         
- CLARKE'S COMMENTARY -
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Verse 1. The book of the generation
of Jesus Christ
I suppose these words to
have been the original title to this Gospel; and that
they signify, according to the Hebrew Phraseology, not only
the account of the genealogy of Christ, as
detailed below, but the history of his birth, acts,
sufferings, death, resurrection, and ascension.
The phrase, book of the generation, sepher
toledoth, is frequent in the Jewish writings, and is
translated by the Septuagint, ( â € ¢ ),
, as here, by the
evangelist; and regularly conveys the meaning given to it
above; e. g. This is the book of the generations of
Adam, Genesis
5:1. That is, the account of the life of Adam and certain
of his immediate descendants. Again. These are the
generations of Jacob, Genesis
37:2. That is, the account or history of Jacob, his son
Joseph, and the other remarkable branches of the family. And
again. These are the generations of Aaron and
Moses, Numbers
3:1. That is, the history of the life and acts of these
persons, and some of their immediate descendants. The same
form of expression is also used, Genesis
2:4, when giving the history of the creation of heaven and
earth.
Some have translated ( â € ¢ ),
, The book of the
genealogy; and consider it the title of this
chapter only; but the former opinion seems better founded.
Jesus Christ
See on Matthew
1:16,21.
The son of David, the son of
Abraham
No person ever born could boast, in
a direct line, a more illustrious ancestry than Jesus Christ.
Among his progenitors, the regal, sacerdotal, and
prophetic offices, existed in all their glory
and splendour. DAVID, the most renowned of sovereigns,
was king and prophet: ABRAHAM, the most perfect
character in all antiquity, whether sacred or profane, was
priest and prophet: but the three offices
were never united except in the person of Christ; he alone was
prophet, priest, and king; and possessed and
executed these offices in such a supereminent degree as no
human being ever did, or ever could do. As the principal
business of the prophet was to make known the will of
God to men, according to certain partial communications
received from Heaven; so Jesus, who lay in the bosom of the
Father, and who was intimately and thoroughly acquainted with
all the mysteries of the eternal world, came to declare the
Divine nature and its counsels to mankind; see John
1:18. As the business of the priest was to offer
sacrifices to God, to make atonement for the sins of the
people; so Christ was constituted a high priest, to make, by
the sacrifice of himself, an atonement for the sins of the
whole world; see 1 John
2:2, and the whole Epistle to the Hebrews. As the office
of king was to reign over, protect, and
defend the people committed to his care by the Divine
Providence; so Christ is set as a king upon Sion, having the
heathen for his inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the
earth for his possession, Psalms
2:6,8, righteousness, peace, and increase of whose
government, there shall be no end, Isaiah
9:7. This three-fold office, Christ executes not
only in a general sense, in the world at large; but, in a
particular sense, in every Christian soul. He is first a
prophet, to teach the heart of man the will of God; to
convict the conscience of sin, righteousness, and judgment;
and fully to illustrate the way of salvation. He is next a
priest, to apply that atonement to the guilty
conscience, the necessity of which, as a prophet, he
had previously made known. And lastly, as a king, he
leads captivity captive, binds and casts out the strong man
armed, spoils his goods, extends the sway of the sceptre of
righteousness, subdues and destroys sin, and reigns Lord over
all the powers and faculties of the human soul; so that
AS sin reigned unto death, EVEN so does grace reign
through righteousness, unto eternal life, by Jesus
Christ our Lord. Romans
5:21.
It is remarkable, that the evangelist names David
before Abraham, though the latter was many generations
older: the reason seems to be this, that David was not only
the most illustrious of our Lord's predecessors, as being both
king and prophet; but because that promise,
which at first was given to Abraham, and afterwards, through
successive generations, confirmed to the Jewish people, was at
last determined and restricted to the family of David.
