Shamhuth

The Greek repeats the verb ἐγέννησεν ("begot, fathered") in every clause; for oral reading the English carries it forward from the previous verse and states it only once per generation, giving the list a steady, chantable rhythm. "Was the father of" renders a verb that in this genealogy simply marks descent, not necessarily immediate paternity. The names appear here in their familiar Hebrew Scripture forms (Perez, Zerah, Hezron, Ram) rather than transliterations of Matthew's Greek spellings (Phares, Zara, Esrom, Aram), so that the hearer recognizes the figures from earlier narratives. The phrase ἐκ τῆς Θαμάρ is rendered "by Tamar"; alternatives are "whose mother was Tamar" or "from Tamar."

The Greek preposition ἐκ with the genitive ("out of, from") is the standard way of naming the mother in a birth notice, so ἐκ τῆς Θαμάρ marks maternal origin. The definite article before her name is normal Greek usage with proper names and carries no special emphasis in English. The Hebrew names behind the Greek forms carry meanings tied to the birth story: Perez suggests "a breaking out, a breach," and Zerah is linked to "brightness" or "scarlet dawn" — echoing the scarlet thread tied to the hand that emerged first.

Tamar was the daughter-in-law of Judah; when denied her right to a levirate marriage after being widowed, she disguised herself and secured offspring from Judah himself, and Judah declared her more in the right than he was. Perez and Zerah were the twins born from that encounter. Genealogies of this era normally listed fathers only, so the naming of a mother is deliberate. The line through Perez became the leading clan of Judah, and the intervening generations to Hezron and Ram are compressed from tribal records.

Tamar is the first of four women named in this genealogy, all of them associated with irregular or outsider circumstances. Their presence signals from the outset that the lineage of the Messiah runs through human failure, scandal, and unexpected grace rather than through unblemished pedigree — a theme this Gospel develops in its portrayal of whom God welcomes. Naming the non-elect twin Zerah alongside Perez also preserves the memory that God's choice within a family is his own to make.

The manuscript tradition is stable here, with only minor spelling variation in the transliterated names (for example Ζάρα/Ζάρε, Ἐσρώμ/Ἑσρώμ). At the name Ram, the parallel genealogy in another Gospel shows a more complicated tradition, where some witnesses insert additional names between Hezron and Amminadab; Matthew's shorter form follows the list preserved in the Hebrew Scriptures.

The Greek verb ἐγέννησεν ("begot," "became the father of") is repeated with every link in the chain, but rendering it each time in English produces a heavy, stumbling line. Since the verb is understood from verse 2, the translation uses the compact "X the father of Y" pattern, which keeps the list moving at the steady, chant-like pace suited to reading aloud. The connecting particle δέ ("and," "now") is likewise left untranslated, since English marks the sequence by rhythm and commas. The personal names are given in the familiar English forms drawn from the Hebrew Scriptures (Amminadab, Nahshon, Salmon) rather than transliterated directly from the Greek (Aminadab, Naasson, Salmon), so that readers hear the same men they meet in the earlier books.

ἐγέννησεν is aorist active of γεννάω. The active voice is normally used of the father's role ("begot"), while the passive ("was born") is used of the mother's; the same verb reappears in the passive at the climax of the genealogy in verse 16, quietly breaking the pattern. The Hebrew names behind the Greek carry their own meanings: Amminadab is roughly "my kinsman is generous/noble," Nahshon is related to a root associated with serpents or divination, and Salmon suggests "clothing" or "garment."

These three names span Israel's time in Egypt and the wilderness. Nahshon son of Amminadab is named as the chief of the tribe of Judah during the wilderness census and the first to present his offering at the dedication of the altar; his sister Elisheba married Aaron, linking the royal line of Judah to the priestly line of Levi. Salmon belongs to the generation that entered Canaan under Joshua, which fits the mention of Rahab of Jericho in the next verse. The list matches the genealogies preserved in the Hebrew Scriptures, where the same succession from Ram to Jesse appears.

The Greek manuscripts vary in the spelling of the last name here and at the start of the next verse, with forms such as Σαλμών, Σαλά, and Σαλμάν appearing in different witnesses; the variation is orthographic and does not affect the identity of the person or the sense of the line.

The generations named here belong to the years of slavery and wandering, when the promise to Abraham seemed suspended. By listing them without comment, the genealogy affirms that God's purpose continued unbroken through obscurity and exile as surely as through the reigns of kings. The link through Nahshon also joins the coming Messiah to both the leadership of Judah and, by marriage, to the priesthood of Aaron.