Matthew 1 — Clausal Layout (English)

independentparticipialrelativepurposecausecomparativecontentconditionalphrase modifierdashed = verbless / suspended

Flush-left = a main (independent) clause. Each dependent line begins directly beneath the word it attaches to in the line above — the anchor word is dotted-underlined, and lights up when you hover its dependent clause; each tag also names the attachment. A dashed border marks verbless, elliptical, or suspended lines. Where a long sentence's staircase runs wider than the page, the diagram scrolls sideways. (In print, or without JavaScript, lines fall back to stepped indent columns.)

The genealogy — three fourteens from Abraham to the Christ 1:1–17

v. 1 — the incipit: the book of the genesis

The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.independent — verbless incipit — βίβλος γενέσεως echoes Gen 2:4; 5:1 LXX; son of David, son of Abraham: the two spans the column will trace

vv. 2–6a — the first fourteen: Abraham to David the king

Abraham begot Isaac, and Isaac begot Jacob, and Jacob begot Judah and his brothers,independent — the chain-verb ἐγέννησεν begins its run; 'and his brothers' folds the twelve tribes in

and Judah begot Perez and Zerah by Tamar, and Perez begot Hezron, and Hezron begot Aram,independent — ἐκ τῆς Θαμάρ — the first of the four women (Gen 38): an irregular union memorialized in the messianic line

and Aram begot Amminadab, and Amminadab begot Nahshon, and Nahshon begot Salmon,independent — the wilderness generation (Num 1:7; 2:3) — the column marches toward the land

and Salmon begot Boaz by Rahab, and Boaz begot Obed by Ruth, and Obed begot Jesse,independent — Rahab the Canaanite (Josh 2) and Ruth the Moabitess (Ruth 1:4) — the second and third women, both Gentiles

and Jesse begot David the king.independent — τὸν βασιλέα — the only link so titled; the first fourteen closes on the throne

vv. 6b–11 — the second fourteen: the kings, down to the exile

And David begot Solomon by the wife of Uriah,independent — ἐκ τῆς τοῦ Οὐρίου — the fourth woman, named only by her wronged husband (2 Sam 11); David's sin kept audible

and Solomon begot Rehoboam, and Rehoboam begot Abijah, and Abijah begot Asaph,independent — the kings of Judah (1 Chr 3:10); Ἀσάφ — the critical text's psalmist-spelling of king Asa, retained and flagged

and Asaph begot Jehoshaphat, and Jehoshaphat begot Joram, and Joram begot Uzziah,independent — between Joram and Uzziah three kings fall silently (Ahaziah, Joash, Amaziah) — the fourteen is made, not found

and Uzziah begot Jotham, and Jotham begot Ahaz, and Ahaz begot Hezekiah,independent — through Ahaz — the king to whom the Immanuel sign was first spoken (Isa 7:14, cited at v. 23)

and Hezekiah begot Manasseh, and Manasseh begot Amos, and Amos begot Josiah,independent — Ἀμώς — the prophet-spelling of king Amon (2 Kgs 21:18), the second retained assimilation

and Josiah begot Jechoniah and his brothers, at the time of the deportation to Babylon.independent — the exile pivot — μετοικεσία sounds for the first of four times; 'and his brothers' echoes v. 2 at the catastrophe; Jehoiakim telescoped

vv. 12–16 — the third fourteen: from the exile to the Christ

And after the deportation to Babylon, Jechoniah begot Shealtiel, and Shealtiel begot Zerubbabel,independent — the line resumes beyond the catastrophe — Zerubbabel (Hag 1:1) the last historically anchored name

and Zerubbabel begot Abiud, and Abiud begot Eliakim, and Eliakim begot Azor,independent — Abiud onward: names known only here — the obscure post-exilic descent

and Azor begot Zadok, and Zadok begot Achim, and Achim begot Eliud,independent — the unrecorded generations continue toward Joseph

and Eliud begot Eleazar, and Eleazar begot Matthan, and Matthan begot Jacob,independent — Jacob, father of Joseph — the patriarchal pairing (Gen 30:24) returning at the end of the line

and Jacob begot Joseph the husband of Mary,independent — the last ἐγέννησεν — and the pattern breaks: Joseph is 'the husband of Mary,' not the begetter of Jesus

of whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ.relative — ἐξ ἧς feminine singular — the descent runs through Mary alone; the passive ἐγεννήθη quietly guards the virginal conception

v. 17 — the evangelist's summary: fourteen, fourteen, fourteen

So all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations,independent — verbless colon — the 3×14 design sealed (plausibly the numeral of דוד, David = 14); schema, not census

and from David to the deportation to Babylon fourteen generations,independent — the second span — throne to exile

and from the deportation to Babylon to the Christ fourteen generations.independent — the third span yields thirteen begettings — the arithmetic crux left honest; the goal is τοῦ Χριστοῦ

The birth of Jesus — the dream, the prophecy, the naming 1:18–25

vv. 18–19 — the conception discovered; Joseph's resolve

Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way.independent — the head of the second panel — γένεσις resumes the βίβλος γενέσεως of v. 1; οὕτως points forward

When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph,participial — genitive absolute — forward-leaning on εὑρέθη; betrothal was legally binding, hence 'her husband' (v. 19)

before they came together,phrase modifier — πρὶν ἤ + infinitive — the second forward-leaning time-marker; the union not yet consummated

she was found to be with child of the Holy Spirit.independent — divine passive εὑρέθη — the narrator names the cause (ἐκ πνεύματος ἁγίου) before Joseph learns it