Son of David, was an epithet by which the Messiah was
afterwards known among the Jews; and, under this title, they
were led to expect him by prophetic authority. See Psalms
89:3,4; Psalms
132:10,11, compared with ; Acts
13:23, and ; Isaiah
11:1; Jeremiah
23:5. Christ was prophesied of under the very name of
David. See Ezekiel
34:23,24;; 37:24,25.
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Verse 2. Abraham begat
Isaac
In this genealogy, those persons
only, among the ancestors of Christ, which formed the
direct line, as specified: hence no mention is made of
Ishmael, the son of Abraham, nor of Esau, the
son of Isaac; and of all the twelve patriarchs, or sons of
Jacob, Judah alone is mentioned.
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Verse 3. Phares and
Zara
The remarkable history of these twins
may be seen, Gen. 38: Some of the ancients were of opinion,
that the evangelist refers to the mystery of the youngest
being preferred to the eldest, as prefiguring the
exaltation of the Christian Church over the synagogue.
Concerning the women whose names are recorded in this
genealogy, see the note at the end of the chapter.
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Verse 8. Joram begat
Ozias
This is the Uzziah, king of Judah,
who was struck with the leprosy for his presumption in
entering the temple to offer incense before the Lord. See 2 Chronicles
26:16, Ozias was not the immediate son of
Joram: there were three kings between them, Ahaziah,
Joash, and Amaziah, which swell the fourteen
generations to seventeen: but it is observed that
omissions of this kind are not uncommon in the Jewish
genealogies. In Ezra
7:3, Azariah is called the son of Meraioth,
although it is evident, from 1 Chronicles
6:7-9, that there were six descendants between
them. This circumstance the evangelist was probably aware of;
but did not see it proper to attempt to correct what he found
in the public accredited genealogical tables; as he knew it to
be of no consequence to his argument, which was merely to show
that Jesus Christ as surely descended, in an uninterrupted
line from David, as David did from
Abraham. And this he has done in the most satisfactory
manner; nor did any person in those days pretend to detect any
inaccuracy in his statement; though the account was published
among those very people whose interest it was to expose the
fallacy, in vindication of their own obstinate rejection of
the Messiah, if any such fallacy could have been proved. But
as they were silent, modern and comparatively modern
unbelievers may for ever hold their peace. The objections
raised on this head are worthy of no regard; yet the following
statement deserves notice.
St. Matthew took up the genealogies just as he found them
in the public Jewish records, which, though they were in the
main correct, yet were deficient in many particulars. The Jews
themselves give us sufficient proof of this. The
Talmud, title Kiddushim, mentions ten
classes of persons who returned from the Babylonish captivity:
I. COHANEY, priests. II. LEVEY, Levites. III.
YISHRAEL, Israelites. IV. CHULULEY, common
persons, as to the priesthood; such whose fathers
were priests, but their mothers were such as the priests
should not marry. V. GIREY, proselytes. VI. CHARUREY,
freed-men, or servants who had been
liberated by their masters. VII. MAMZIREY,
spurious, such as were born in unlawful
wedlock. VIII. NETHINEY, Nethinim. IX. SHETUKEY,
bastards, persons whose mothers, though well
known, could not ascertain the fathers of their
children, because of their connections with different men. X.
ASUPHEY, such as were gathered up out of the streets,
whose fathers and mothers were utterly unknown. Such was the
heterogeneous mass brought up from Babylon to
Jerusalem; and although we learn from the Jews, that great
care was taken to separate the spurious from the true-born
Israelites, and canons were made for that purpose, yet it so
happened, that sometimes a spurious family had got into high
authority, and therefore must not be meddled with. See several
cases in Lightfoot. On this account, a faithful
genealogist would insert in his roll such only as were
indisputable. "It is therefore easy to guess," says Dr.
