Abouna R. Matheus: Genealogy of Jesus – Conference1) According to Mt.1,1-17An account of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the Son of Abraham. Semites always begin thebiography of a prominent person with his ancestral list. The 2 genealogies are mutually independent. Mt waswriting for the Jews. He wanted to prove to them that J was a pure Israelite of the House of David, fromwhich the Messiah had to come. He would have done his cause irreparable harm if he had not compiled thislist and based it on reliable information. He would have been confounded immediately.His first words sound like: 'a bible or genesis1 of J, the Christ, son of David, Son of Abraham'. The Jews gavea text rather lightly, especially an official one, such as a genealogy, the title 'book.' Jn.1,1 resembles Gn.1,1,but Mt.1,1 resembles Gn.5,1; 'the list of the descendants of Adam.' There is thus a parallelism between thecreation of Adam and the incarnation of the Word. The incarnation is the creation of a new humanity, whichthe virginal conception also implies. From the very beginning, he wishes to authenticate his ascription to J ofthe title Christ, i.e., the Anointed, the Messiah. This is why he connects Him with the 2 patriarchs who werethe famous heirs of the Messianic promise. After J there would be no more heirs, but He, J, will remain.In the list we find shepherds, kings, nomads, builders, poets, soldiers, saints, sinners and 4 women. Mt's listconsists of 2 numbers: 14 and 40. He has even sacrificed the 14 in order to reach 40. It is customary, to avoidsuch lists becoming too lengthy, to miss out a few intermediate links. This is evidently an aid to memory. It isnot the family tree in itself which interests the author; he has arranged it with his eye on the desired goal. Hewrites history in a way which reveals its meaning. Balak and Balaam offered 3 times 14 sacrifices to God. 14is the double of 7, the holy number; 14 = the 3 consonants of the name 'David'; 4+6+4=14. He is centr...