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the prophet himself: "He will build my city, and he will restore the captivity of my people."

2. Therefore, at the proper time, Matthew proclaims the coming of the Redeemer to Jeconiah and to his soul, and to those who had suffered the same dishonor and captivity of souls as he, he who traced the genealogy of the Son of God, and indeed of other blameworthy and sinful men; for it was one and the same reason for which he mentioned David’s transgression concerning Uriah’s wife, and Judah’s fornication, and Ruth the foreigner and Moabitess; and it is the same reason for which he introduces Him as living with tax collectors and sinners, and enduring the most shameful things from men, and finally being crucified with the malefactors. And this was the reason for which it was said: “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.” For it was necessary for the one who was to become the purification for those who had sinned long ago and for those who would come after, and the ransom for human souls, to pass through all the things mentioned and, being sinless, to endure the punishments for sinners and the impious, so that the ordinances might be fulfilled in him, and the other things; and for whom the wonderful Isaiah says: “He bears our sins, and suffers for us; he was wounded for our transgressions, and bruised for our iniquities; by his stripe we are all healed.”

3. And if the prophet should say concerning Jeconiah to the earth, "Write this man an outcast, because there shall not arise from his seed one sitting upon the throne of David, ruling any longer in Judah," he does not in any way abolish the existence of his seed, but rather that one of his seed should reign over the nation of the Jews; which has also proven true; for it says, "Jeconiah was dishonored as a vessel for which there is no use, because he and his seed were cast into a land which he did not know;" clearly prophesying the land of Babylon; but nevertheless, he who came to proclaim release to the captives, and the chains of sins, and he who was sent to loose the bonds of the souls long bound under death, has come for the salvation of all these; wherefore David says, prophesying concerning him: “He sent his word, and healed them from their destructions; confess to the Lord his mercies and his wonders 22.921 to the sons of men; for he shattered gates of bronze, and broke bars of iron; and he helped them from the way of their iniquity; they were humbled, and he led them out of darkness and the shadow of death, and broke their bonds.” For these things are said concerning the redemption from death that came through Christ, as the oracle also agrees which says: “Death has swallowed them up, having prevailed.” And again: “God has wiped away every tear from every face.” But it must be observed that the oracle does not fail which says, “There shall not arise from the seed of Jeconiah one sitting upon the throne of David, ruling any longer in Judah;” since no one from the tribe of Judah after Jeconiah was established as a successor to the kingdom of David; for after the Babylonian captivity, the whole nation continued to be ruled by the high priests until the coming of our Savior Jesus Christ; for in his time there were tetrarchs, such as Herod and Philip, and Pilate the governor, and over all a king.

11. Why does he use subdivisions in the genealogy, not

joining together the forty-two generations from Abraham to Christ, but dividing the successions according to the divisions he set out.

Because of the different states of the people that are presented from history;

for one was from Abraham to David, and again another from David, and the one

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αὐτὸς προφήτης· «Οὗτος οἰκοδομήσει τὴν πόλιν μου, καὶ τὴν αἰχμαλωσίαν τοῦ λαοῦ μου ἐπιστρέψει.»

βʹ. Κατὰ καιρὸν τοιγαροῦν αὐτῷ τε Ἰεχονίᾳ καὶ τῇ τούτου ψυχῇ, τοῖς τε τὴν ἴσην αὐτῷ πεπονθόσιν ἀτιμίαν τε καὶ ψυχῶν αἰχμαλωσίαν, τὴν τοῦ Λυτρωτοῦ παρουσίαν εὐαγγελίζεται Ματθαῖος ὁ τὴν γένεσιν τοῦ Υἱοῦ τοῦ Θεοῦ, καὶ δὴ τῶν ἄλλων ὑπαιτίων καὶ ἁμαρτωλῶν ἀνδρῶν καταγαγών· εἷς γὰρ ἦν καὶ ὁ αὐτὸς λόγος, δι' ὃν καὶ τῆς τοῦ ∆αβὶδ περὶ τὴν τοῦ Οὐρίου γυναῖκα παρανομίας, τῆς τε τοῦ Ἰούδα πορνείας, τῆς τε ἀλλοφύλου καὶ Μωαβίτιδος Ῥοὺθ ἐμνήσθη· ὁ αὐτὸς δὲ τυγχάνει καθ' ὃν καὶ τελώναις καὶ ἁμαρτωλοῖς συμβιοῦντα, καὶ αἴσχιστά γε ὑπὸ ἀνθρώπων ὑπομένοντα, καὶ τέλος ἅμα τοῖς κακούργοις σταυρούμενον αὐτὸν εἰσάγει ἦν δ' οὗτος ὁ λόγος καθ' ὃν εἴρηται· «Ἴδε ὁ ἀμνὸς τοῦ Θεοῦ ὁ αἴρων τὴν ἁμαρτίαν τοῦ κόσμου.» Ἐχρῆν γὰρ τὸν μέλλοντα καθάρσιον γίνεσθαι τῶν πάλαι πώποτε πεπλημμεληκότων καὶ τῶν γε μετὰ ταῦτα γενησομένων, ἀντίψυχόν τε τῶν ἀνθρωπίνων ψυχῶν, διὰ πάντων τῶν εἰρημένων διελθεῖν καὶ τὰς κατὰ τῶν ἁμαρτωλῶν καὶ ἀσεβῶν τιμωρίας αὐτὸν ἀναμάρτητον ὄντα ὑπομεῖναι, ὡς ἂν πληρωθείη εἰς αὐτὸν τὰ θεσπίσματα, τά τε ἄλλα· καὶ δι' ὅν φησιν ὁ θαυμάσιος Ἡσαΐας· «Οὗτος τὰς ἁμαρτίας ἡμῶν αἵρει, καὶ περὶ ἡμῶν ὀδυνᾶται· αὐτὸς ἐτραυματίσθη διὰ τὰς ἁμαρτίας ἡμῶν, καὶ μεμαλάκισται διὰ τὰς ἀνομίας ἡμῶν· τῷ μώλωπι αὐτοῦ ἡμεῖς πάντες ἰάθημεν.»

