Matthew

About this book

Chapter 1

1 This is the record of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham. 2 Abraham was the father of Isaac, Isaac the father of Jacob, Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers, 3 Judah the father of Perez and Zerah (by Tamar), Perez the father of Hezron, Hezron the father of Ram, 4 Ram the father of Amminadab, Amminadab the father of Nahshon, Nahshon the father of Salmon, 5 Salmon the father of Boaz (by Rahab), Boaz the father of Obed (by Ruth), Obed the father of Jesse, 6 and Jesse the father of David the king. David was the father of Solomon (by the wife of Uriah), 7 Solomon the father of Rehoboam, Rehoboam the father of Abijah, Abijah the father of Asa, 8 Asa the father of Jehoshaphat, Jehoshaphat the father of Joram, Joram the father of Uzziah, 9 Uzziah the father of Jotham, Jotham the father of Ahaz, Ahaz the father of Hezekiah, 10 Hezekiah the father of Manasseh, Manasseh the father of Amon, Amon the father of Josiah, 11 and Josiah the father of Jeconiah and his brothers, at the time of the deportation to Babylon. 12 After the deportation to Babylon, Jeconiah became the father of Shealtiel, Shealtiel the father of Zerubbabel, 13 Zerubbabel the father of Abiud, Abiud the father of Eliakim, Eliakim the father of Azor, 14 Azor the father of Zadok, Zadok the father of Achim, Achim the father of Eliud, 15 Eliud the father of Eleazar, Eleazar the father of Matthan, Matthan the father of Jacob, 16 and Jacob the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary, by whom Jesus was born, who is called Christ. 17 So 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 Christ, fourteen generations. 18 Now the birth of Jesus Christ happened this way. While his mother Mary was engaged to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit.⁠ 19 Because Joseph, her husband to be, was a righteous man, and because he did not want to disgrace her, he intended to divorce her privately.⁠ 20 When he had contemplated this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife because the child conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.⁠ 21 She will give birth to a son and you will name him Jesus because he will save his people from their sins.”⁠ 22 This all happened so that what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet would be fulfilled: 23 “Look! The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will name him Emmanuel,” which means “God with us.”⁠ 24 When Joseph awoke from sleep he did what the angel of the Lord told him. He took his wife, 25 but did not have marital relations with her until she gave birth to a son, whom he named Jesus.

Texts in conversation

Compare Matthew 1:18 and Gospel of Philip 3:1

New Testament · Nag Hammadi

Summary

The Gospel of Philip challenges Matthew's account of Mary's pregnancy through the Holy Spirit by treating the Spirit as female. The disagreement shows how a claim about Jesus' birth could be rejected through a different understanding of the Spirit.

Passages

Matthew 1:18

New Testament

18 Now the birth of Jesus Christ happened this way. While his mother Mary was engaged to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit. 19 Because Joseph, her husband to be, was a righteous man, and because he did not want to disgrace her, he intended to divorce her privately. 20 When he had contemplated this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife because the child conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21 She will give birth to a son and you will name him Jesus because he will save his people from their sins.”

70–90 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in Matthew

Gospel of Philip 3:1

Nag Hammadi

Some say that Mary conceived by means of the holy Spirit. They are wrong, not understanding what they say. Has a female ever conceived by means of a female? Mary is the virgin whom no power has defiled. It is a great anathema for the Hebrews, who are the apostles and [the] apostolic ones. This virgin, whom no power has defiled, [...] the powers have defile[d] themselves. The Lord also [would] not [have] said, “my [Father, who is in] heaven,” if he did not have another father. He instead would only have said, [“my Father.”] The Lord said to the [disciples:] “[Take] [from] every [house], and bring (it) into the house of the Father. Do not, however, steal from the house of the Father, and do not take away.”

180–250 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in the Gospel of Philip

References

“... A third strategy is opposition, or correction. That is to say, although the Gospel of Philip assumes that to a degree Matthew and John are reliable repositories of dominical sayings, the author’s attitude to those prior Gospels is not one that assumes biblical infallibility. The evangelist would probably not agree with the dictum of his contemporary Irenaeus, that “the Scriptures are perfect, since they were spoken by the Word of God and his Spirit.” Just as certain Gnostic authors are keen to point out where Moses went wrong, so the Gospel of Philip is not afraid to issue correction to well-established early Christian tradition. [...] There is also correction of specific passages of the Gospels. For the Valentinian author, Jesus is straightforwardly the seed of Joseph, and there is a denial of the virgin birth, or at least of the conception by the Holy Spirit: Some say that Mary conceived by the Holy Spirit. They are deceived! They do not know what they are talking about! When did a woman ever conceive from a woman? Mary was a virgin whom no power defiled. She is a great anathema to the Hebrews who are apostles and friends of the apostles. This virgin whom no power defiled is . . . the powers defiled them. And the Lord would not have said “My Father in heaven” unless he had another father. Otherwise he would simply have said [“My Father”]. ...”

Simon Gathercole, “Afterword: Reading Gospels with the Gospel of Philip,” in Gospel Reading and Reception in Early Christian Literature, ed. Madison N. Pierce, Andrew J. Byers, and Simon Gathercole (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2022), 239–240.

References are not endorsements of their contents. Read each reference in full to understand its author's intentions in using these texts.

Matthew28 chapters

Compare Matthew 1:18 and Gospel of Philip 3:1

Summary

Passages

Matthew 1:18

Gospel of Philip 3:1

References

Your feedback

Leave a comment

Glossary

Search the Library