Lightfoot, "whence Matthew took the last
fourteen generations of this genealogy, and Luke the
first forty names of his: namely, from the genealogical
rolls, at that time well known, and laid up in the public
repositories, and in the private also. And it was
necessary indeed, in so noble and sublime a subject, and a
thing that would be so much inquired into by the Jewish
people, as the lineage of the Messiah would be, that the
evangelists should deliver a truth, not only that could not be
gainsayed, but also might be proved and established from
certain and undoubted rolls of ancestors." See Horae
Talmudicae.
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Verse 11. Josias begat Jechonias,
There are three considerable
difficulties in this verse. 1. Josias was not the
father of Jechonias; he was only the grandfather of
that prince: 1 Chronicles
3:14-16. 2. Jechonias had no brethren; at least,
none are on record. 3. Josias died 20 years before the
Babylonish captivity took place, and therefore Jechonias
and his brethren could not have been begotten about the
time they were carried away to Babylon. To this way be
added a fourth difficulty, viz. there are only
thirteen in this 2nd class of generations; or
forty-one, instead of forty-two, in the whole.
But all these difficulties disappear, by adopting a reading
found in many MSS. ( â € ¢ ),
. And Josias begat
JEHOIAKIM, or Joakim, and JOAKIM begat
Jechonias. For this reading, see the authorities in
Griesbach. Josiah was the immediate father of
Jehoiakim (called also Eliakeim and
Joakim) and his brethren, who were Johanan,
Zedekiah, and Shallum: see 1 Chronicles
3:15. Joakim was the father of Joachin or
Jechonias, about the time of the first
Babylonish captivity: for we may reckon three
Babylonish captivities. The first happened in the
fourth year of Joakim, son of Josiah, about A. M. 3398. In
this year, Nebuchadnezzar, having taken Jerusalem, led a great
number of captives to Babylon. The second captivity
happened under Jechoniah, son of Joakim; who, having reigned
three months, was taken prisoner in 3405, and was carried to
Babylon, with a great number of the Jewish nobility. The
third captivity took place under Zedekiah, A. M.
3416. And thus, says Calmet, Matthew
1:11should be read: Josias begat Joakim and his
brethren: and Joakim begat Jechonias about the time of
the first Babylonish captivity; and Jechonias
begat Salathiel, after they were brought to Babylon.
Thus, with the necessary addition of Joakim, the three
classes, each containing fourteen generations, are
complete. And to make this the more evident, I shall set down
each of these three generations in a separate column, with the
additional Joakim, that the reader may have them all at
one view.
1 Abraham 1 Solomon 1 Jechonias 2 Isaac 2 Rehoboam 2
Salathiel 3 Jacob 3 Abia 3 Zorobabel 4 Judah 4 Asa 4 Abiud 5
Pharez 5 Josaphat 5 Eliakim 6 Esrom 6 Joram 6 Azor 7 Aram 7
Ozias 7 Sadoc 8 Aminadab 8 Joatham 8 Achim 9 Naason 9 Achaz 9
Eliud 10 Salmon 10 Ezekias 10 Eleazar 11 Booz 11 Manasses 11
Matthan 12 Obed 12 Amon 12 Jacob 13 Jesse 13 Josias 13 Joseph
14 David 14 Joachim 14 JESUS
In all forty-two generations.
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Verse 12. Jechonias begat
Salathiel
After Jechonias was brought to
Babylon, he was put in prison by Nebuchadnezzar, where he
continued till the death of this prince, and the accession of
Evilmerodach, who brought him out of prison, in which
he had been detained thirty-seven years, and restored him to
such favour that his throne (seat) was exalted above all the
kings which were with him in Babylon: Jeremiah
52:31,32. But though he thus became a royal favourite, he
was never restored to his kingdom. And, according to the
prophecy of Jeremiah, Jeremiah
22:30, no man of his seed sat upon the throne of
David; yet the regal line was continued through his son
Salathiel, who died in Babylon: but Zorobabel,
his son, returned from captivity, and by him the race of David
was continued, according to Matthew, by Abiud; and,
according to Luke, by Rhesa. See on Luke
3:23,
The term carrying away to Babylon, ( â € ¢ ),
, from
(....?e?), to change a habitation, or place of
residence, would be more properly translated by the word
transportation, which is here peculiarly appropriate:
the change was not voluntary; they were
forced away.
