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Grow With Me

Matthew 1:3

“And Judah fathered Perez and Zerah by Tamar, and Perez fathered Hezron, and Hezron fathered Ram.”

Matthew 1:3 · direct translation from the Greek
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With the Greek beneath

3

Allusion · Ruth 4:18-22

Go to Ruth 4:18-22

Matthew gives, from Perez to David, the same series of names that closes the book of Ruth.

They share words that are rare in the original, without a quotation.

  • ΦαρὲςPharesG5329פָּרֶץparetsH6557“Perez”
  • ἈμιναδάβAminadabG284עַמִּינָדָבaminadavH5992“Amminadab”
  • ΝαασσώνNaassōnG3476נַחְשׁוֹןnajshonH5177“Nahshon”
  • ΣαλμώνSalmōnG4533שַׂלְמוֹןsalmonH8012“Salmon”
  • ΒόεςBoesG1003בֹּעַזboazH1162“Boaz”
  • ἸωβὴδIōbēdG5601עוֹבֵדovedH5744“Obed”
  • ἸεσσαίIessaiG2421יִשָׁיyishayH3448“Jesse”
  • ΔαυὶδDauidG1138דָּוִדdavidH1732“David”

Matthew 1:3, word by word

And JudahἸούδαςIoudas

Judas

Judas or Judah, depending on the person: Judah the son of Jacob and his tribe, Judas Iscariot, Judas the brother of Jesus, and others with this name.

Where else “Ioudas” appears
fatheredἐγέννησενegennēsen

father

To have a son, or be his ancestor.

Where else “egennēsen” appears
PerezΦαρὲςPhares

Perez

Perez, son of Judah and Tamar (Genesis 38:29), ancestor of David.

Where else “Phares” appears
ZerahΖάραZara

Zerah

Zerah, twin brother of Perez (Genesis 38:30).

Where else “Zara” appears
TamarΘαμάρThamar

Tamar

Tamar, daughter-in-law of Judah, mother of Perez and Zerah (Genesis 38).

Where else “Thamar” appears
HezronἙσρώμHesrōm

Hezron

Hezron, son of Perez (Ruth 4:18), ancestor of David.

Where else “Hesrōm” appears
RamἈράμAram

Ram

Ram, son of Hezron (Ruth 4:19), ancestor of David.

Where else “Aram” appears

Translation note

The Old Testament names are given as they appear there (Ruth 4:18-22; 1 Chronicles 2-3); the Greek writes Phares, Zara, Esrom, Aram.

Parallel passages

Other books that tell the same thing or quote these words.

The genealogy of Jesus

Luke 3:23-38

The two genealogies differ in names and order; they are not the same list.

See them side by side

Matthew 1:1-17

1The book of the origin of Jesus the Messiah, son of David, son of Abraham. 2Abraham fathered Isaac, and Isaac fathered Jacob, and Jacob fathered Judah and his brothers. 3And Judah fathered Perez and Zerah by Tamar, and Perez fathered Hezron, and Hezron fathered Ram. 4And Ram fathered Amminadab, and Amminadab fathered Nahshon, and Nahshon fathered Salmon. 5And Salmon fathered Boaz by Rahab, and Boaz fathered Obed by Ruth, and Obed fathered Jesse. 6And Jesse fathered David the king. And David fathered Solomon by the wife of Uriah. 7And Solomon fathered Rehoboam, and Rehoboam fathered Abijah, and Abijah fathered Asaph. 8And Asaph fathered Jehoshaphat, and Jehoshaphat fathered Joram, and Joram fathered Uzziah. 9And Uzziah fathered Jotham, and Jotham fathered Ahaz, and Ahaz fathered Hezekiah. 10And Hezekiah fathered Manasseh, and Manasseh fathered Amos, and Amos fathered Josiah. 11And Josiah fathered Jeconiah and his brothers, at the time of the deportation to Babylon. 12And after the deportation to Babylon, Jeconiah fathered Shealtiel, and Shealtiel fathered Zerubbabel. 13And Zerubbabel fathered Abiud, and Abiud fathered Eliakim, and Eliakim fathered Azor. 14And Azor fathered Zadok, and Zadok fathered Achim, and Achim fathered Eliud. 15And Eliud fathered Eleazar, and Eleazar fathered Matthan, and Matthan fathered Jacob. 16And Jacob fathered Joseph, the husband of Mary, from whom was born Jesus, the one called Messiah. 17So all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations; and from David to the deportation to Babylon, fourteen generations; and from the deportation to Babylon to the Messiah, fourteen generations.

Luke 3:23-38

23And Jesus himself was about thirty years old when he began, being the son, as was supposed, of Joseph, son of Heli, 24son of Matthat, son of Levi, son of Melchi, son of Jannai, son of Joseph, 25son of Mattathias, son of Amos, son of Nahum, son of Esli, son of Naggai, 26son of Maath, son of Mattathias, son of Semein, son of Josech, son of Joda, 27son of Joanan, son of Rhesa, son of Zerubbabel, son of Shealtiel, son of Neri, 28son of Melchi, son of Addi, son of Cosam, son of Elmadam, son of Er, 29son of Joshua, son of Eliezer, son of Jorim, son of Matthat, son of Levi, 30son of Simeon, son of Judah, son of Joseph, son of Jonam, son of Eliakim, 31son of Melea, son of Menna, son of Mattatha, son of Nathan, son of David, 32son of Jesse, son of Jobel, son of Boaz, son of Sala, son of Nahshon, 33son of Amminadab, son of Admin, son of Arni, son of Hezron, son of Perez, son of Judah, 34son of Jacob, son of Isaac, son of Abraham, son of Terah, son of Nahor, 35son of Serug, son of Reu, son of Peleg, son of Eber, son of Shelah, 36son of Cainan, son of Arpachshad, son of Shem, son of Noah, son of Lamech, 37son of Methuselah, son of Enoch, son of Jared, son of Mahalalel, son of Kenan, 38son of Enosh, son of Seth, son of Adam, son of God.

The context

2Abraham fathered Isaac, and Isaac fathered Jacob, and Jacob fathered Judah and his brothers.

3 · This verse (above)

4And Ram fathered Amminadab, and Amminadab fathered Nahshon, and Nahshon fathered Salmon.

Read all of Matthew 1

To study Matthew 1 in a group

  1. 1. What it says

    Besides Mary, which women are named in the list of Jesus' ancestors (vv. 3–6)?

  2. 2. What it means

    Why does Matthew open his book with a long list that ends with “the Messiah” (vv. 1, 17)?

  3. 3. How I live it

    Being a righteous man, Joseph did not want to expose Mary publicly (v. 19). How can you treat someone with care when news hurts you?

How to use it