in second marriages and the raising up of seed, so that the same men were rightly considered at different times to belong to different fathers, some being putative fathers, and others being actual fathers, and both accounts, being strictly true, converged upon Joseph, complexly indeed, but accurately. 59 But that what is being said may be clear, I shall relate the interchange of the genealogies. To those counting the generations from David through Solomon, the third from the end is found to be Matthan, who begat Jacob the father of Joseph; but from Nathan the son of David according to Luke, likewise third from the end is Melchi; [whose son was Heli the father of Joseph] for Joseph was the son of Heli, the son of Melchi. Since Joseph is therefore our subject, it must be shown how each is recorded as his father, both Jacob, from Solomon, and Heli, from Nathan, [each tracing his line] and how [first, these men, Jacob and Heli, were two brothers, and before that, how] their fathers, Matthan and Melchi, being of different families, are shown to be grandfathers of Joseph. And so then both Matthan and Melchi, having successively married the same woman, begat brothers of the same mother, as the law did not forbid a widow, whether divorced or after her husband’s death, to be married to another. From Estha then, for tradition says this was the woman’s name, first Matthan, who traced his descent from Solomon, begat Jacob. And when Matthan died, Melchi, who was traced in descent back to Nathan, being of the same tribe but of another family, as I said before, married her when she was a widow and had a son, Heli. 60 Thus then, we shall find Jacob and Heli, though of two different families, to be brothers by the same mother. Of these, the one, Jacob, when his brother Heli died childless, took his wife and from her begat Joseph, his son by nature and by reason, wherefore it is written: “And Jacob begat Joseph.” But by law he was the son of Heli, for Jacob, being his brother, raised up seed to him. Wherefore also the genealogy traced through him will not be made void, which Matthew the evangelist, enumerating, says, "And Jacob begat Joseph." But Luke, on the contrary, "who was, as was supposed"—for he adds this too—"the son of Joseph, the son of Heli, the son of Melchi." For it was not possible to express more distinctly the generation according to the law, and he was silent on "begat" in the case of such a begetting of children until the end, tracing back by analysis as far as "Adam, the son of God." Nor indeed is this unproven or invented. For at any rate the kinsmen of the Savior according to the flesh, whether out