THE BOOK OF MATTHEW - CHAPTER # 1

THE BOOK OF MATTHEW 
CHAPTER - # 1 !!!!!
THE GENEALOGY OF JESUS CHRIST
1:1 _The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.
1:1 _THE BOOK OF THE GENEALOGY. _The Gospel's opening words carried special significance for a Jewish audience, whose ancestry was inseparably intertwined with the covenants God made with Israel. Jesus (Greek lesous) was the historical, everyday name, and is Yeshua'l Yehoshua' (JOSHUA) in Hebrew, meaning "Yahweh saves" (NEHEMIAH 7:7; MATTHEW 1:21).  CHRIST (Greek Chistos, from Hb. mashiakh, "anointed") points back to David as the anointed king of Israel. The designation "Messiah" came to summarize serveral strands of OT expectation, especially the promise of an "anointed one" who would righteously rule God's people 
(2 SAMUEL 7:11__16). SON OF DAVID _evoked images of a Messiah with a royal lineage who would reestablish the throne in Jerusalem and the kingdom of Israel. SON OF ABRAHAM __God's covenant with Abraham established Israel as a chosen people and also affirmed that the whole world would be blessed through his line (GENESIS 12:1__3; 22:18).
MATTHEW 1:2__6 __The four generations between PEREZ and AMMINADAD encompass approximately 450 years. The six generations from NAHSHON to the rise of the monarchy with DAVID total about 400 more
1:3 _TAMAR. _The inclusion of five woman in genalogy__Tamar, Rahab (verse 5), Ruth (vesrse 5), Bathsheba ("the wife of Uriah," verse 6), and Mary (verse 16)__is unusual, since descent was usually traced through men as the head of the family. Rahab and Ruth were Gentiles, and Tamar, Rahab, and Bathsheba were women of questionable character. The lineage is comprised of men, woman, adulterers, prostitutes, heros, and Gentiles__and Jesus will be Savior of all.
1:6__:11  _Matthew may have drawn from 1 CHRONICLES 3:10__14, since both genealogies omit serveral kings found in the narrative of Kings and Chronicles. Omitting names in a genealogy was common to make for ease of memorization. One is struck in this section by the alternately godly and wicked kings who ruled Israel.
1:12__13 _ZERUBBABEL led the first group given permission to return to Israel from the exile.
1:12 _The evil JECHONIAH (2 Kings 24:8__8) was so great that his line was cursed (JEREMAIH 22:30). While a natural , biological son could not therefore inherit throne, the legal claim could still come through Jechoniah's line.
1:16__17 _JESUS is the rightful legal heir to the covenant promises associated with the Davidic throne (VERSE 6) as well as the rightful legal heir to the covenant promises related to the Abrahamic seed and land (VERSES 1__2).
1:17 _FOURTEEN GENERATIONS. Matthew does not mean ALL the generations that had lived during those times but "all" that he included in his list (for he evidently skipped some, such as three generations between Joram and Uzziah (Azariah] in verse 8; 1 CHRONICALES 3:10__12); note on Matthew 1:6__11. Perhaps for ease of memorization, or pehaps for literary of symbolic symmetry, Matthew structures the genealogy to count 14 generations from each major section. (According to the Jewish practice of gematria, the giving of a numeric value to the consonants in a word, David's name would add to D + V or 4 + 6 + 4 = 14, and David is the 14th name of the list.)
1:18__25 _THE ANGELIC ANNOUNCEMENT OF THE CONCEPTION OF JESUS THE MESSIAH. !!!! A new era in Israel's history begins with the story of Jesus conception in the little town of Nazareth. The angel announces his conception (VERSES 18__21), explainning that he is the prophesised immanuel (VERSES 22__23). Joseph immediately obeys the angel's directive (VERSES 24__25).
1:18 _MARY HAD BEEN BETROTHED TO JOSEPH. The custom of betrothal was different from "engagement" in modren society. Customarily the parents of a young man chose a young woman to be engaged to their son. A second stage of betrothal involved offical arrangements and a penuptial agreement before witnesses, which was a legally binding contract and could be broken only by a formal process of divorce. FOUND TO BE WITH CHILD. Mary is about four months pregnant, having spent three months with Elizabeth, her "relative" (LUKE 1:36, 56).
1:19 _Betrothed partners were referred to as HUSBAND and "wife" (VERSE 20), though they were not yet considered to be married, and having sexual relations during that period was considered immoral PUT HER TO SHAME. Sexual unfaithfulness during betrothal was considered adultery, and under the Mosaic law carried the death penalty by stoning. DIVORCE HER QUIETLY. Joseph intended to maintain his personal righteousness, yet he desired to show compassion even though Mary appeared to be adulteress.
1:20 _BEHOLD represents Greek idou, used frequently by Matthew to signal emphasis, prompt the reader to pay special attention, or introduce something new or unusual. The ANGEL OF THE LORD is Gabriel (LUKE 1:26)
1:21 _The name JESUS was given to sons as a symbolic hope for the Lord's anticipated sending of salvation through a Messiah who would purify his people and save them from oppression (See verses1). But the angel points to a more important theme: to SAVE HIS PEOPLE FROM THEIR SINS. Salvation from sins was a repeated promise in O T prophets (ISAIAH 40:2; 53:6; JEREMAIH 31:31__34; EZEKIAH 36:25__27; DANIEL 9:24; ZEACHARIAH 13:1).
                  (Read MATTHEW 1:21 - ESV)
1:22 _ALL THIS TOOK PLACE TO FULFILL. This is Matthew's "Fulfillment formula," by which he points to an event or teaching of Jesus that fulfills an OT passage, indicating: (1) _a direct predication-fulfillment (VERSES 22__23); (2) _the intended full meaning of the OT Scripture (5:17__20); or (3) _a divinely orchestrated analogical/typological correspondence to Israel's history (2:15, 17__18).
1:23 _THE VIRGIN. The Greek word parthenos ("virgin") corrsponds to the Hebrew term 'almah, which is used in the prophecy of Isaiah 7:14 regarding the virgin birth of the coming Savior (Read ISAIAH 7:14). The Hebrew word 'almah ("Virgin and maiden") generally denotes an unmarried woman who is a Virgin (GENESIS 24:43; EXODUS 2:8; PSALM 68:25). The prophecy in Isaiah 7:14 (occasioned by threat of attack on Judah in the time of Isaiah; Read Isaiah 7:10__17), points to God's enduring promise for the line of David. Matthew thus presents the virgin birth of Jesus as God's miraculous fulfillment of this promise in the person of Jesus the Messiah. This brings futher affimation of the promise that GOD (IMMANUEL) will be WITH his disciples, in every age, to empower them in their commission to "make disciples of all nations" __as Jesus reaffirms in the closing words of Matthew's Gospel: "behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age" (MATTHEW 28:20).
1:24 _HE TOOK HIS WIFE. Mary, being betrothed to Joseph, was already considered to be his wife (See Verses 18, 19).
1:25 _The name "JESUS" specifies what he does ("God saves"), while the messianic title "Immanuel" (verse 23) specifies who he is (God with us"). Matthew concludes his Gospel with same theme: "I am with you always" (28:20).