimate placement within the documented covenant lineage of Israel without adding commentary or spiritualizing the biological succession.
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.
The Greek words
King James Version
Abraham begat Isaac; and Isaac begat Jacob; and Jacob begat Judas and his brethren;
Cross-references
- Acts 7:8 Then God gave Abraham the covenant of circumcision, and Abraham became the father of Isaac and circumcised him on the eighth day. And Isaac became the father of Jacob, and Jacob of the twelve patriarchs.
- Genesis 21:2 So Sarah conceived and bore a son to Abraham in his old age, at the very time God had promised.
- Hebrews 11:17 By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac on the altar. He who had received the promises was ready to offer his one and only son,
- Genesis 25:26 After this, his brother came out grasping Esau’s heel; so he was named Jacob. And Isaac was sixty years old when the twins were born.
- Genesis 46:8 Now these are the names of the sons of Israel (Jacob and his descendants) who went to Egypt: Reuben, Jacob’s firstborn.
- Genesis 29:32 And Leah conceived and gave birth to a son, and she named him Reuben, for she said, “The LORD has seen my affliction. Surely my husband will love me now.”
- Genesis 49:8 Judah, your brothers shall praise you. Your hand shall be on the necks of your enemies; your father’s sons shall bow down to you.
- Joshua 24:2 And Joshua said to all the people, “This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘Long ago your fathers, including Terah the father of Abraham and Nahor, lived beyond the Euphrates and worshiped other gods.
- 1 Chronicles 1:28 The sons of Abraham were Isaac and Ishmael.
- 1 Chronicles 1:34 Abraham was the father of Isaac. The sons of Isaac: Esau and Israel.