1The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.
2Abraham became the father of Isaac. Isaac became the father of Jacob. Jacob became the father of Judah and his brothers. 3Judah became the father of Perez and Zerah by Tamar. Perez became the father of Hezron. Hezron became the father of Ram. 4Ram became the father of Amminadab. Amminadab became the father of Nahshon. Nahshon became the father of Salmon. 5Salmon became the father of Boaz by Rahab. Boaz became the father of Obed by Ruth. Obed became the father of Jesse. 6Jesse became the father of King David. David the king became the father of Solomon by her who had been Uriah’s wife. 7Solomon became the father of Rehoboam. Rehoboam became the father of Abijah. Abijah became the father of Asa. 8Asa became the father of Jehoshaphat. Jehoshaphat became the father of Joram. Joram became the father of Uzziah. 9Uzziah became the father of Jotham. Jotham became the father of Ahaz. Ahaz became the father of Hezekiah. 10Hezekiah became the father of Manasseh. Manasseh became the father of Amon. Amon became the father of Josiah. 11Josiah became the father of Jechoniah and his brothers at the time of the exile to Babylon.
12After the exile to Babylon, Jechoniah became the father of Shealtiel. Shealtiel became the father of Zerubbabel. 13Zerubbabel became the father of Abiud. Abiud became the father of Eliakim. Eliakim became the father of Azor. 14Azor became the father of Zadok. Zadok became the father of Achim. Achim became the father of Eliud. 15Eliud became the father of Eleazar. Eleazar became the father of Matthan. Matthan became the father of Jacob. 16Jacob became the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary, from whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ.
17So all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations; from David to the exile to Babylon fourteen generations; and from the carrying away to Babylon to the Christ, fourteen generations.
18Now the birth of Jesus Christ was like this: After his mother, Mary, was engaged to Joseph, before they came together, she was found pregnant by the Holy Spirit. 19Joseph, her husband, being a righteous man, and not willing to make her a public example, intended to put her away secretly. 20But when he thought about these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, don’t be afraid to take to yourself Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. 21She shall give birth to a son. You shall name him Jesus, for it is he who shall save his people from their sins.”
22Now all this has happened that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying,
23“Behold, the virgin shall be with child,
and shall give birth to a son.
They shall call his name Immanuel,”
which is, being interpreted, “God with us.”
24Joseph arose from his sleep, and did as the angel of the Lord commanded him, and took his wife to himself; 25and didn’t know her sexually until she had given birth to her firstborn son. He named him Jesus.
The issue of Mary being a virgin, as given by Matthew in his reference to Isaiah 7:14, and in Luke careful writing regarding the conception of Jesus demonstrates the extreme important of this event. Matthew does not develop the Isaiah passage in which this prophecy of the Messiah is given, but affirms that the conception of Jesus would be by a virgin as a fulfillment of the prediction of Isaiah.
Let us briefly consider the passage in which this prophecy was given. To demonstrate to the King Ahaz of Judah, and to the people of the southern kingdom, that God would do His will the prophecy moves between a second person singular, referring to the King, and a second person plural, in reference to the people. God offered that the king ask for an extraordinary sign but the King refused. Consequently Yahweh gave His own extraordinary sign, that a virgin would give birth and that this one born would be Immanuel.
The primary points to recognize in the passage is that the sign is an extraordinary one, a miracle. Second, it is directed to the house of David. Third, the child is God with us. The Hebrew word is הָעַלְמָ (almah), which in the Old Testament refers to a young girl of marriageable age, and also a virgin. This is clearly the way the Jewish scholars of the Greek Old Testament (the Septuagint) understand the word, since they used the Greek word for virgin παρθένος (parthenos).
Now to the New Testament. Matthew and Luke understand the Scripture to be speaking of a virgin, and not merely a young woman. Both Gospels carefully guard against any suggestion that there was a human father. Matthew (1:16), at the end of the genealogy, referring to Joseph, uses "of whom" (ἐξ ἧς, ex hes), the Greek pronoun that is feminine singular, therefore it can only refer to Mary, and not to Joseph. Luke makes a point when mentioning Joseph that he is not the father of the child Jesus, since the article does not occur before Joseph's name, setting him apart in the genealogy, and Luke adds the disclaimer regarding Joseph's relation to Jesus with "as was supposed." See at Matt 1:11 the curse on the line from which Joseph comes, so that his son could not physically be an heir. Mary, on the other hand, is also in the line of David, but through Nathan, another son of David.