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Verse 16. Jesus, who is called
Christ.
As the word ( â € ¢ ),
? Christ,
signifies the anointed or anointer, from â € ¢ ?, to
anoint, it answers exactly to the Hebrew
mashiach, which we pronounce Messiah or
Messias; this word comes from the root mashac,
signifying the same thing. As the same person is intended by
both the Hebrew and Greek appellation, it should be regularly
translated The Messiah, or The Christ; whichever is preferred,
the demonstrative article should never be omitted.
Priests, prophets, and kings, among the Jews,
were anointed in order to the legitimate exercise of
their respective offices. Hence the word ???st??
Christ, or Mashiach, became a name of
dignity, and often signified the same as king.
See Isaiah
45:1; ; Psalms
105:15; ; Leviticus
4:3;; 6:20;
; 1 Samuel
2:10. The words Mashiach and melec, ???st??
and ßas??e??, Christ and king, are frequently
interchanged. 1 Samuel
2:10; ; Psalms
2:2,6; ; Luke
23:2; and see the Scholia of Rosenmuller on this
place. The reason of this may be seen in the following note,
which I extract from the comment on Exodus
29:7.
"It appears from Isaiah
61:1, that anointing with oil, in consecrating a
person to any important office, whether civil or
religious, was considered as an emblem of the
communication of the gifts and graces of the Holy
Spirit. This ceremony was used on three occasions,
viz. the installation of prophets, priests, and
kings, into their respective offices. But why should
such an anointing be deemed necessary? Because the common
sense of men taught them that all good, whether spiritual or
secular, must come from God, its origin and cause. Hence it
was taken for granted, 1. That no man could foretell
events, unless inspired by the Spirit of God. And
therefore the prophet was anointed, to signify
the communication of the Spirit of wisdom and knowledge. 2.
That no person could offer an acceptable sacrifice to
God for the sins of men, or profitably minister in holy
things, unless enlightened, influenced, and directed, by the
Spirit of grace and holiness. Hence the priest was
anointed, to signify his being divinely qualified for the due
performance of his sacred functions. 3. That no man could
enact just and equitable laws, which should have the
prosperity of the community and the welfare of the individual
continually in view, or could use the power confided to him
only for the suppression of vice and the encouragement of
virtue, but that man who was ever under the inspiration of the
Almighty. Hence kings were inaugurated by anointing
with oil. Two of these offices only exist in all
civilized nations, the sacerdotal and regal;
and, in some countries, the priest and king are
still consecrated by anointing. In the Hebrew language
mashach signifies to anoint; and
mashiach, the anointed person. But as no man was
ever dignified by holding the three offices, so no
person ever had the title Mashiach, the anointed one,
but Jesus, The CHRIST. He alone is King of kings, and
Lord of lords: the king who governs the universe, and
rules in the hearts of his followers; the
prophet, to instruct men in the way wherein they should
go; and the great high priest, to make atonement for
their sins. Hence he is called the Messias, a
corruption of the word ha-mashiach, THE anointed
ONE, in Hebrew; which gave birth to ????st?? ho
Christos, which has precisely the same signification in
Greek: of him, Melchisedeck, Abraham, Aaron, David, and
others, were illustrious types. But none of these had the
title of THE MESSIAH, or THE ANOINTED OF GOD. This does, and
ever will, belong exclusively to JESUS, The CHRIST."
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Verse 17. Fourteen
generations
See Clarke on Matthew
1:11. The Jews had a sort of technical method of summing
up generations in this way. In Synopsis Sohar, p. 132,
n. 18, we have the following words; "From Abraham to Solomon
were fifteen generations; and then the moon was at the full.
