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12. For John, in the writing of his Gospel, hands down the things done before Christ, when the Baptist had not yet been thrown into prison; but the other three evangelists speak of the things after the imprisonment. To one who pays attention to these things, the Gospels would no longer seem to disagree with one another, since the one according to John contains the first things, and the others the complete history.

13. Of Eusebius. That the Theotokos was found to be with child, and that not by any other but Joseph, the evangelist has declared; for from the Holy Spirit, 22.973 he says, such a thing has become manifest; for since Joseph was a just man, it was not wonderful for it to be made known through the Holy Spirit, from whom the conception also came.

14. Of Eusebius. I have encountered an anonymous interpretation saying that some say Elizabeth was called the kinswoman of the Virgin by the angel, not as being from the same tribe, but because both were sprung from the same ancestors, and from the same race of the Jews in common; as the Apostle, saying, "I could wish that I myself were accursed for the sake of my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh." But many of the approved say that the priestly tribe was truly joined to the royal tribe by kinship even in the time of Moses. For Elizabeth the wife of Aaron was the sister of Nahshon the son of Amminadab, who was descended from Judah the son of Jacob, from whom came the royal line of the Jews; and later, likewise, Elizabeth the wife of Zacharias drew her origin from the tribe of Judah, being the daughter of Jacob the father of Joseph; therefore from the kinship of this Nahshon the Lord was born according to the flesh; not in vain, then, did the divine prophet teach the intermingling of the royal tribe, but showing how the Lord Christ sprang from both, having acted as king and high priest in his human nature; or, as they were from one forefather, Jacob, he calls them kinswomen.

15. The reason has been properly sought why Matthew constructed the genealogy of Christ from above, while Luke did so from below and in the opposite direction; and it must be said that it is not strange to travel the same road from above and from below; for this was long ago customary in the divine Scripture; for so also David in Ruth is genealogized from above, just as Christ is in Matthew; and in the first book of Kings the father of Samuel is genealogized from below, similarly to Luke.

16. Concerning this, Eusebius in his work On Matthew says thus: He says that Nathan also prophesied according to what is reported in the books of Kings. But I, someone says, also inquired into the reason that led the blessed Luke to turn away from the royal lineage, that since the kings from Solomon himself were not pure of idolatry, except for a very few, for this reason he avoided the genealogy through them.

17. Of Eusebius. The evangelist, in making public the repentance of David for 22.976 his sin, mentioned the woman with whom he committed the sin; and that if he had not, through repentance, received forgiveness for the sin from God, he would not have been deemed worthy to become a forefather of Christ.

18. Of Eusebius. The accusation against Jeconiah was that he had been cast out and taken captive; for which reason he was also dishonored among the many; and this was what divided those who genealogize Christ, so that some traced the generations from Solomon, and others from Nathan; and for this reason the evangelist made mention of him; and says that the Redeemer of the captives has come, and receives them through baptism.

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ιβʹ· Ὁ μὲν γὰρ Ἰωάννης τῇ τοῦ κατ' αὐτὸν Εὐαγγελίου γραφῇ, τὰ μηδέπω τοῦ Βαπτιστοῦ βεβλημένου εἰς φυλακὴν, πρὸ τοῦ Χριστοῦ πραχθέντα, παραδίδωσιν· οἱ δὲ λοιποὶ τρεῖς εὐαγγελισταὶ τὰ μετὰ τὸ δεσμωτήριον λέγουσιν. Οἷς καὶ ἐπιστήσαντι, οὐκέτι ἂν δόξαιεν διαφωνεῖν ἀλλήλοις τὰ Εὐαγγέλια, τῷ τὸ μὲν κατὰ Ἰωάννην τὰ πρῶτα περιέχειν, τὰ δὲ λοιπὰ τὴν ἐπιτέλειον ἱστορίαν.

ιγʹ. Εὐσεβίου. Ὅτι δὲ ἔγκυος εὑρέθη ἡ Θεοτόκος, καὶ ὅτι οὐδενὶ ἑτέρῳ ἀλλ' ἢ τῷ Ἰωσὴφ, ὁ εὐαγγελιστὴς ἀπεφήνατο· ἐκ γὰρ Πνεύματος ἁγίου γέγονε, 22.973 φησὶ, τὸ τοιοῦτον φανερόν· δικαίῳ γὰρ ὄντι τῷ Ἰωσὴφ οὐκ ἦν θαυμαστὸν γνωσθῆναι διὰ Πνεύματος ἁγίου, ἐξ οὗ καὶ ἡ κύησις γέγονεν.

