I am presently teaching a class on Matthew (Seminar in Besorot) so I am wading through this first book of the Apostolic Writings. Most Messianic Jews know that Matthew identifies Yeshua as the son of Abraham in the opening line of his besorah (gospel)—“This is the genealogy of Yeshua the Messiah, son of David, son of Avraham” (Matt 1:1)—but have you ever noticed that Matthew seems to return to this theme at the end of his narrative?

Matthew begins his besorah by identifying Yeshua with Abraham who commences the story of Israel’s Messiah. Emphasis on Abraham then recurs at the conclusion of the genealogy when Matthew summarizes the genealogical chain that links Yeshua to Abraham, “Thus there were four- teen generations from Avraham to David, fourteen generations from David to the Babylonian Exile, and fourteen generations from the Babylonian Exile to the Messiah” (Matt 1:17).

God’s concern for the Gentiles is another literary theme in Matthew 1. The mention of Gentiles who joined themselves to Israel, such as Tamar, Rahab, Ruth and Uriah, rep- resents a subtext that Abraham and his seed were called to bless the nations (Matt 1:3, 5, 6; cf. 2:1–2; 3:9; 8:11; Gen 12:2–3; 17:5; 18:18; 1 Macc 12:19–21).