John Chrysostom, On Matthew

questions: for what reason the mother is not given a genealogy, and why Joseph, who contributed nothing to the birth, is mentioned by them; for the one seems to be superfluous, and the other a deficiency. Which then is it necessary to speak of first? How 57.28 the Virgin is from David. How then shall we know that she is from David? Hear God saying to Gabriel, to go to a virgin betrothed to a man, whose name was Joseph, of the house and lineage of David. What then would you have plainer than this, when you hear that the Virgin was of the house and lineage of David? 4. Whence it is clear that Joseph also was from there. For there was a law which commanded that it was not lawful to marry from another place, but only from the same tribe. And the patriarch Jacob foretold that he would arise from the tribe of Judah, saying thus: A ruler shall not fail from Judah, nor a leader from his loins, until he come for whom it is laid up; and he is the expectation of the nations. For this prophecy declares that he was from the tribe of Judah; but that he was also of the lineage of David, it does not. Was there then in the tribe of Judah not only one family, that of David, but also many others; and did it happen that one might be of the tribe of Judah, but not also of the family of David? But lest you should say this, the evangelist took away this suspicion of yours, by saying that she was of the house and lineage of David. And if you wish to learn this from another source, we will not be at a loss for another proof; for it was not lawful to marry not only from another tribe, but not even from another lineage, that is, a family. So that whether we apply "of the house and lineage of David" to the Virgin, what has been said stands; or if to Joseph, through him this is also established. For if [Joseph] was of the house and lineage of David, he would not have taken a wife from another place than where he himself was from. What then if he transgressed the law? he says. For on this account he testified beforehand that Joseph was a just man, that you might not say this, but learning of his virtue, might know this also, that he would not have transgressed the law. For one so humane and free from passion, as not even when compelled by suspicion to be willing to attempt to punish the Virgin, how could he for the sake of pleasure have transgressed the law? For he who philosophized beyond the law (for to release her, and to release her secretly, was the act of one philosophizing beyond the law), how could he have done anything against the law, and that when there was no compelling cause? But that the Virgin was of the lineage of David is clear from these things; but for what reason he did not give her genealogy, but Joseph's, it is necessary to say. For what reason then? It was not the custom among