The Deception of Tamar and the Lineage of Christ
To her. But she had not seen him before, except that she had taken the ring, the cord, and the staff. As soon as he had intercourse with her, he went to his own pastures; but she, having changed back into the widow's clothes, was hiding unnoticed.
After Judas had sent away the servant, the servant searched for the cord and the things following, and did not find them; he was being torn by the absurdity, but he was enduring, desiring to see the deception fully. After time had passed, Tamar became pregnant, and Judah, having heard that she had conceived through fornication, commanded that she be burned alive.
But the woman being led away sends to Judah the cord, the ring, and the staff, saying: 'From the man to whom these belong, I have conceived; therefore recognize whose the ring is, and the cord, and the staff.' And Judah, mocking at the matter, and then becoming enraged, was reproaching himself for the injustice, saying: 'She is justified, or I, because of whom I did not give her to my son Shelah.'
But she, having given birth, brought forth twins in delivering. And the elder, that is, the first, put forth his hand, and the midwife tied red wool to his hand, saying: 'This one will come out first'; and immediately the child drew his hand inward, and his brother came out first and his name was called Perez; and after this the brother came out, on whom the red was in the hand, and he was named Zerah. Of these Joseph was a descendant, the one who remembers the immaculate Mary, from whom Christ took his flesh.
For Perez, as the evangelist Matthew recounts (Matt 1:3), begat Esrron, and Esrron begat Aram, and Aram begat Aminadab, and Aminadab begat Naasson, and Naasson begat Salmon, and Salmon begat Booz, and Booz begat Obed from Ruth, and Obed begat Jesse, and Jesse begat David the king; and David the king begat Solomon from the woman of Uriah, and Solomon begat Rehoboam, and Rehoboam begat Abijah, and Abijah begat Asa, and Asa begat Jehoshaphat; and Jehoshaphat begat Joram, and Joram begat Ozias, and Ozias begat Jehoiakim, and Jehoiakim begat Jeconias and his brothers during the deportation to Babylon; and after the deportation to Babylon, Jeconias begat Salathiel, and Salathiel begat Zorobabel, and Zorobabel begat Abiud, and Abiud begat Eliakim, and Eliakim begat Azor, and Azor begat Zadok, and Zadok begat Achim, and Achim begat Eliud, and Eliud begat Eleazar, and Eleazar begat Matthan, and Matthan begat Jacob, and Jacob begat Joseph the husband of Mary, from whom was born Jesus who is called the Christ (Matt 1:16). All the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations, and from David to the deportation to Babylon are fourteen generations, and from the deportation to Babylon to the Christ are fourteen generations.
It is necessary for us to seek by what kind of logic Matthew and Luke disagree (Luke 3:23) concerning Joseph in the genealogy: the one writes Jacob as the son of Matthan, but Luke writes him the son of Heli of Melchi; and how these, being of different generations, both Melchi and Matthan appear as grandfathers of Joseph. This is therefore being made clear. For first Matthan, the one of the lineage of Solomon, takes a wife named Ethan, and from this he begets Jacob, and dies. And Melchi, the one of the lineage of Matthan, takes her, and produces from her Heli. And so then both Matthan and Melchi, having taken the same woman, are two half-brothers.