From Solomon to Zedekiah were other fifteen generations; the
moon was then in the wane, and Zedekiah's eyes were put out."
That is, the regal state came to its zenith of light and glory
in the time of Solomon; but decreased gradually, till
it became nearly extinct in the days of Zedekiah. See
Schoetgen.
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Verse 18. Espoused to
Joseph
The word ( â € ¢ ),
, from
contract, or betroth, refers to the
previous marriage agreement, in which the parties mutually
bound themselves to each other; without which, no woman was
ever married among the Jews. Among the Hindoos, a woman is
espoused often a whole year, and even longer before the
marriage takes place.
Before they came
together
The woman was espoused at her own,
or her father's house; and, generally, some time elapsed
before she was taken home to the house of her husband: Deuteronomy
20:7; Judges
14:7,8. This custom has been immemorially observed among
the inhabitants of Ireland, who have not only this, but many
Asiatic customs, which, added to various authentic historic
proofs, are collateral evidences that they received the
Christian religion, not from the popes of Rome, but
through the means of Asiatic missionaries.
Among the Jews, the espousal, though the marriage
had not been consummated, was considered as perfectly legal
and binding on both sides; and hence a breach of this contract
was considered as a case of adultery, and punished exactly in
the same way. See Deuteronomy
22:25,28. Nor could a contract of this kind, though there
was no cohabitation, be broken but by a regular
divorce, as Mr. Selden, in his Uxor Hebraica,
has proved at large from the Jewish rabbins.
She was found with
child
Her situation was the most
distressing and humiliating that can be conceived. Nothing but
the fullest consciousness of her own integrity, and the
strongest confidence in God, could have supported her in such
trying circumstances, where her reputation, her honour, and
her life were at stake. What conversation passed
between her and Joseph, on this discovery, we are not
informed; but the issue proves that it was not satisfactory to
him: nor could he resolve to consider her as his wife, till
God had sent his angel to bear the most unequivocal testimony
to the virgin's innocence. His whole conduct, on this
occasion, was exceedingly benevolent and humane. He might at
once have taken the advantage of the law, Deuteronomy
22:23,24, and had her stoned to death.
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Verse 19. To make her a public
example
( â € ¢ ),
, to expose her to
public infamy; from pa?a, near, and de????µa?, I
show, or expose; what is oddly, though
emphatically, called in England, showing up-exposing a
character to public view. Though Joseph was a righteous
man, d??a???, and knew that the law required that such persons
as he supposed his wife to be should be put to death, yet, as
righteousness is ever directed by mercy, he
determined to put her away or divorce her privately,
i.e. without assigning any cause, that her life might be
saved; and, as the offence was against himself, he had a right
to pass it by if he chose. Some have supposed that the term
d??a??? should be translated merciful, and it certainly
often has this signification; but here it is not necessary.
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Verse 20. That which is
conceived (or formed) in her
So I
think ( â € ¢ ),
should be translated in this place: as it
appears that the human nature of Jesus Christ was a real
creation in the womb of the virgin, by the power of the
Holy Spirit. The angel of the Lord mentioned
here was probably the angel Gabriel, who, six months before,
bad been sent to Zacharias and Elisabeth, to announce the
birth of Christ's forerunner, John the Baptist. See Luke
1:36.
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Verse 21. JESUS
The same as Joshua, Yehoshua, from yasha, he
saved, delivered, put in a state of safety. See on Exodus
13:9; ; Numbers
13:16, and in the preface to Joshua.
He shall save his people from
their sins.
This shall be his great
business in the world: the great errand on which he is come,
viz. to make an atonement for, and to destroy, sin:
deliverance from all the power, guilt, and
pollution of sin, is the privilege of every believer in
Christ Jesus. Less than this is not spoken of in the Gospel;
and less than this would be unbecoming the Gospel. The
perfection of the Gospel system is not that it makes
allowances for sin, but that it makes an
atonement for it: not that it tolerates sin, but
that it destroys it. In Matthew
1:1, he is called Jesus Christ, on which Dr.
