What Does Matthew 1:8 Mean in the King James?
And Asa begat Josaphat; and Josaphat begat Joram; and Joram begat Ozias;
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
“Begat” can carry a line across generations left unnamed, so this is a chain of inherited meaning as well as descent.
THE MEANING
This line speaks now: life reaches you through a chain, and what is handed forward can carry meaning across generations that remain unnamed. Its names hold healing, YHWH’s judgment, exaltation, and strength within that chain.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The belief that your life begins with you, carrying nothing from those before you, gives way to a line that holds meaning across generations.
THE ROOT
ἐγέννησεν
egennēsen
GROWS FROM
γεν-
gen-
Beget, generate, bring forth.
“begat” in this verse is egennēsen. This stem also appears in γένεσις (genesis, origin or birth) and γένος (genos, kind or offspring): begetting belongs to a language of beginnings and lineage, so one verb can gather a chain larger than the immediate pair. The names add their own declaration: Asa (אָסָא, Asāʾ, often glossed “healer,” though its derivation is uncertain), Josaphat (יְהוֹשָׁפָט, Yehoshaphat, “YHWH has judged”), Joram (יְהוֹרָם, Yehoram, “YHWH is exalted”), and Ozias or Uzziah (עֻזִּיָּהוּ, ʿUzzīyyāhū, “YHWH is my strength”).
ALSO GROWS
genesis: Origin, birth, or coming into being.
γένεσις
The same word-family frames Matthew’s opening as a story of origin and lineage, not merely a list of isolated events.
genos: Kind, offspring, or lineage.
γένος
This branch brings out how “begat” can name an unfolding line of belonging, including generations not named here.
THE PATTERN
Meaning travels through generations, including people and links left unnamed in the record.
One generation shall praise thy works to another, and shall declare thy mighty acts.We will not hide them from their children, shewing to the generation to come the praises of the LORD, and his strength, and his wonderful works that he hath done.And the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also.THE THREAD
The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.The “generation” at the opening belongs to the same Greek word-family as “begat” here, linking the whole genealogy to origin and lineage. The names in this line are part of that unfolding declaration.
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