What Am I Missing – Lesson 7 – Why Does Matthew Include Four Women in Jesus Family Tree

Introduction: What Are We Missing?

Throughout our Sunday School series, What Am I Missing?, we have been learning that biblical writers communicate through the details they include, the people they mention, and the way they arrange information. In our previous lesson, we discovered how Mark placed the account of Jesus cleansing the temple between two visits to a fig tree. That arrangement helped us understand why Jesus cursed the tree.

Today, we will examine something many Bible readers tend to skip: a genealogy. A genealogy is a record of someone’s family line.

Matthew begins his Gospel with seventeen verses listing the ancestors of Jesus. He has carefully selected and arranged these names to communicate something about Jesus. In particular, Matthew interrupts his list of fathers and sons to mention four women. Why these women? And why does he identify one by mentioning her former husband instead of giving her name?

We will discover how Matthew uses this family history to prepare us for the Saviour he is about to introduce. Matthew uses four devices to do it:

He selects. Matthew chooses which ancestors to name, and he chooses four women. He leaves names out. Matthew skips three kings to fit his arrangement. He names a woman by her husband. Matthew calls Bathsheba “her that had been the wife of Urias.” He breaks his own pattern. When Matthew reaches Jesus, he stops saying “begat.”

 

Matthew Introduces Jesus as the Son of David and Abraham

Matthew opens his Gospel with a statement that explains why he is providing this genealogy.

Matthew 1:1 1 The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.

 

Before identifying any other ancestors, Matthew names David and Abraham. Both received important promises from God concerning their descendants.

God called Abraham to leave his homeland and promised to make his descendants into a great nation. He also promised that through Abraham, all families of the earth would be blessed (Genesis 12:1–3). Abraham became the father of Isaac, who became the father of Jacob. God later changed Jacob’s name to Israel, and his twelve sons became the ancestors of Israel’s twelve tribes.

Many generations later, David became Israel’s king. God promised David that his royal family would continue and that his throne would be established forever (2 Samuel 7:12–16). The Old Testament prophets later spoke of a coming ruler from David’s family who would reign as the promised Messiah.

By calling Jesus the son of Abraham and the son of David, Matthew identifies Him with both promises. He then traces the family history to establish that Jesus belongs to the family through which God promised to bring salvation.

Matthew Arranges Israel’s History Into Three Groups

Matthew begins with Abraham and follows the family through Isaac, Jacob, Judah, and later generations until he reaches David. He then traces the royal family through Solomon and the kings of Judah until the Babylonian captivity.

The Babylonian captivity occurred about six hundred years before Jesus was born. Because of Judah’s persistent disobedience, God allowed Babylon to conquer Jerusalem, destroy the temple, and carry the people away. Some eventually returned. The throne of David’s family stood empty from the captivity until the birth of Jesus.

Matthew continues tracing the family through the generations following the captivity until he reaches Joseph, the husband of Mary.

Matthew 1:17 17 So all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations; and from David until the carrying away into Babylon are fourteen generations; and from the carrying away into Babylon unto Christ are fourteen generations.

 

Matthew tells us that he arranged the genealogy into three groups of fourteen generations. The groups take us from Abraham to David, from David to the captivity, and from the captivity to Christ.

Here Matthew uses a second device: he leaves names out. First Chronicles 3:11–12 lists three more kings between Joram and Uzziah: Ahaziah, Joash, and Amaziah. Matthew skips them. Ancient genealogies often skipped generations while still tracing a family line. Although questions remain about exactly how Matthew counts all three groups, his arrangement clearly emphasizes these important periods in Israel’s history.

Matthew Interrupts the List to Mention Four Women

Notice the pattern in Matthew’s genealogy. Abraham begat Isaac. Isaac begat Jacob. Jacob begat Judah. The word begat means became the father of or produced a descendant.

Then Matthew adds something to the pattern.

Matthew 1:3 3 And Judas begat Phares and Zara of Thamar; and Phares begat Esrom; and Esrom begat Aram.

 

Judas and Thamar are the Greek forms of Judah and Tamar. Matthew specifically names Tamar as the mother of Pharez and Zarah.

He does something similar in verses 5 and 6.

Matthew 1:5–6 5 And Salmon begat Booz of Rachab; and Booz begat Obed of Ruth; and Obed begat Jesse; 6 And Jesse begat David the king; and David the king begat Solomon of her that had been the wife of Urias.