ιδʹ. Εὐσεβίου. Ἐνέτυχον δὲ ἑρμηνείᾳ ἀνεπιγράφῳ λεγούσῃ, ὅτι οἱ μέν φασι συγγενίδα τὴν Ἐλισάβετ τῆς Παρθένου παρὰ τοῦ ἀγγέλου ὠνομάσθαι, οὐχ ὡς ἐκ τῆς αὐτῆς φυλῆς, ἀλλὰ διὰ τὸ ἐκ τῶν αὐτῶν προγόνων, καὶ τοῦ αὐτοῦ κοινῶς τῶν Ἰουδαίων γένους ἀμφοτέρας ὡρμῆσθαι· ὡς ὁ Ἀπόστολος, «Ἐβουλόμην, λέγων, ἀνάθεμα εἶναι ὑπὲρ τῶν ἀδελφῶν μου τῶν συγγενῶν μου κατὰ σάρκα.» Πολλοὶ δὲ καὶ τῶν δοκίμων λέγουσιν ἀληθῶς κατὰ συγγένειαν συνῆφθαι τὴν ἱερατικὴν φυλὴν τῇ βασιλικῇ καὶ ἄνω ἐπὶ Μωϋσέως. Ἡ γὰρ Ἐλισάβετ ἡ γυνὴ Ἀαρὼν ἀδελφὴ ὑπῆρχε Ναασσὼν υἱοῦ Ἀμιναδὰβ, ὃς ἀπὸ Ἰούδα τοῦ υἱοῦ Ἰακὼβ κατήγετο, ἀφ' οὗ τὸ βασίλειον γένος τοῖς Ἰουδαίοις· καὶ κάτω δὲ ὁμοίως Ἐλισάβετ ἡ γυνὴ Ζαχαρίου ἀπὸ τῆς Ἰούδα φυλῆς εἷλκε τὴν γένεσιν, θυγάτηρ χρηματίζουσα Ἰακὼβ τοῦ πατρὸς Ἰωσήφ· ἐκ γοῦν τῆς συγγενείας τούτου τοῦ Ναασσὼν ὁ Κύριος κατὰ σάρκα γεγένηται· οὐ μάτην οὖν τῆς βασιλικῆς φυλῆς τὴν ἐπιμιξίαν ὁ θεῖος προφήτης ἐδίδαξεν, ἀλλὰ δεικνὺς ὡς ὁ ∆εσπότης Χριστὸς ἐξ ἀμφοτέρων ἐβλάστησεν, ὡς βασιλεὺς καὶ ἀρχιερεὺς κατὰ τὸ ἀνθρώπινον χρηματίσας· ἢ ὡς ἐξ ἑνὸς προπάτορος τοῦ Ἰακὼβ ὑπαρχούσας, συγγενίδας καλεῖ.

ιεʹ. Προσηκόντως ἐζήτηται ἡ αἰτία δι' ἣν ἄνωθεν ὁ Ματθαῖος ἐποιήσατο τὴν τοῦ Χριστοῦ γενεαλογίαν, ὁ δέ γε Λουκᾶς κάτωθεν καὶ ἐξ ἐναντίας· καὶ ῥητέον, ὡς οὐκ ἄτοπον ἄνωθέν τε καὶ κάτωθεν τὴν αὐτὴν βαδίζειν ὁδόν· ἦν γὰρ καὶ τοῦτο πάλαι τῇ θείᾳ Γραφῇ σύνηθες· οὕτω γὰρ καὶ ∆αβὶδ ἐν τῇ Ῥοὺθ ἄνωθεν γενεαλογεῖται, καθὼς καὶ παρὰ τῷ Ματθαίῳ ὁ Χριστός· καὶ ἐν τῇ τῶν Βασιλειῶν δὲ πρώτῃ βίβλῳ ὁ τοῦ Σαμουὴλ πατὴρ κάτωθεν γενεαλογεῖται, παραπλησίως τῷ Λουκᾷ.

ιςʹ. Περὶ τούτου ὁ Εὐσέβιος ἐν τῷ Εἰς τὸ κατὰ Ματθαῖον οὕτως· Φησὶ δὲ τὸν Νάθαν καὶ προφητεῦσαι κατὰ τὰ ἐν ταῖς Βασιλείαις φερόμενα. Ἐγὼ δὲ, φησί τις, καὶ τὴν αἰτίαν ἐπυθόμην τὴν τὸν μακάριον Λουκᾶν ἀποκλίναι τῆς βασιλείου φρατρίας ὑπαγαγοῦσαν, τῷ μὴ τοὺς βασιλεῖς ἀπ' αὐτοῦ Σολομῶντος εἰδωλολατρείας καθαρεύειν, πλὴν ἐλαχίστων, ταύτῃ παραιτήσασθαι τὴν δι' αὐτῶν γενεαλογίαν.

ιζʹ. Εὐσεβίου. Τὴν τοῦ ∆αβὶδ μετάνοιαν ἐπὶ 22.976 τῷ ἁμαρτήματι δημοσιεύων ὁ εὐαγγελιστὴς, ἐμνήσθη τῆς γυναικὸς μεθ' ἧς τὴν ἁμαρτίαν ἐξετέλεσε· καὶ ὅτι εἰ μὴ διὰ μετανοίας συγγνώμην τοῦ ἁμαρτήματος ἐδέξατο παρὰ Θεοῦ, οὐκ ἂν αὐτὸς ἠξιώθη προπάτωρ γεγονέναι τοῦ Χριστοῦ.

ιηʹ. Εὐσεβίου. Τοῦ Ἰεχονίου ἦν κατηγόρημα, τὸ ἐκκήρυκτον αὐτὸν γεγονέναι καὶ αἰχμάλωτον· διὸ καὶ ἄτιμος ὑπῆρχε τοῖς πολλοῖς· καὶ τοῦτο ἦν τὸ διϊστῶν τοὺς γενεαλογοῦντας τὸν Χριστὸν, ὥστε τοὺς μὲν ἀπὸ Σολομῶντος, τοὺς δὲ ἀπὸ Νάθαν κατάγειν τὰς γενεάς· κἀντεῦθεν ὁ εὐαγγελιστὴς μνείαν ἐποιήσατο αὐτοῦ· καί φησι τὸν Λυτροτὴν τῶν αἰχμαλώτων παραγεγονέναι, καὶ διὰ τοῦ βαπτίσματος αὐτοὺς παραδεχόμενον.

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