Greek
αὑτῇ. Ἡ δὲ οὐ πρότερον εἶξεν, εἰ μὴ ἐνέχυρον τὸν δακτύλιον, καὶ τὸν ὁρμίσκον, καὶ τὴν βακτηρίαν εἴληφεν. Ὡς δὲ συνεμίγη αὐτῇ, αὐτὸς μὲν εἰς τὰ ποίμνια αὐτοῦ ἀφίκετο· ἡ δὲ μεταμφιεσαμένη πάλιν τὰ τῆς χήρας ἐνδύματα, ἐκρύπτετο λανθάνουσα. Ὡς δ' ἀποστείλας ὁ Ἰούδας τὸν ἔριφον ἐπεζήτει τὸν ὁρμίσκον καὶ τὰ ἑξῆς, καὶ οὐχ εὗρεν, ἐπὶ τῷ παραλογισμῷ διεπρίετο μέντοι, ἐκαρτέρει δὲ φωρᾶσαι παντοίως τὴν ἀπάτην βουλόμενος. Χρόνου οὖν παρελθόντος ἔγγυος ἡ Θάμαρ γίνεται, καὶ ἀκούσας ὁ Ἰούδας, ὅτι ἐκ πορνείας συνείληφε, προστάττει ζῶσαν αὐτὴν καταφλεχθῆναι. Ἡ δὲ ἀγομένη ἀποστέλλει τῷ Ἰούδᾳ τὸν ὁρμίσκον, καὶ τὸν δακτύλιον, καὶ τὴν ῥάβδον, φάσκουσα· Ἐκ τοῦ ἀνθρώπου, οὗτινος ταῦτά ἐστι, ἐγὼ συνείληφα, Ἐπίγνωθι οὖν τίνος ὁ δακτύλιος, καὶ ὁ ὁρμίσκος, καὶ ἡ ῥάβδος. Ὁ δὲ Ἰούδας, σχετλιάσας ἐπὶ τῷ πράγματι. καὶ ἔνθους γενόμενος, αὐτὸς ἑαυτὸν ἐπὶ τῇ ἀδικίᾳ κατεμέμφετο, λέγων· ∆εδικαίωται αὕτη, ἢ ἐγὼ, οὗ ἕνεκεν οὐκ ἔδωκα αὐτὴν Σηλὼμ τῷ υἱῷ μου. Αὕτη δὲ, γενομένη ἐπίτεξ, διδύμους ἐν τῷ τίκτειν προσήνεγκεν. Καὶ ὁ μὲν μείζων, τουτέστιν ὁ πρῶτος τὴν χεῖρα αὑτοῦ προεξέβαλε, καὶ ἡ μαῖα λῶμα κόκκινον τῇ χειρὶ αὐτοῦ προσέδησε, φάσκουσα· Οὗτος ἐξελεύσεται πρῶτος· καὶ εὐθέως τὸ παιδίον τὴν χεῖρα ἕνδον συνήγαγε, καὶ ἐξῆλθε πρῶτος ὁ ἀδελφὸς αὐτοῦ καὶ ἐκλήθη τὸ ὄνομα αὐτοῦ Φαρές· καὶ μετὰ τοῦτον ἐξῆλθεν ὁ ἀδελφὸς, ἐφ' ᾧ ἦν τὸ κόκκινον ἐν τῇ χειρὶ, καὶ ἐπωνομάσθη Ζαρά. Τούτων ἐτύγχανεν ὁ Ἰωσὴφ ἀπόγονος ὁ μνήστωρ τῆς ἀχράντου Μαρίας, ἐξ ἧς ὁ Χριστὸς τὸ σαρκίον ἀνείληφεν. Φαρὲς γὰρ, ὡς ὁ εὐαγγελιστὴς Ματθαῖος ἱστορεῖ, ἐγέννησε τὸν Ἐσρὼμ, Ἐσρὼμ δὲ ἐγέννησε τὸν Ἀρὰμ, Ἀρὰμ δὲ ἐγέννησε τὸν Ἀμιναδὰβ, Ἀμινδὰβ δὲ ἐγέννησε τὸν Ναασσὼν, Ναασσὼν δὲ ἐγέννησε τὸν Σαλμὼν, Σαλμὼν δὲ ἐγέννησε τὸν Βοὸζ, Βοὸζ δὲ ἐγέννησε τὸν Ὀβὴδ ἐκ τῆς Ῥοὺθ, Ὀβὴδ δεἐγέννησε τὸν Ἰεσσαὶ, Ἰεσσαὶ δὲ ἐγέννησε τὸν ∆αυῒδ τὸν βασιλέα· ∆αυῒδ δὲ ὁ βασιλεὺς ἐγέννησε τὸν Σολομῶνα ἐκ τῆς τοῦ Οὐρίου, Σολομὼν δὲ ἐγέννησε τὸν Ῥοβοὰμ, Ῥοβοὰμ δὲ ἐγέννησε τὸν Ἀβιὰ,Ἀβιὰ δὲ ἐγέννησε τὸν Ἀσὰ, Ἀσὰ δὲ ἐγέννησετὸν Ἰωσαφάτ· Ἰωσαφὰτ δὲ ἐγέννησε