The narration of Jesus’s birth is closely tied to the preceding genealogy by the repeated Greek term genesis, translated as “genealogy” in 1:1 and “birth” in 1:18. Both accounts provide an important aspect of Jesus’s “origin,” another possible translation of genesis. These two passages provide the question and answer to Jesus’s connection to Joseph’s lineage, with Joseph as a focal character in 1:18–25. Matthew narrates that Joseph is engaged to Mary when he discovers her pregnancy. Because of his righteous character (see commentary on 3:1–17), he plans to divorce her in a way that avoids drawing attention to the situation. Jewish engagements at this time were enacted by a marriage contract, although the wife would not move to her husband’s household until a year after becoming engaged. If…