 

Matthew names Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, and a fourth woman whom he describes as Uriah’s former wife. That woman was Bathsheba.

Ancient genealogies sometimes included women. What stands out is Matthew’s selection, the first device. He passes over well-known mothers in this same line, such as Sarah, Rebekah, and Leah, and names these four women instead.

Each woman’s name directs us to an earlier part of the Bible. To understand what Matthew may be communicating, we need to remember who these women were.

Tamar Reminds Us of Judah’s Sin and His Change

We studied Tamar in Lesson 4. Judah kept his youngest son from her. Tamar disguised herself as a prostitute, and Judah slept with her without recognizing her. When she proved he was the father, Judah admitted his sin.

Tamar gave birth to twins. The family line leading to David and to Jesus continued through one of them, Pharez. Tamar’s name recalls sin, confession, and God’s promise moving forward through Judah’s family.

Rahab Was a Canaanite Who Believed Israel’s God

The second woman Matthew names is Rahab. Her story appears in Joshua 2 and 6.

After Moses died, Joshua led Israel into Canaan, the land God had promised Abraham’s descendants. The first city in their path was Jericho.

Joshua sent two men into Jericho to investigate the city. They entered the house of Rahab, a prostitute who lived there. When the king sent men to capture them, Rahab hid the spies and helped them escape.

Why would a woman from Jericho help the Israelites who were preparing to conquer her city? Rahab explained that she had heard about the LORD delivering Israel from Egypt and defeating other nations. She believed that Israel’s God was the true God.

Joshua 2:11 11 …for the LORD your God, he is God in heaven above, and in earth beneath.

 

Rahab asked the spies to spare her family when Israel captured Jericho. They agreed, and when Jericho fell, Rahab and her household were spared. Joshua 6:25 tells us that Rahab continued living among the Israelites.

Hebrews 11:31 later identifies Rahab as an example of faith because she received the spies.

Joshua tells us about Rahab’s faith and deliverance. Matthew 1:5 adds family information Joshua leaves out: Rahab married Salmon and became the mother of Boaz.

Rahab once belonged to a Canaanite city that stood against Israel. She believed Israel’s God and became part of His people.

Ruth Left Her Country to Follow Israel’s God

Matthew names Ruth in the same verse as Rahab. Ruth lived during the time of the judges, before Israel had a king. She was a Moabite widow who had married into an Israelite family from Bethlehem. When her mother-in-law, Naomi, returned to Bethlehem, Ruth went with her.

Ruth 1:16 16 …whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge: thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God.

 

In Bethlehem, Ruth gathered leftover grain from the fields to feed Naomi and herself. A man named Boaz, a relative of Naomi’s husband, noticed her faithfulness. Boaz married Ruth, and they had a son named Obed.

Obed became the father of Jesse, and Jesse became the father of David.

Ruth was a Moabite, and the Law of Moses shut Moabites out of Israel’s congregation.

Deuteronomy 23:3 3 An Ammonite or Moabite shall not enter into the congregation of the LORD; even to their tenth generation shall they not enter into the congregation of the LORD for ever:

 

Yet a Moabite woman who trusted Israel’s God became the great-grandmother of King David.

Why Does Matthew Call Bathsheba Uriah’s Wife?

The fourth woman is especially interesting because Matthew leaves out her name.

Matthew 1:6 says, “David the king begat Solomon of her that had been the wife of Urias.”

Her story appears in 2 Samuel 11. David was king over Israel, and his army was fighting against the Ammonites. While David remained in Jerusalem, he saw Bathsheba bathing and learned that she was the wife of Uriah the Hittite, one of his soldiers (2 Samuel 11:3).

David sent for Bathsheba and committed adultery with her. When she became pregnant, he attempted to conceal what had happened by bringing Uriah home from battle. Uriah refused to enjoy the comforts of home while his fellow soldiers remained in the field.

David then instructed his commander to place Uriah in a dangerous position during battle and withdraw support so that he would be killed. After Uriah died, David married Bathsheba.

God sent the prophet Nathan to confront David, and the child died. David and Bathsheba later had another son, Solomon, who became king.

Matthew could have named Bathsheba as Solomon’s mother. Instead, he uses a third device: he names her by her husband. He calls her the woman who had been Uriah’s wife.

That wording reminds readers of David’s adultery and his responsibility for Uriah’s death. Matthew has just identified David as “the king,” but he also brings one of David’s greatest failures into the family record.