of vainglory or simply to inform, but in any case speaking the truth, handed down this account also: that Idumaean bandits, attacking Ascalon, a city of Palestine, from a temple of Apollo, which was established near the walls, carried off captive along with the other spoils Antipater, the son of a certain Herod, a temple-servant. And as the priest was not able to pay the ransom for his son, Antipater, having been brought up in the customs of the Idumaeans, was later befriended by Hyrcanus, the 61 high priest of Judaea. And having gone on an embassy to Pompey on behalf of Hyrcanus, and having liberated for him the kingdom that was being cut short by his brother Aristobulus, he himself had the good fortune to be named procurator of Palestine. And Antipater, who was murdered out of envy for his great good fortune, was succeeded by his son Herod, who later, by a decree of the senate under Antony and Augustus, was chosen to be king of the Jews, whose sons were Herod and the other tetrarchs. These things are indeed also common to the Greek histories. But since the Hebrew families were enrolled up to that time in the archives, and those traced back even to proselytes, such as Achior the Ammonite and Ruth the Moabitess and the mixed multitude that came out with them from Egypt, Herod, since the lineage of the Israelites contributed nothing to him, and being pricked by the consciousness of his ignoble birth, burned their records of the families, thinking he would appear noble-born if no one else could trace his lineage from the public record back to the patriarchs or [proselytes] the [and] so-called

δευτερογαμίαις καὶ ἀναστάσει σπερμάτων, ὡς δικαίως τοὺς αὐτοὺς ἄλλοτε ἄλλων νομίζεσθαι, τῶν μὲν δοκούντων πατέρων, τῶν δὲ ὑπαρχόντων, καὶ ἀμφοτέρας τὰς διηγήσεις κυρίως ἀληθεῖς οὔσας ἐπὶ τὸν Ἰωσὴφ πολυπλόκως μέν, ἀλλ' ἀκριβῶς κατελθεῖν. 59 Ἵνα δὲ σαφὲς ᾖ τὸ λεγόμενον, τὴν ἐπαλλαγὴν τῶν γενῶν διηγήσομαι. ἀπὸ τοῦ ∆αβὶδ διὰ Σολομῶνος τὰς γενεὰς καταριθμουμένοις τρίτος ἀπὸ τέλους εὑρίσκεται Ματθάν, ὃς ἐγέννησε τὸν Ἰακὼβ τοῦ Ἰωσὴφ τὸν πατέρα· ἀπὸ δὲ Νάθαν τοῦ ∆αβὶδ κατὰ Λουκᾶν ὁμοίως τρίτος ἀπὸ τέλους Μελχί· [οὗ υἱὸς ὁ Ἡλὶ ὁ τοῦ Ἰωσὴφ πατήρ] Ἰωσὴφ γὰρ υἱὸς Ἡλὶ τοῦ Μελχί. σκοποῦτοίνυν ἡμῖν κειμένου τοῦ Ἰωσήφ, ἀποδεικτέον, πῶς ἑκάτερος αὐτοῦ πατὴρ ἱστορεῖται ὅ τε Ἰακὼβ ὁ ἀπὸ Σολομῶνος καὶ Ἡλὶ ὁ ἀπὸ τοῦ Νάθαν, [ἑκάτερος κατάγοντες γένος] ὅπως τε [πρότερον οὗτοι δή, ὅ τε Ἰακὼβ καὶ ὁ Ἡλί, δύο ἀδελφοί, καὶ πρό γε, πῶς] οἱ τούτων πατέρες Ματθὰν καὶ Μελχὶ διαφόρων ὄντες γενῶν τοῦ Ἰωσὴφ ἀναφαίνονται πάπποι. Καὶ δὴ οὖν ὅ τε Ματθὰν καὶ ὁ Μελχὶ ἐν μέρει τὴν αὐτὴν ἀγαγόμενοι γυναῖκα ὁμομητρίους ἀδελφοὺς ἐπαιδοποιήσαντο, τοῦ νόμου