Lightfoot properly remarks, "That the name of Jesus, so
often added to the name of Christ in the New Testament,
is not only that Christ might be thereby pointed out as the
Saviour, but also that Jesus might be pointed out as
the true Christ or Messiah, against the unbelief
of the Jews." This observation will be of great use in
numberless places of the New Testament. See Acts
2:36;; 8:35;
; 1 Corinthians
16:22; ; 1 John
2:22; 1 John
4:15,
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Verse 22. By the
prophet
ISAIAH is added here by
several MSS., versions, and fathers. The prophecy is taken
from Isaiah
7:14.
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Verse 23. Behold, a virgin shall be
with child
We have already seen, from the
preceding verse, that this prophecy is taken from Isaiah
7:14; but it may be necessary to consider the
circumstances of the original promise more
particularly. At the time referred to, the kingdom of Judah,
under the government of Ahaz, was reduced very low.
Pekah, king of Israel, had slain in Judea 120,000
persons in one day, and carried away captives 200,000,
including women and children, together with much spoil. To add
to their distress, Rezin, king of Syria, being
confederate with Pekah, had taken Elath, a
fortified city of Judah, and carried the inhabitants away
captive to Damascus. In this critical conjuncture, need we
wonder that Ahaz was afraid that the enemies who were now
united against him must prevail, destroy Jerusalem, and the
kingdom of Judah, and annihilate the family of David! To meet
and remove this fear, apparently well grounded, Isaiah is sent
from the Lord to Ahaz, swallowed up now both by sorrow and by
unbelief, in order to assure him that the counsels of his
enemies should not stand; and that they should be utterly
discomfited. To encourage Ahaz, he commands him to ask a
sign or miracle, which should be a pledge in hand,
that God should, in due time, fulfil the predictions of his
servant, as related in the context. On Ahaz humbly refusing to
ask any sign, it is immediately added, Therefore the Lord
himself shall give you a sign: Behold a virgin shall
conceive and bear a son; and shall call his name
Immanuel. Butter and honey shall he eat, the Divine
and human nature of our Lord, as well as the miraculous
conception, appear to be pointed out in the prophecy quoted
here by the evangelist:-He shall be called IM-MENU-EL;
literally, The STRONG GOD WITH US: similar to those
words in the New Testament:-The Word which was
God-was made flesh, and dwelt among us, full of grace
and truth: John
1:1,14. And, God was manifested in the flesh: 1 Timothy
3:16. that we are to understand, God with us, to
imply God incarnated-God in human nature.
This seems farther evident from the words of the prophet, Isaiah
7:15. Butter and honey shall he eat-he shall be
truly man, grow up and be nourished in a human,
natural way; which refers to his being WITH US, i.e.
incarnated. To which the prophet adds, That he may
know to refuse the evil and choose the good:-or rather,
According to his knowledge, le-daato,
reprobating the evil, and choosing the good. This
refers to him as GOD; and is the same idea given by this
prophet, Isaiah
53:11: By (or in) his knowledge (the
knowledge of Christ crucified, be-dadto) shall my
righteous servant sanctify many; for he shall bear
their offences. Now this union of the Divine and
human nature is termed a sign or miracle,
oth, i.e. something which exceeds the power of nature
to produce. And this miraculous union was to be
brought about in a miraculous way: Behold a VIRGIN
shall conceive: the word is very emphatic,
ha-almah, THE virgin; the only one that ever
was, or ever shall be, a mother in this way. But the
Jews, and some called Christians, who have
espoused their desperate cause, assert, that "the word
almah does not signify a VIRGIN only; for it is
applied, Proverbs
30:19, to signify a young married woman." I answer,
that this latter text is no proof of the contrary doctrine:
the words derec geber be-almah, the way of a
man with a maid, cannot be proved to mean that for
which it is produced: beside, one of De Rossi's MSS. reads
be-almaiu, the way of a strong, or stout,
man ( geber) IN HIS YOUTH; and in this reading
the Syriac, Septuagint, Vulgate, and
Arabic agree, which are followed by the first
version in the English language, as it stands in a MS. in
my own possession-the weie of a man in his waring
youthe; so that this place, the only one that can with any
probability of success be produced, were the
interpretation contended for correct, which I am by no means
disposed to admit, proves nothing. Beside, the consent of so
many versions in the opposite meaning deprives it of
much of its influence in this question.
