Wednesday 10th December
Read Matthew 1:7-10
“Solomon the father of Rehoboam,
Rehoboam the father of Abijah,
Abijah the father of Asa,
8 Asa the father of Jehoshaphat,
Jehoshaphat the father of Jehoram,
Jehoram the father of Uzziah,
9 Uzziah the father of Jotham,
Jotham the father of Ahaz,
Ahaz the father of Hezekiah,
10 Hezekiah the father of Manasseh,
Manasseh the father of Amon,
Amon the father of Josiah” (NIVUK)
Given how carefully crafted Matthew’s genealogy is, with deliberate allusions to David through the 14 generations, and Abraham (in other unique ways we may not appreciate fully as English speakers), it is surprising how willing the translators are to mistranslate two names. The assumption is that Matthew made a mistake and so there is a need to correct it. But the likelihood is that any ‘mistake’ was quite deliberate and carefully crafted indeed!
What mistake you may ask? Everything seems perfectly normal in this royal line of descent from King David. These are all the names we expect to see after all. Yet most of the original manuscripts don’t have ‘Asa’ (v7) or ‘Amon’ (v10)! Matthew has written, and most of the copies have preserved, ‘Asaph’ (v7) and ‘Amos’ (v10). One extra letter on ‘Asaph’ and one changed letter on ‘Amos’.
Matthew’s readers would have seen those changed names and known full well that they were indeed changed. It presents them with yet another clue as to who Jesus is. Asaph was the royal poet and psalmist, the director of worship for the people of God. Amon was a prophet, proclaiming God’s words during the peaceful reigns of Uzziah and Jeroboam. By slipping them into the genealogy during the line of royal descent, Matthew is indicating that we should expect Jesus to not only be the true King from David’s line, and the source of Abraham’s blessing, but also the one through whom God’s word and worship and wisdom will fully flow.