the Jews for women to be reckoned in the genealogies. In order, then, both to keep the custom and not seem to be falsifying from the outset, and to make the maiden known to us, for this reason, passing over her ancestors in silence, he gave the genealogy of Joseph. For if he had done this in the case of the Virgin, he would have seemed to be an innovator; and if he had been silent about Joseph, we would not have known the ancestors of the Virgin. In order, therefore, that we might learn who Mary was and from where, and that the laws might remain unaltered, he gave the genealogy of her betrothed, and showed that he was of the house of David. For when this was demonstrated, that other point was also demonstrated with it, that the Virgin was also from there, because this just man, as I said before, would not have endured to take a wife from another place. There is also another, more mystical reason to state, for which 57.29 the ancestors of the Virgin were passed over in silence, which it is not opportune now to disclose because many things have been said. Therefore, stopping the discourse concerning the questions here, let us for the time being hold fast with exactness what has been revealed to us; such as, why he mentioned David first; why he called the book, the Book of the generation; why he said, of Jesus Christ; how the generation is common and not common; from where it was shown that Mary was of David; and for what reason Joseph was given a genealogy, while her ancestors were passed over in silence. For if you keep these things, you will make us more eager for what is to come; but if you reject and cast them from your soul, we shall be more reluctant towards the rest. For neither would a farmer choose to care for land that has corrupted the former seeds. Therefore I beseech you to turn these things over. For from such things

ζητούμενα· τίνος τε ἕνεκεν ἡ μήτηρ οὐ γενεαλογεῖται, καὶ τί δήποτε ὁ Ἰωσὴφ, ὁ μηδὲν συντελῶν πρὸς τὴν γέννησιν, μνημονεύεται παρ' αὐτῶν· δοκεῖ γὰρ τὸ μὲν περιττὸν εἶναι, τὸ δὲ ἐνδεές. Ποῖον οὖν πρότερον ἀναγκαῖον εἰπεῖν· Πῶς 57.28 ἐκ τοῦ ∆αυῒδ ἡ Παρθένος. Πῶς οὖν εἰσόμεθα ὅτι ἐκ τοῦ ∆αυΐδ; Ἄκουσον τοῦ Θεοῦ λέγοντος τῷ Γαβριὴλ, ἀπελθεῖν Πρὸς παρθένον μεμνηστευμένην ἀνδρὶ, ᾧ ὄνομα Ἰωσὴφ, ἐξ οἴκου καὶ πατριᾶς ∆αυῒδ. Τί τοίνυν βούλει τούτου σαφέστερον, ὅταν ἀκούσῃς ὅτι ἐξ οἴκου καὶ πατριᾶς ∆αυῒδ ἦν ἡ Παρθένος; δʹ. Ὅθεν δῆλον, ὅτι καὶ ὁ Ἰωσὴφ ἐκεῖθεν ἦν. Καὶ γὰρ νόμος ἦν ὁ κελεύων μὴ ἐξεῖναι γαμεῖν ἄλλοθεν, ἀλλ' ἢ ἐκ τῆς αὐτῆς φυλῆς. Καὶ ὁ πατριάρχης δὲ Ἰακὼβ ἀπὸ τῆς Ἰούδα φυλῆς ἀναστήσεσθαι αὐτὸν προὔλεγεν, οὕτω λέγων· Οὐκ ἐκλείψει ἄρχων ἐξ Ἰούδα, οὐδὲ ἡγούμενος ἐκ τῶν μηρῶν αὐτοῦ, ἕως ἂν ἔλθῃ ᾧ ἀπόκειται· καὶ αὐτὸς προσδοκία ἐθνῶν. Ἡ γὰρ προφητεία αὕτη, ὅτι μὲν ἐκ τῆς φυλῆς Ἰούδα γέγονε, δηλοῖ· ὅτι δὲ καὶ τοῦ γένους ∆αυῒδ, οὐκέτι. Ἆρα οὖν τῇ φυλῇ Ἰούδα οὐχὶ γένος ἓν ἦν μόνον