The word almah, comes from alam, to lie
hid, be concealed; and we are told that "virgins were so
called, because they were concealed or closely kept
up in their fathers' houses, till the time of their
marriage." This is not correct: see the case of Rebecca, Genesis
24:43, and my note there: that of Rachel, Genesis
29:6,9, and the note there also: and see the case of
Miriam, the sister of Moses, Exodus
2:8, and also the Chaldee paraphrase on Lamentations
1:4, where the virgins are represented as going
out in the dance. And see also the whole history of
Ruth. This being concealed, or kept at
home, on which so much stress is laid, is purely fanciful;
for we find that young unmarried women drew water, kept
sheep, gleaned publicly in the fields, among the Turcomans to
the present day. This reason, therefore, does not account for
the radical meaning of the word; and we must seek it
elsewhere. Another well known and often used root in the
Hebrew tongue will cast light on this subject. This is
galah, which signifies to reveal, make manifest,
or uncover, and is often applied to matrimonial
connections, in different parts of the Mosaic law:
alam, therefore, may be considered as implying the
concealment of the virgin, as such, till
lawful marriage had taken place. A virgin was not called
almah, because she was concealed by being kept at home
in her father's house, which is not true, but literally
and physically, because, as a woman, she had not been
uncovered-she had not known man. This fully applies to
the blessed virgin: see Luke
1:34. "How can this be, seeing I know no man?" and
this text throws much light on the subject before us. This
also is in perfect agreement with the ancient prophecy, "The
seed of the woman shall bruise the head of the serpent," Genesis
3:15; for the person who was to destroy the work of the
devil was to be the progeny of the woman, without any
concurrence of the man. And, hence, the text in Genesis
speaks as fully of the virgin state of the person, from
whom Christ, according to the flesh, should come, as
that in the prophet, or this in the evangelist.
According to the original promise, there was to be a
seed, a human being, who should destroy sin; but
this seed or human being must come from the
woman ALONE; and no woman ALONE, could produce
such a human being, without being a virgin. Hence, A
virgin shall bear a son, is the very spirit and meaning of
the original text, independently of the illustration
given by the prophet; and the fact recorded by the
evangelist is the proof of the whole. But how could that be a
sign to Ahaz, which was to take place so many
hundreds of years after? I answer, the meaning of the prophet
is plain: not only Rezin and Pekah should be unsuccessful
against Jerusalem at that time, which was the
fact; but Jerusalem, Judea, and the house of David, should be
both preserved, notwithstanding their depressed state, and the
multitude of their adversaries, till the time should come when
a VIRGIN should bear a son. This is a most remarkable
circumstance-the house of David could never fail, till a
virgin should conceive and bear a son-nor did it: but when
that incredible and miraculous fact did take place, the
kingdom and house of David became extinct! This is an
irrefragable confutation of every argument a Jew can offer in
vindication of his opposition to the Gospel of Christ. Either
the prophecy in Isaiah has been fulfilled, or the kingdom and
house of David are yet standing. But the kingdom of David, we
know, is destroyed: and where is the man, Jew or Gentile, that
can show us a single descendant of David on the face of the
earth? The prophecy could not fail-the kingdom and house of
David have failed; the virgin, therefore, must have
brought forth her son-and this son is Jesus, the Christ. Thus
Moses, Isaiah, and Matthew concur; and facts, the most
unequivocal, have confirmed the whole! Behold the wisdom and
providence of God!