γʹ. Εἰ δὲ λέγοι ὁ προφήτης περὶ τοῦ Ἰεχονία τῇ γῇ, «Γράψον τὸν ἄνδρα τοῦτον ἐκκήρυκτον, ὅτι οὐ μὴ ἀναστῇ ἐκ τοῦ σπέρματος αὐτοῦ καθήμενος ἐπὶ θρόνου ∆αβὶδ, ἄρχων ἔτι ἐν τῷ Ἰούδᾳ,» οὐ πάντως ἀναιρεῖ τὸ στήσεσθαι αὐτοῦ σπέρμα, ἀλλὰ τοῦ βασιλεῦσαι τοῦ Ἰουδαίων ἔθνους ἐκ τοῦ σπέρματος αὐτοῦ· ὃ καὶ γέγονεν ἀληθές· λέγει γοῦν, «Ἠτιμώθη Ἰεχονίας ὡς σκεῦος οὗ οὐκ ἔστιν αὐτοῦ χρεία, διότι ἀπεῤῥίφη αὐτὸς καὶ τὸ σπέρμα αὐτοῦ εἰς γῆν ἣν οὐκ ᾔδει·» ἄντικρυς τὴν Βαβυλῶνος γῆν θεσπίζων· πλὴν ἀλλ' ὁ ἐλθὼν κηρύξαι αἰχμαλώτοις ἄφεσιν, καὶ τὰς τῶν ἁμαρτιῶν σειρὰς, τῶν τε πάλαι ὑπὸ τὸν θάνατον πεπεδημένων ψυχῶν τούς τε δεσμοὺς λῦσαι ἀπεσταλμένος, ἐπὶ τὴν πάντων τούτων ἐλήλυθε σωτηρίαν· διό φησιν ὁ ∆αβὶδ περὶ αὐτοῦ θεσπίζων· «Ἀπέστειλε τὸν λόγον αὐτοῦ, καὶ ἰάσατο αὐτοὺς ἐκ τῶν διαφθορῶν αὐτῶν· ἐξομολογεῖσθε τῷ Κυρίῳ τὰ ἐλέη αὐτοῦ καὶ θαυμάσια αὐτοῦ 22.921 τοῖς υἱοῖς τῶν ἀνθρώπων· ὅτι συνέτριψε πύλας χαλκᾶς, καὶ μοχλοὺς σιδηροῦς συνέκλασε· καὶ ἀντελάβετο αὐτῶν ἐξ ὁδοῦ ἀνομίας αὐτῶν· ἐταπεινώθησαν, καὶ ἐξήγαγεν αὐτοὺς ἐκ σκότους καὶ σκιᾶς θανάτου, καὶ τοὺς δεσμοὺς αὐτῶν διέῤῥηξε.» Ταῦτα γὰρ περὶ τῆς ἐκ τοῦ θανάτου διὰ Χριστοῦ γενομένης ἀπολυτρώσεως λέγεται, ὡς συνᾴδει καὶ τὸ φάσκον λόγιον· «Κατέπιεν ὁ θάνατος ἰσχύσας.» Καὶ πάλιν· «Ἀφεῖλεν ὁ Θεὸς πᾶν δάκρυον ἀπὸ παντὸς προσώπου.» Τηρητέον δὲ ὅτι μὴ διαπίπτει ὁ χρησμὸς ὁ φήσας, «Οὐ μὴ ἀναστῇ ἐκ σπέρματος Ἰεχονίου καθήμενος ἐπὶ θρόνου ∆αβὶδ, ἄρχων ἔτι ἐν τῷ Ἰούδᾳ·» ἐπεὶ μηδεὶς ἐκ τῆς τοῦ Ἰούδα φυλῆς μετὰ Ἰεχονίαν τῆς τοῦ ∆αβὶδ βασιλείας κατέστη διάδοχος· μετὰ γοῦν τὴν ἀπὸ Βαβυλῶνος αἰχμαλωσίαν, ὑπὸ τοῖς ἀρχιερεῦσι διετέλεσε τὸ πᾶν ἔθνος ἀρχόμενον μέχρι τῆς τοῦ Σωτῆρος ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ παρουσίας· ἦσαν γοῦν κατ' αὐτὸν τετράρχαι οἱ περὶ τὸν Ἡρώδην καὶ Φίλιππον, ἡγεμών τε Πιλάτος, καὶ ἐπὶ πᾶσι βασιλεύς.

ΙΑʹ. ∆ιὰ τί ταῖς ἐν τῇ γενεαλογίᾳ κέχρηται ὑποδιαστο λαῖς, μὴ

ὁμοῦ συνάψας ἀπὸ Ἀβραὰμ ἐπὶ τὸν Χριστὸν γενεὰς τεσσαράκοντα δύο, διελὼν δὲ τὰς διαδοχὰς καθ' οὓς ἐξέθετο ἀφορισμούς.

∆ιὰ τὰς διαφόρους καταστάσεις τοῦ λαοῦ τὰς ἐκ τῆς ἱστορίας παρισταμένας·

ἄλλη μὲν γὰρ ἦν ἡ ἀπὸ Ἀβραὰμ καὶ ἐπὶ ∆αβὶδ, καὶ πάλιν ἑτέρα ἡ ἀπὸ ∆αβὶδ, ἥτε