τὸ τοῦ ∆αυῒδ, ἀλλὰ καὶ πολλὰ ἕτερα· καὶ συνέβαινε τῆς μὲν φυλῆς εἶναι τοῦ Ἰούδα, οὐκέτι δὲ καὶ τοῦ γένους ∆αυΐδ; Ἀλλ' ἵνα μὴ τοῦτο λέγῃς, ἀνεῖλέ σου τὴν ὑπόνοιαν ταύτην ὁ εὐαγγελιστὴς, εἰπὼν, ὅτι ἐξ οἴκου καὶ πατριᾶς ἦν ∆αυΐδ. Εἰ δὲ καὶ ἑτέρωθεν βούλει τοῦτο μαθεῖν, οὐδὲ ἑτέρας ἀπορήσομεν ἀποδείξεως· οὐ γὰρ δὴ μόνον ἀπὸ φυλῆς οὐκ ἐξῆν ἑτέρας, ἀλλ' οὐδὲ ἀπὸ πατριᾶς ἑτέρας, τουτέστι, συγγενείας, γαμεῖν. Ὥστε ἄν τε τῇ Παρθένῳ, τὸ ἐξ οἴκου καὶ πατριᾶς ∆αυῒδ ἁρμόσωμεν, ἕστηκε τὸ εἰρημένον· ἄν τε τῷ Ἰωσὴφ, δι' ἐκείνου καὶ τοῦτο κατασκευάζεται. Εἰ γὰρ ἐξ οἴκου ∆αυῒδ καὶ πατριᾶς ἦν [ὁ Ἰωσὴφ], οὐκ ἂν ἄλλοθεν ἔλαβε τὴν γυναῖκα, ἢ ὅθεν καὶ αὐτὸς ἦν. Τί οὖν, εἰ παρέβη τὸν νόμον; φησί. ∆ιὰ γὰρ τοῦτο προλαβὼν ἐμαρτύρησεν, ὅτι δίκαιος ἦν ὁ Ἰωσὴφ, ἵνα μὴ τοῦτο λέγῃς, ἀλλὰ μαθὼν αὐτοῦ τὴν ἀρετὴν, κἀκεῖνο εἰδῇς, ὅτι οὐκ ἂν παρέβη τὸν νόμον. Ὁ γὰρ οὕτω φιλάνθρωπος καὶ πάθους ἐκτὸς, ὡς μηδὲ ὑποψίας ἀναγκαζούσης βουληθῆναι ἐπιχειρῆσαι κολάσαι τὴν Παρθένον, πῶς ἂν δι' ἡδονὴν παρέβη τὸν νόμον; Ὁ γὰρ ὑπὲρ νόμον φιλοσοφήσας (καὶ γὰρ τὸ ἀφεῖναι καὶ λάθρα ἀφεῖναι, ὑπὲρ νόμον φιλοσοφοῦντος ἦν), πῶς ἂν παρὰ νόμον ἔπραξέ τι, καὶ ταῦτα οὐδεμιᾶς ἀναγκαζούσης αἰτίας; Ἀλλ' ὅτι μὲν ἐκ τοῦ γένους τοῦ ∆αυῒδ ἦν ἡ Παρθένος, ἐκ τούτων δῆλον· τίνος δὲ ἕνεκεν αὐτὴν οὐκ ἐγενεαλόγησεν, ἀλλὰ τὸν Ἰωσὴφ, ἀναγκαῖον εἰπεῖν. Τίνος οὖν ἕνεκεν; Οὐκ ἦν νόμος παρὰ Ἰουδαίοις γενεαλογεῖσθαι γυναῖκας. Ἵν' οὖν καὶ τὸ ἔθος φυλάξῃ καὶ μὴ δόξῃ παραχαράττειν ἐκ προοιμίων, καὶ τὴν κόρην ἡμῖν γνωρίσῃ, διὰ τοῦτο τοὺς προγόνους αὐτῆς σιγήσας, τὸν Ἰωσὴφ ἐγενεαλόγησεν. Εἴτε γὰρ ἐπὶ τῆς Παρθένου τοῦτο ἐποίησεν, ἔδοξεν ἂν καινοτομεῖν· εἴτε τὸν Ἰωσὴφ ἐσίγησεν, οὐκ ἂν ἔγνωμεν τῆς Παρθένου τοὺς προγόνους. Ἵν' οὖν μάθωμεν τὴν Μαρίαν, τίς ἦν καὶ πόθεν, καὶ τὰ τῶν νόμων ἀκίνητα μείνῃ, τὸν μνηστῆρα αὐτῆς ἐγενεαλόγησε, καὶ ἔδειξεν ὄντα ἐκ τῆς οἰκίας ∆αυΐδ. Τούτου γὰρ ἀποδειχθέντος, κἀκεῖνο συναποδέδεικται, τὸ καὶ τὴν Παρθένον ἐκεῖθεν εἶναι, διὰ τὸ τὸν δίκαιον τοῦτον, καθάπερ ἔφθην εἰπὼν, μὴ ἀνασχέσθαι ἑτέρωθεν ἀγαγέσθαι γυναῖκα. Ἔστι δὲ καὶ ἕτερον λόγον εἰπεῖν μυστικώτερον, δι' ὃν ἐσιγήθησαν 57.29 οἱ τῆς Παρθένου πρόγονοι, ὅνπερ οὐκ εὔκαιρον νῦν ἐκκαλύψαι διὰ τὸ πολλὰ εἶναι τὰ εἰρημένα. ∆ιόπερ ἐνταῦθα στήσαντες τὸν περὶ τῶν ζητημάτων λόγον, κατέχωμεν τέως μετὰ ἀκριβείας τὰ ἐκκαλυφθέντα ἡμῖν· οἷον, διατί τοῦ ∆αυῒδ ἐμνήσθη πρῶτον· διατί τὸ βιβλίον, γενέσεως ἐκάλεσε Βιβλίον· διατί εἶπεν, Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ· πῶς ἡ γέννησις κοινὴ καὶ οὐ κοινή· πόθεν ὅτι ἡ Μαρία τοῦ ∆αυῒδ οὖσα ἐδείχθη· καὶ τίνος ἕνεκεν ὁ Ἰωσὴφ ἐγενεαλογήθη, σιγηθέντων τῶν ἐκείνης προγόνων. Ἂν μὲν γὰρ φυλάττητε ταῦτα, προθυμοτέρους ἡμᾶς καὶ πρὸς τὰ μέλλοντα ἐργάσεσθε· ἂν δὲ ἀποπτύσητε καὶ ἐκβάλητε αὐτὰ τῆς ψυχῆς, καὶ πρὸς τὰ λοιπὰ ὀκνηρότερον διακεισόμεθα. Οὐδὲ γὰρ γῆς τὰ πρότερα διαφθειράσης σπέρματα ἕλοιτ' ἂν ἐπιμελεῖσθαι γεωργός. ∆ιὸ παρακαλῶ ταῦτα στρέφειν. Ἀπὸ γὰρ τοῦ τὰ τοιαῦτα