The king who received God’s promise of an everlasting royal house was himself a sinner who needed God’s mercy.

Matthew’s wording also keeps Uriah in view, and Uriah was a Hittite, a foreigner who served Israel’s king faithfully. Like Rahab and Ruth, he brings someone from outside Israel into the account of Jesus’ family.

Why Did Matthew Choose These Four Women?

Two threads run through all four names. Rahab, Ruth, and Uriah came from outside Israel, and Tamar’s story takes place where Judah had settled among the Canaanites (Genesis 38:1–2). Each name also marks an unusual way the family line continued.

There is also a connection to Matthew’s larger message. His Gospel begins by identifying Jesus as Abraham’s descendant. God had promised Abraham that all families of the earth would be blessed through him. Matthew ends his Gospel with Jesus commanding His disciples to teach all nations (Matthew 28:19).

Rahab, Ruth, and Uriah remind us that God’s purposes already included people from outside Israel.

Matthew’s Choice of Women Also Prepares Us for Mary

Each woman’s story involved circumstances that made her place in the family unusual. Immediately after the genealogy, Matthew introduces Mary, whose pregnancy also required an explanation.

Throughout the genealogy, Matthew repeatedly tells us that one man begat another. When he reaches Joseph, Matthew uses his fourth device: he breaks his own pattern.

Matthew 1:16 16 And Jacob begat Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ.

 

Matthew says Jacob begat Joseph. Then the “begat” pattern stops. Matthew identifies Joseph as Mary’s husband and says Jesus was born of Mary. In Greek, the word translated “whom” in “of whom was born Jesus” is feminine. It points to Mary alone.

Matthew 1:18 explains that Mary was found with child of the Holy Ghost before she and Joseph came together as husband and wife. An angel later explained this to Joseph and instructed him to receive Mary as his wife and name the child Jesus.

The genealogy establishes Jesus’ place in David’s royal family through Joseph, His legal father. The birth account explains that Jesus was conceived of the Holy Ghost. The four earlier women each came into the family line in an unusual way, and they prepare readers for Mary’s unusual circumstances.

What Were We Missing?

Matthew’s genealogy communicates much more than a list of ancestors. He traces God’s promises to Abraham and David through three periods of Israel’s history until they reach Jesus.

Four devices Matthew uses: He selects. Matthew names Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, and Bathsheba and passes over other mothers in the line (1:3, 5–6). He leaves names out. Three kings from 1 Chronicles 3:11–12 are missing between Joram and Uzziah (1:8). He names a woman by her husband. “Her that had been the wife of Urias” recalls David’s sin and a Hittite soldier (1:6). He breaks his own pattern. “Begat” stops at Joseph, and Jesus is born of Mary (1:16).

 

When we encounter a genealogy, we should ask why the writer included it, how the names are arranged, and whether certain people receive special attention. Recognizing a name can bring an earlier Bible story back into view.

Our Names in God’s Family

Matthew could have written a clean family record. He could have listed fathers and sons and moved on. Instead, he put Tamar’s story, Rahab’s past, a Moabite widow, and David’s adultery on the opening page of the New Testament. God’s promise reached Jesus through those people, with their histories written in.

Every one of us carries things we are ashamed of. Some of them we would rather forget entirely. God knows every one of them. He kept His promises through people whose records were just as ugly as ours.

Matthew’s list shows how God deals with that kind of history. When Tamar exposed Judah, he said, “She hath been more righteous than I” (Genesis 38:26). When Nathan confronted David, David said, “I have sinned against the LORD” (2 Samuel 12:13). Neither man erased what he had done. Both men told the truth about it, and God’s promise kept moving through their families.

We can do the same thing. We stop hiding our sin and tell God the truth about it. Then we trust Him with what He does next.

Rahab and Ruth show us the other side. Rahab had lived as a prostitute in a Canaanite city. Ruth came from Moab, a nation the Law kept out of Israel’s congregation. Both trusted Israel’s God, and both have their names in the family of Jesus Christ.

That same welcome reaches us. Paul wrote to churches in Galatia made up largely of Gentiles:

Galatians 3:29 29 And if ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.

 

Matthew opened his Gospel by calling Jesus “the son of Abraham.” Everyone who belongs to Christ belongs to Abraham’s family. We came in the same way Rahab and Ruth did, by trusting God. So does every person who trusts Christ after us, whatever they are carrying when they walk through our doors. They are family.

Sometimes what we are missing is found in the names we usually skip.