μὴ κωλύοντος χηρεύουσαν ἤτοι ἀπολελυμένην ἢ καὶ τελευτήσαντος τοῦ ἀνδρὸς ἄλλῳ γαμεῖσθαι. ἐκ δὴ τῆς Ἐσθᾶ, τοῦτο γὰρ καλεῖσθαι τὴν γυναῖκα παραδέδοται, πρῶτος Ματθὰν ὁ ἀπὸ τοῦ Σολομῶνος τὸ γένος κατάγων τὸν Ἰακὼβ γεννᾷ καὶ τελευτήσαντος τοῦ Ματθὰν Μελχὶ ὁ ἐπὶ τὸν Νάθαν κατὰ γένος ἀναφερόμενος χηρεύουσαν ἐκ μὲν τῆς αὐτῆς φυλῆς, ἐξ ἄλλου δὲ γένους ὤν, ὡς προεῖπον, ἀγαγόμενος αὐτὴν ἔσχεν υἱὸν τὸν Ἡλί. 60 οὕτω δὴ διαφόρων δύο γενῶν εὑρήσομεν τόν τε Ἰακὼβ καὶ τὸν Ἡλὶ ὁμομητρίους ἀδελφούς. ὧν ὁ ἕτερος Ἰακώβ, ἀτέκνου τοῦ ἀδελφοῦ τελευτήσαντος Ἡλί, τὴν γυναῖκα παραλαβὼν ἐγέννησεν ἐξ αὐτῆς τὸν Ἰωσήφ, κατὰ φύσιν μὲν ἑαυτῷ καὶ κατὰ λόγον, διὸ γέγραπται· Ἰακὼβ δὲ ἐγέννησε τὸν Ἰωσήφ· κατὰ νόμον δὲ τοῦ Ἡλὶ υἱὸς ἦν· ἐκείνῳ γὰρ ὁ Ἰακὼβ ἀδελφὸς ὢν ἀνέστησε σπέρμα. διόπερ οὐκ ἀκυρωθήσεται καὶ ἡ κατ' αὐτὸν γενεαλογία, ἣν Ματθαῖος μὲν ὁ εὐαγγελιστὴς ἐξαριθμούμενος· Ἰακὼβ δέ, φησίν, ἐγέννησε τὸν Ἰωσήφ· ὁ δὲ Λουκᾶς ἀνάπαλιν· ὃς ἦν, ὡς ἐνομίζετο-καὶ γὰρ τοῦτο προστίθησι-τοῦ Ἰωσὴφ τοῦ Ἡλὶ τοῦ Μελχί· τὴν γὰρ κατὰ νόμον γένεσιν ἐπισημότερον οὐκ ἦν ἐξειπεῖν, καὶ τὸ «ἐγέννησεν» ἐπὶ τῆς τοιᾶσδε παιδοποιΐας ἄχρι τέλους ἐσιώπησεν, τὴν ἀναφορὰν ποιησάμενος ἕως τοῦ Ἀδὰμ τοῦ θεοῦ κατ' ἀνάλυσιν. Οὐδὲ μὴν ἀναπόδεικτον ἢ ἐσχεδιασμένον ἐστὶ τοῦτο. τοῦ γοῦν σωτῆρος οἱ κατὰ σάρκα συγγενεῖς, εἴτ' οὖν φανητιῶντες, εἴθ' ἁπλῶς ἐκδιδάσκοντες, πάντως δὲ ἀληθεύοντες, παρέδοσαν καὶ ταῦτα, ὡς Ἰδουμαῖοι λῃσταί, Ἀσκάλωνι πόλει τῆς Παλαιστίνης ἐπελθόντες, ἐξ εἰδωλείου Ἀπόλλωνος, ὃ πρὸς τοῖς τείχεσιν ἵδρυτο, Ἀντίπατρον Ἡρώδου τινὸς ἱεροδούλου παῖδα πρὸς τοῖς ἄλλοις σύλοις αἰχμάλωτον ἀπῆγον· τῷ δὲ λύτρα ὑπὲρ τοῦ υἱοῦ καταθέσθαι μὴ δύνασθαι τὸν ἱερέα ὁ Ἀντίπατρος τοῖς τῶν Ἰδουμαίων ἔθεσιν ἐντραφεὶς ὕστερον Ὑρκανῷ φιλοῦται τῷ τῆς Ἰουδαίας 61 ἀρχιερεῖ. πρεσβεύσας δὲ πρὸς Πομπήιον ὑπὲρ τοῦ Ὑρκανοῦ καὶ τὴν βασιλείαν ἐλευθερώσας αὐτῷ ὑπὸ Ἀριστοβούλου τοῦ ἀδελφοῦ περικοπτομένην αὐτὸς ηὐτύχησεν ἐπιμελητὴς τῆς Παλαιστίνης χρηματίσας· διαδέχεται δὲ τὸν Ἀντίπατρον φθόνῳ τῆς πολλῆς εὐτυχίας δολοφονηθέντα υἱὸς Ἡρώδης, ὃς ὕστερον ὑπ' Ἀντωνίου καὶ τοῦ Σεβαστοῦ συγκλήτου δόγματι τῶν Ἰουδαίων ἐκρίθη βασιλεύειν, οὗ παῖδες Ἡρώδης οἵ τ' ἄλλοι τετράρχαι. ταῦτα μὲν δὴ κοινὰ καὶ ταῖς Ἑλλήνων ἱστορίαις. ἀναγράπτων δὲ εἰς τότε ἐν τοῖς ἀρχείοις ὄντων τῶν Ἑβραϊκῶν γενῶν καὶ τῶν ἄχρι προσηλύτων ἀναφερομένων ὡς Ἀχιὼρ τοῦ Ἀμμανίτου καὶ Ῥοὺθ τῆς Μωαβίτιδος τῶν τε ἀπ' Αἰγύπτου συνεκπεσόντων ἐπιμίκτων ὁ Ἡρώδης οὐδέν τι συμβαλλομένου τοῦ τῶν Ἰσραηλιτῶν γένους αὐτῷ καὶ τῷ συνειδότι τῆς δυσγενείας κρουόμενος ἐνέπρησεν αὐτῶν τὰς ἀναγραφὰς τῶν γενῶν οἰόμενος εὐγενὴς ἀναφανεῖσθαι τῷ μηδ' ἄλλον ἔχειν ἐκ δημοσίου συγγραφῆς τὸ γένος ἀνάγειν ἐπὶ τοὺς πατριάρχας ἢ [προσηλύτους] τοὺς [τε] καλουμένους