Matthew 1:14Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

The Jewish people meticulously recorded the names of their priests and rulers, as noted by Josephus Flavius. This is echoed in the book of Ezra, which states that upon the return of the Jews from Babylon, certain priests who could not be found in the records were stripped of their priestly duties: “these sought”, Ezra recounts, “the scripture to their generation, and found it not, and were cast out of the priesthood” (1 Ezra 2:62). The holy Matthew drew upon the Sacred Scriptures to compile the names preceding Abiud. Following Abiud, the subsequent names were known to him either through those texts, oral tradition, or illumination by the Holy Spirit, enabling him to establish a complete genealogy from Abraham to Christ.

Zerubbabel fathered Abiud, and Matthan fathered Jacob: these names may not be recognized in historical accounts; likely, they have been maintained through familial records or oral tradition. Nonetheless, this section of the genealogy is certainly credible.