Notwithstanding what has been said above, it may be asked,
In what sense could this name Immanuel be applied to
Jesus Christ, if he be not truly and properly GOD? Could the
Spirit of truth ever design that Christians should receive him
as an angel or a mere man, and yet, in
the very beginning of the Gospel history, apply a character to
him which belongs only to the most high God? Surely no.
In what sense, then, is Christ GOD WITH US? Jesus is called
Immanuel, or God with us, in his
incarnation.-God united to our nature-God with
man-God in man.-God with us, by his
continual protection.-God with us, by the
influences of his Holy Spirit-in the holy
sacrament-in the preaching of his word-in
private prayer. And God with us, through
every action of our life, that we begin, continue, and
end in his name. He is God with us, to comfort,
enlighten, protect, and defend us in every time of
temptation and trial, in the hour of
death, in the day of judgment; and God with
us, and in us, and we with and in
him, to all eternity.
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JFB
Verse 25. Her first-born
son
( â € ¢ ),
. Literally,
That son of hers, the first-born one. That Mary might
have had other children, any person may reasonably and
piously believe; that she had others, many think
exceedingly probable, and that this text is at least an
indirect proof of it. However this may be, the perpetual
virginity of Mary should not be made an article of faith.
God has not made it one: indeed it can hardly bear the light
of several texts in the Gospels.
He knew her not
Had no matrimonial intercourse with her-TILL she had
brought forth that son of hers, of whom the evangelist had
been just speaking, the first-born, the eldest of the
family, to whom the birthright belonged, and who was
miraculously born before she knew any man, being yet in a
state of virginity. See on Matthew
13:55. The virginity of Mary, previously to the birth of
Christ, is an article of the utmost consequence to the
Christian system; and therefore it is an article of faith: her
perpetual virginity is of no consequence; and the
learned labour spent to prove it has produced a mere castle in
the air. The thing is possible; but it never has been,
and never can be proved.
He called his name
JESUS.
This name was given by the command of
God, see Matthew
1:16, and was imposed on Christ when eight days old; for
then, according to the Jewish law, he was circumcised: thus he
had the name of Saviour given when he first began to
shed that blood without which there could be no
remission of sins.
The goodness of God is manifested, not only in his
giving his Son to save a lost world, but also in the choice of
the persons who were his progenitors: among whom we
find, First, SAINTS, to excite our courage: Abraham,
remarkable for his faith; Isaac, for his
obedience; and Jacob, for his fervour and
constancy.
Secondly, Penitent SINNERS, to excite our
confidence: such as David, Manasses,
Thirdly, Sinners, of whose repentance and salvation
we hear nothing; to put us on our guard. Who can read the
account of idolatrous Solomon, who, from the whole evidence of
the sacred history, died In his sins, without trembling?
Four WOMEN are mentioned in this genealogy: two of
these were adulteresses, Tamar and Bathsheba;
and two were Gentiles, Rahab and Ruth, and
strangers to the covenant of promise; to teach us that Jesus
Christ came to save sinners, and that, though
strangers to his people, we are not on that account
excluded from a salvation which God has designed for all
men. He is not the God of the Jews only; he is also
the God of the Gentiles.
The state of the royal family of David, the circumstances
of the holy virgin and her spouse Joseph, the very remarkable
prophecy of Isaiah, the literal and circumstantial fulfilment
of it, the names given to our blessed Lord, the genealogical
scroll of the family,
providence of God. Every occurrence seems, at first view,
to be abandoned to fortuitous influence, and yet the result of
each shows that God managed the whole. These circumstances are
of the greatest importance; nor can the Christian reader
reflect on them without an increase of his faith and
his piety.
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