The next verse: Matthew 1: 2

This verse begins the 'begats': that is, the verses reviewing the lineage of Jesus from Abraham to "Joseph, the husband of Mary."

The verses have a standard form, expressed in English something like "Abraham was the father of Isaac":

Αβραάμ εγέννησεν τον Ισαάκ

The Greek noun for 'father,' however, does not appear. Instead the word-for-word translation would be:

Abraham became-the-parent-of ('begat' or 'fathered') the Isaac.

'Became-the-parent-of' is a translation of the verb 'εγέννησεν' (eh-YEH-nee-sen). The definite article 'τον' (i.e., 'the') is used before Isaac. This usage, which sounds so strange in English, is relatively common in koine Greek, and obligatory in modern Greek.

Continuing on we have:

Ισαάκ δε εγέννησεν τον Ιακώβ

Isaac and/_ fathered the Jacob

The Greek word 'δε' has no exact equivalent in English. It expresses a conjunction of phrases, and can be variously translated as 'and' or 'but' -- or 'δε' can even be left out entirely. If you check a few English translations of this verse you will see the various ways that 'δε' has been dealt with.

The word 'δε' is called a postpositive conjunction, which means that it cannot be the first word in a phrase.

So a better translation in English would be

And Isaac fathered Jacob

with the 'and' moved to the beginning of the phrase.


Continuing on, we have:

Ιακώβ δε εγέννησεν τον Ιούδαν και τους αδελφούς αυτού.

Jacob and/_ fathered the Judah and the brothers of him.

Several important, and common, words are introduced here. 'Και' is the usual conjunction for 'and', although it can have other meanings depending on context. The word 'αυτού' means 'of him', and is an example of a pronoun. It is in the genitive case.

Ο αδελφός means 'the brother' (Philadelphia - the city of brotherly love). Here we see the word in the plural, accusative form: 'τους αδελφούς' ('the brothers', as the direct object of the verb εγέννησεν).

Note that not only does the noun itself change form depending on its usage (αδελφός/αδελφούς) but also the definite article (ο/τους). Both 'ο' and 'τους' mean 'the'.

The 'begat' verses offer a good opportunity to practice pronounciation. Again, you are encouraged to read the verses aloud before working out their meaning.