The Strand Study Bible

MATTHEW MATTHEW was not the “legal” father, but the “regal” stepfather of the virgin-born SON OF GOD (Mt 1:16). The only reason Matthew includes the genealogy in his record is to show that Jesus was not the son of Joseph, and therefore there was no “legal” bar to His claim to being the Messiah. NOTE – According to Jeremiah 22 :29- 30 , no descendant of Coniah (Jehoiachin/Jechoniah) could occupy the Davidic throne and fulfill the Davidic covenant; and Joseph was a direct descendant of Jechoniah ( Mt 1:11 ). Mary’s lineage, on the other hand, traces the maternal genealogy of Jesus (from Adam through David’s son, Nathan - Lk 3:31). Mary was the “legal” parent (Luke 3:23-38), which means Jesus was virgin born. 1:16b The relative pronoun ( of whom ) comes from two Greek words: εξ ης (ex es), which is feminine in gender. John F. Walvoord and Roy B. Zuck in The Bible Knowledge Commentary notes: The word “of whom” is a feminine relative pronoun (ex hes), clearly indicating that Jesus was the physical Child of Mary but that Joseph was not His physical father . 1 1:17 Whereas Abraham is the starting point for Matthew’s genealogy concerning Joseph (vs 2), David is the focal point (vs 17) since David’s other son (Nathan) led to the lineage of Mary (Lk 3:23-38). Seeing that David’s name in Hebrew numerology adds up to fourteen , Matthew selected only fourteen names for each of the three periods: Abraham to David (vs 2-6), Solomon to Jechoniah (vs 7-11), Jechoniah’s son (Salathiel) to Jesus (vs 12-16). 1:20 God can certainly uses “dreams” ( in a dream – Mt 1:24 & 2:12-13,19,22) when wanting to speak to people (Gen 20:3-6 & 28:12 & 31:10-11,24 & 37:5-10 & 40:5-16 & 41:1-32, I Ki 3:5-15 and Dan 2,4 & 7:1). However, not every dream comes from God. As believers, we are to know the difference between a dream from God, a dream from the enemy of God (yes, Satan CAN put thoughts in your head – II Sam 24:1 /I Chro 21:1 and Mt 16:16:21-23), and regular normal dreams. If a dream contradicts the Word of God, then it’s a dream from Satan or your own dream (Deut 13:1-5). Thus, in order to know whether a dream is from God or not one must know the Word of God well. 1:21 JESUS ’ name means “ Jehovah is salvation ” ( Gen 49:18 , Isa 45:21-22 and Lk 2:11 ,29-32). Jesus’ name comes from the OT Hebrew name “Joshua,” which also means “ Jehovah is salvation ” ( Exo 17:9 ). Even though there are two people in the Bible with the same name, only one of them was sent to save the human race from their sins ( Acts 4:12 ). 1:23 Isaiah 7:14 begins, “ Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign .” A young maiden becoming pregnant is not a sign from God. That happens all the time. However, a woman having never known a man ( a virgin ) becoming pregnant would be a sign. 1:25 CHRIST was Mary’s firstborn son, not her only son. According to Mark 6:3, after the virgin birth of Jesus, Mary and Joseph had at least six other children together (Lk 2:7 and Exo 12:5). 2:2 a According to Genesis 1:14 b , God placed the heavenly orbs (the sun, moon, planets and stars in their constellations) in the heavens above for “signs” (Job 9:9 & 38:31-33, Gen 49:9-10, Num 24:17-19, Psa 19, Amos 5:8, Lk 1:78, Rev 21:23 & 22:16 and Mal 4:2 a ). The Bethlehem star was, no doubt, the planet Jupiter (considered to be a wandering star in ancient times), as it lined up with the planet Venus and the star Reguias in 3 BC to produce the brightest object in the sky at that time. NOTE – A must see is Rick Larson and Stephen McEveety’s video called The Star of Bethlehem . 2 2:2 b This word ( worship ) comes from the Greek word SUοσNXQHZ ( proskuneo ) and denotes, “ one who falls down in the presence of God .” According to Exodus 20:2-5 and John 4:23,24 , only the true God was to receive this kind of “ worship .” If Jesus is not God, then why did men worship him as if he were (Mt 2:11 & 8:2 & 9:18 & 14:33 & 20:20 & 28:9)? Interestingly enough, the first people here to worship Christ as God (and thus the KING OF ISRAEL - Zeph 3:15) were Gentiles (Isa 42:6 & 49:6 & 51:4 & 60:3). 2:3 Herod had a right to be troubled since he himself was not a Jew and was both hated and feared by the people. Having been born in the province of Idumea (Edom), his ancestors were forced to convert to Judaism. The birth of a Jewish king would certainly pose an obvious threat to Herod’s throne. His reign lasted from c. 36 BC – AD 1. 1485

1 John F. Walvoord and Roy B. Zuck. The Bible Knowledge Commentary , USA, Scripture Press Pub., 1983. Print. 2 Rick Larson and Stephen McEveety. The Star of Bethlehem , 2007. (Video)