And Joseph her husband, being righteous and unwilling to expose her to disgrace,participial — two preposed causal participles — his righteousness and his mercy held together; leans on ἐβουλήθη

resolved to divorce her quietly.independent — λάθρᾳ — the merciful course: a quiet release, no public δειγματίσαι

vv. 20–21 — the angel in a dream: fear forbidden, the name given

But as he pondered these things,participial — genitive absolute — forward-leaning; the angel interrupts the deliberation itself; leans on ἐφάνη

behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying:independent — ἰδού + κατ' ὄναρ — the first of Matthew's five dream-revelations (1:20; 2:12, 13, 19, 22); the speech-frame

'Joseph, son of David,content — verbless vocative address — the genealogy's title now personally applied: Joseph is the Davidic channel

do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife,content — prohibitive subjunctive — the classic angelic reassurance, reversing the resolve of v. 19

for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit.cause — the γάρ ground — γεννηθέν, the genealogy's own verb in the divine passive; v. 18 confirmed to Joseph

She will bear a son,content — the prediction — the promised son

and you shall call his name Jesus,content — imperatival future — by naming him, Joseph legally claims the child for David's line

for he himself will save his people from their sins.'cause — the name unfolded — Ἰησοῦς ('YHWH saves') explained by σώσει; emphatic αὐτός; from sins, not from Rome

vv. 22–23 — the first formula quotation: Isaiah 7:14

Now all this has happenedindependent — the narrator steps forward — consummative perfect γέγονεν: the events stand accomplished as fulfillment

in order that what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet might be fulfilled, saying:purpose — the fulfillment formula, first of ten — ὑπὸ κυρίου the author, διὰ τοῦ προφήτου the channel

'Behold, the virgin shall be with child and shall bear a son,content — Isa 7:14 LXX — παρθένος rendering Hebrew ʿalmâ ('young woman'), the famous crux; τέξεται echoes v. 21

and they shall call his name Emmanuel,'content — impersonal plural καλέσουσιν — the community will confess what the name means

which is, translated, 'God with us.'phrase modifier — Matthew's own gloss on the name — 'God with us' frames the Gospel with 28:20 ('I am with you')

vv. 24–25 — the waking obedience and the naming

And Joseph, rising from sleep,participial — preposed aorist participle — from dream to deed without a word spoken; leans on ἐποίησεν

didindependent — one bare verb of obedience

as the angel of the Lord had commanded him,comparative — the measure of the deed — exact conformity to the command of v. 20

and took his wife,independent — παρέλαβεν answers παραλαβεῖν (v. 20) — the marriage completed, Mary taken home

and he did not know herindependent — durative imperfect — the Semitic euphemism; continued abstinence guards the conception's origin

until she bore a son;conditional — temporal ἕως οὗ (typed cnd; no temporal key) — asserts abstinence up to the birth and settles nothing beyond it

and he called his name Jesus.independent — v. 21 obeyed verbatim — the naming claims the child as Davidic son; the chapter closes on the saving name

Analysis. Matthew 1 is two panels bound by one word: the βίβλος γενέσεως of v. 1 returns as the γένεσις of v. 18, genealogy and birth narrated as a single 'origin.' The first panel is the flattest page in the Gospel: after the verbless purple incipit, the ἐγέννησεν chain runs as a flush-left column of coordinate main clauses, three generations to a line, δέ after δέ — real coordination, never falsely nested, the rhythm of a register. Against the male drumbeat the tags mark what the column quietly admits: four women (Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, and 'the wife of Uriah' — Bathsheba unnamed so that David's sin stays audible), the exile sounding at the hinge of vv. 11–12, and the one break in the machine — at v. 16 the active gives way to the passive ἐγεννήθη in a relative clause hanging on Μαρίας alone (ἐξ ἧς, feminine singular): Joseph is 'the husband of Mary,' not the begetter of Jesus. The evangelist's summary (v. 17) stands as three verbless cola, fourteen–fourteen–fourteen — a design (plausibly the numeral of דוד, David = 14) bought at a price the tags concede: three kings are dropped between Joram and Uzziah, Jehoiakim at the exile, and the third set yields thirteen begettings unless Jechoniah or the Christ is counted twice; the arithmetic is theology, not census. The second panel indents like narrative: genitive absolutes and preposed participles lean forward, anchor-less, on their verbs (μνηστευθείσης and πρὶν ἢ συνελθεῖν on εὑρέθη, ταῦτα δὲ αὐτοῦ ἐνθυμηθέντος on ἐφάνη, ἐγερθείς on ἐποίησεν), and all speech hangs blue (cnt) beneath its λέγων — the angel's address with its two γάρ grounds, the second unfolding the name itself (Ἰησοῦς because σώσει: salvation from sins, not from Rome). Between command and obedience stands Matthew's first fulfillment formula, its shape settled here for the nine to come: γέγονεν flush left at 0, ἵνα πληρωθῇ as purpose one step in, the citation (Isa 7:14) as content beneath λέγοντος, and Matthew's μεθερμηνευόμενον gloss hanging on Ἐμμανουήλ itself. Cruxes the layout inherits rather than resolves: παρθένος is the LXX's rendering of Hebrew ʿalmâ ('young woman') — Matthew reads virginity fulfilled, and the tag says so without erasing the Hebrew; the passive ἐγεννήθη of v. 16 guards the virginal conception grammatically, not argumentatively; the ἕως οὗ of v. 25 asserts abstinence until the birth and, in Greek as in the tag, settles nothing about what followed; and the odd spellings Ἀσάφ (v. 7) and Ἀμώς (v. 10) — the critical text's assimilation of kings Asa and Amon to psalmist and prophet — are kept and flagged.