Matthew 1
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Book of the generation of Jesus Christ, Son of David, Son of Abraham.
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Abraham begat Isaac; and Isaac begat Jacob, and Jacob begat Juda and his brethren;
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and Juda begat Phares and Zara of Thamar; and Phares begat Esrom, and Esrom begat Aram,
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and Aram begat Aminadab, and Aminadab begat Naasson, and Naasson begat Salmon,
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and Salmon begat Booz of Rachab; and Booz begat Obed of Ruth; and Obed begat Jesse,
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and Jesse begat David the king. And David begat Solomon, of her [that had been the wife] of Urias;
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and Solomon begat Roboam, and Roboam begat Abia, and Abia begat Asa,
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and Asa begat Josaphat, and Josaphat begat Joram, and Joram begat Ozias,
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and Ozias begat Joatham, and Joatham begat Achaz, and Achaz begat Ezekias,
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and Ezekias begat Manasses, and Manasses begat Amon, and Amon begat Josias,
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and Josias begat Jechonias and his brethren, at the time of the carrying away of Babylon.
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And after the carrying away of Babylon, Jechonias begat Salathiel, and Salathiel begat Zorobabel,
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and Zorobabel begat Abiud, and Abiud begat Eliakim, and Eliakim begat Azor,
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and Azor begat Sadoc, and Sadoc begat Achim, and Achim begat Eliud,
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and Eliud begat Eliazar, and Eliazar begat Matthan, and Matthan begat Jacob,
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and Jacob begat Joseph, the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ.
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All the generations, therefore, from Abraham to David [were] fourteen generations; and from David until the carrying away of Babylon, fourteen generations; and from the carrying away of Babylon unto the Christ, fourteen generations.
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Now the birth of Jesus Christ was thus: His mother, Mary, that is, having been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together, she was found to be with child of [the] Holy Spirit.
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But Joseph, her husband, being [a] righteous [man], and unwilling to expose her publicly, purposed to have put her away secretly;
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but while he pondered on these things, behold, an angel of [the] Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, Joseph, son of David, fear not to take to [thee] Mary, thy wife, for that which is begotten in her is of [the] Holy Spirit.
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And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name Jesus, for *he* shall save his people from their sins.
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Now all this came to pass that that might be fulfilled which was spoken by [the] Lord, through the prophet, saying,
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Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which is, being interpreted, 'God with us.'
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But Joseph, having awoke up from his sleep, did as the angel of [the] Lord had enjoined him, and took to [him] his wife,
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and knew her not until she had brought forth her firstborn son: and he called his name Jesus.
Arcana Coelestia # 2554
2554. 'They will kill me on account of my wife' means that this being so the celestial things of faith would perish also if they were to think that spiritual truth alone could be joined to celestial good. This is clear from the meaning of 'killing' as perishing, and from the meaning of 'a wife' as spiritual truth joined to celestial good, dealt with in 2507. This is a second reason why the Lord's thought was such - that Divine Good, called celestial good here, is united as by marriage to Divine Truth, called spiritual truth here, 2508. And although Divine Good is united in this manner to Divine Truth alone, it nevertheless flows into lower truths and joins itself to them, but not as by marriage; for it flows into rational truths, which are merely appearances of truth, and joins itself to them. Indeed it flows as well into factual and sensory truths which are little more than illusions and joins itself to these. If it did not do so no one at all could possibly have been saved. For these matters, see Volume One, in 1831, 1832. To enable Divine Good to be joined to rational truths and to factual and sensory truths, and so to enable a person to be saved, was another reason for the Lord's Coming into the world, for unless the Lord's Human had been made Divine, Divine Good could not possibly be joined to those truths. But through Him they are so joined.
[2] In addition to this arcanum, there are many other arcana within these words, 'They will kill me on account of my wife', which mean that such being so the celestial things of faith would perish if men were to think that spiritual truth alone could be joined to celestial good. One arcanum within them is that when people had no respect for spiritual truth, celestial good would thereby perish, for once spiritual truth is rejected celestial good perishes. Another arcanum is that unless it had been declared that they were to worship the Father - though there is no other way to Him except through the Son, and 'he who sees the Son sees the Father', John 14:8-12 - it would not have been accepted. And there are other arcana in them besides these.