τὸν Ἰωρὰμ,Ἰωρὰμ δὲ ἐγέννησε τὸν Ὀζίαν, Ὀζίας δὲ ἐγέννησετὸν Ἰωάθαμ, Ἰωάθαμ δὲ ἐγέννησε τὸν Ἐζεκίαν, Ἐζκίας δὲ ἐγέννησε τὸν Μανασσῆ, Μανασσῆς δὲ ἐγέννησε τὸν Ἀμμὼν, Ἀμμὼν δὲ ἐγέννησε τὸν Ἰωσίαν, Ἰωσίας δὲ ἐγέννησε τὸν Ἰεχονίαν καὶτοὺς ἀδελφοὺς αὐτοῦ ἐπὶ τῆς μετοικεσίας Βαβυλῶνος· μετὰ δὲ τὴν μετοικεσίαν Βαβυλῶνος, Ἰεχονίας ἐγέννησε τὸν Σαλαθιὴλ, Σαλαθιὴλ δὲ ἐγέννησε τὸν Ζοροβάβελ, Ζοροβάβελ δὲ ἐγέννησε 772 τὸν Ἀβιοὺδ, Ἀβιοὺδ δὲ ἐγέννησε τὸν Ἐλιακεὶμ,Ἐλιακεὶμ δὲ ἐγέννησε τὸν Ἀζὼρ, Ἀζὼρ δὲ ἐγέννησε τὸν Σαδὼκ, Σαδὼκ δὲ ἐγέννησε τὸν Ἀχεὶμ, Ἀχεὶμ δὲ ἐγέννησε τὸν Ἐλιοὺδ, Ἐλιοὺδ δὲ ἐγέννησε τὸν Ἐλεάζαρ, Ἐλεάζαρ δὲ ἐγέννησε τὸν Ματθὰν, Ματθὰν δὲ ἐγέννησε τὸν Ἰακὼβ, Ἰακὼβ δὲ ἐγέννησε τὸν Ἰωσὴφ τὸν ἄνδρα Μαρίας, ἐξ ἧς ἐγεννήθη Ἰησοῦς ὁ λεγόμενος Χριστός. Πᾶσαι νῦν αἱ γενεαὶ ἀπὸ Ἀβραὰμ ἕως ∆αυῒδ γενεαὶ δεκατέσσαρες, καὶ ἀπὸ ∆αυῒδ ἕως τῆς μετοικεσίας Βαβυλῶνος γενεαὶ δεκατέσσαρες, καὶ ἀπὸ τῆς μετοικεσίας Βαβυλῶνος ἕως τοῦ Χριστοῦ γενεαὶ δεκατέσσαρες. Ζητητέον δὲ ἡμῖν κατὰ ποῖον λόγον ὁ Ματθαῖος καὶ ὁ Λουκᾶς ἐν τῇ γενεαλογίᾳ διαφωνοῦσι τοῦ Ἰωσήφ· ὁ μὲν υἱὸν Ἰακὼβ γράφων αὐτὸν υἱοῦ Ματθὰν, ὁ δὲ Λουκᾶς υἱὸν Ἡλεὶ τοῦ Μελχεί· καὶ πῶς οὗτοι, διαφόρων γενῶν ὑπάρχοντες, ὅ τε Μελχεὶ καὶ ὁ Ματθὰν, πάπποι τοῦ Ἰωσὴφ ἀναφαίνονται. Ἔστιν οὖν τοῦτο σαφηνιζόμενον. Πρῶτος γὰρ Ματθὰν, ὁ ἐκ γένους Σολομῶντος, ἄγεται γυναῖκα Αἰθὰν ὀνόματι, καὶ ἐκ ταύτης γεννᾷ τὸν Ἰακὼβ, καὶ ἀποθνήσκει. Καὶ ἄγεται αὐτὴν ὁ Μελχεὶ ὁ ἐκ γένους Ματθὰν, ἐκποιεῖ ἐξ αὐτῆς τὸν Ἡλεί. Καὶ δὴ οὖν ὅ τε Ματθὰν καὶ ὁ Μελχεὶ, τὴν αὐτὴν ἀγαγόμενοι γυναῖκα, δύο ὁμομητρίους
About this text
Commentary on the six days of creation (PG marks Spurious) attributed to Eustathius of Antioch.
Original English Translation — new OET from PG 18 Greek.
Catalogue & scope
Khazarzar scan
Witnesses
- Copy-text PG 18 (Khazarzar) (Greek)
This is an AI-assisted study translation. Source fidelity and completeness have not been independently certified. Open Greek on each section for the source text. This is not a complete critical edition.