pened that these two, Jacob and Eli, were brothers; and moreover, how the fathers of these, Matthan and Melchi, being of different families, are proved to be the grandfathers of Joseph.
Matthan and Melchi. having married in succession the same woman, had children, who were brothers by the same mother, as the law did not prohibit a widow, whether she became such by divorce, or by the death of her husband, to marry again. Matthan, therefore, who traces his lineage from Solomon, first had Jacob, by Estha, for this is her name as handed down by tradition. Matthan dying, and Melchi, who traces his descent from Nathan, though he was of the same tribe, but of another family, having as before said, married her, had a son Eli. Thus, then, we shall find the two of different families, Jacob and Eli, brothers by the same mother. Of these, the one Jacob, on the death of his brother, marrying his widow, became the father of a third, viz. Joseph; his son both by nature and calculation. Wherefore, it is written, Jacob begat Joseph. But according to the law, he was the son of Eli, for Jacob being his brother, raised up seed to him. Wherefore, the genealogy traced also through him, will not be rendered void, which, according to Matthew, is given thus — " but Jacob begat Joseph." But Luke, on the other hand, says, " who was the son, as was supposed, (for this he also adds,) the son of Joseph, the son of Eli, the son of Melchi." For it was not possible to express the legal genealogy more distinctly, so that he entirely omits the expression, " he begat," in a generation like this, until the end; having traced it back as far as Adam, " who was the son of God," he resolves the whole series by referring back to God. Neither is this incapable of proof, nor is it an idle conjecture. For the relatives of our Lord, according to the flesh, whether to display their own illustrious origin, or simply to show the fact, but at any rate adhering strictly to the truth, have also handed down the following accounts: That robbers of Idumea, attacking Ascalon, a city of Palestine, led Antipater away captive together with other booty, from the temple of Apollo, which was built close to the walls. He was the son of one Herod, a minister of the temple. The priest, however, not being able to pay the ransom for Ins son, Antipater was trained up in the practices of the Idumeans, and
