That is why he mentioned Judah and his brethren, that from them came the twelve tribes.

And Judah begat Perez and Zarah by Tamar.

Judah gave Tamar in marriage to Er, one of his sons. But since this man died childless, he gave her in marriage to his son Aunan. When this one also lost his life for his shame, Judas no longer gave her for his third son. But she, desiring very much to have children by the seed of Abraham, laid off the garment of widowhood, pretended to be a harlot, mingled with her father-in-law, and conceived two twin children. During childbirth, the first of them showed his hand from the womb, as if he would be born first. The midwife, seeing that two would be born, immediately, in order to distinguish the firstborn, tied the baby's hand with a red thread. But the child again hid his hand in the womb, and first another child was born, and then the one who had previously shown his hand. Wherefore he who was born before is called Pharez, which means interruption, because he broke the order of nature, and he who hid his hand is called Zaroja. This story contains a certain mystery. As Zara first showed his hand, and then hid it, so the life in Christ was manifested in the saints who lived before the law and circumcision, for all of them were justified not by keeping the law and commandments, but by living according to the Gospel. Such is Abraham, who for God's sake left his father and home and renounced his nature. Such are Job, Melchizedek. But when the law came, this life was hidden. However, just as there after the birth of Perez and Zarah came out of the womb, so after the giving of the law, the life of the Gospel shone forth again, marked by the red thread, that is, the blood of Christ. And so, for this reason the Evangelist mentioned these two infants, because their birth signified something mysterious. And also of Tamar, although she is not commendable for having mingled with her father-in-law, he mentioned in order to show that Christ, Who took all things for our sake, also received evil ancestors, in order to sanctify them by His very birth from them, for He did not come "to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance."

And Perez begat Hezron; And Hezrom begat Aram; Aram begat Aminadab; Aminadab begat Nahshon; Nahshon begat Salmon; Salmon begat Boaz by Rahab.

Some think that Rahab is that Rahab the harlot who, having received the spies of Joshua and saved them, was saved herself. The Evangelist mentioned her in order to show that as she was a harlot, so were all the pagans, for they committed fornication by their deeds. However, all the pagans who received the ambassadors of Jesus, that is, the apostles, and believed in their words, were saved.

Boaz begat Obed by Ruth.

This Ruth was a foreigner, yet she was married to Boaz. In the same way, the church of the Gentiles, although it was a foreigner and outside the covenants, forgot its people, and the worship of idols, and its father the devil, and became betrothed to the Only-begotten Son of God.

Obed begat Jesse; Jesse begat David the king; David the king begat Solomon by Uriah.

And the Evangelist mentions the wife of Uriah in order to show that one should not be ashamed of one's ancestors, but rather try to glorify them with one's virtue, and that all are pleasing to God, even if they are descended from a harlot, if only they are virtuous.

Solomon begat Rehoboam; Rehoboam begat Abijah; Abijah begat Asa; Asa begat Jehoshaphat; Jehoshaphat begat Jehoram; And Joram begat Uzziah; Uzziah begat Jetham; Jotham begat Ahaz; Ahaz begat Hezekiah; Hezekiah begat Manasseh; Manasseh begat Amun; Amon begat Josiah; Josiah begat Jehoiakim; And Jehoiakim begat Jehoiachin and his brethren, before he migrated to Babylon.

The Babylonian exile is the captivity into which all the Jews were finally taken to Babylon and wept on the rivers of Babylon. The Babylonians also made conquests from them at other times, but embittered them more moderately, and then finally removed them from their homeland.

And when Jeconiah had migrated to Babylon, he begat Shealtiel; And Shealtiel begat Zerubbabel; Zerubbabel begat Abihu; Abihu begat Eliakim; Eliakim begat Azor; Azor begat Zadok; Zadok begat Achim; Achim begat Eliud; Eliud begat Eleazar; Eleazar begat Matthan; Matthan begat Jacob; Jacob begat Joseph, the husband of Mary, from whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ.

Why does the Evangelist present the genealogy of Joseph, and not of the Mother of God? What part did Joseph have in the seedless birth? Joseph was not the true father of Christ to trace the genealogy of Christ from Joseph. Listen! It is true that Joseph had no part in the birth of Christ, and therefore it would have been necessary to present the genealogy of the Mother of God, but since the law forbade genealogy in the female line, the Evangelist did not present the genealogy of the Virgin. In addition, having shown the genealogy of Joseph, he at the same time showed her genealogy, for it was a law not to take wives either from another tribe or from another clan, but from the same tribe and clan (Num. 36:6). And since there was such a law, it is evident that in the genealogy of Joseph the genealogy of the Mother of God is also presented, for the Mother of God was of the same tribe and family as him, otherwise how could she have been betrothed to him? In this way the Evangelist observed the law forbidding genealogy in the female line, but having shown the genealogy of Joseph, he also showed the genealogy of the Mother of God. And he called him Mary's husband according to the general custom, for it is our custom to call the betrothed the husband of the betrothed, although the marriage has not yet been consummated.

Therefore all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations; and from David to the exile to Babylon fourteen generations; and from the exile to Babylon to Christ fourteen generations.