Joseph and the Birth of Isaac in Matthew 1

Abstract

The Matthean genealogy of Jesus (1:1–17) unambiguously presents Jesus—with equal emphasis—as Son of Abraham and Son of David, and of course as Messiah. The messianic Son-of-David theme is carried out explicitly in the accompanying pericope devoted to both the annunciation to Joseph and the birth of Jesus (1:18–25), but the Son-of-Abraham motif puzzlingly vanishes from view there. The cumulative weight, however, of an array of intertextual allusions to the OT story of Abraham, culminating in a direct quotation of Gen 17:19, constitutes in 1:18–25 an implicit appeal to the theme of the birth of Isaac and to the way in which the blessing of Abraham is to come to the nations of the world. Matthew of course immediately capitalizes on this theme in chap. 2 with the visit of the Magi, as well as in numerous other ways throughout the Gospel. But the implied reader sees it already expressed in chap. 1, emphasized there all the more, precisely because it is conveyed implicitly.