Matthew begins his Gospel with a genealogy of Jesus. He includes four women: Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, Bathsheba. There was no need for Matthew to name them but he deems essential to the Jesus story. We don’t know why, only that he included them. So we are left with a matter of interpretation.
The four women make foundational contributions to ancient Israel's greatness. Tamar and Ruth navigate Israelite law and custom in order to continue the lineage of their husbands. Had it been left to the men in the story, King David would never have been born.
Rahab and Bathsheba likewise play strategic roles in Israel's history. Rahab makes possible the Israelite invasion of Jericho. Bathsheba intervenes in a dispute about succession to ensure her son Solomon received the throne instead of David’s older son Adonijah.
Together, these four women fundamentally shaped the history of ancient Israel. By including them in Jesus’s genealogy, Matthew reminds us of the essential role of women in the story of ancient Israel and in the advent of Jesus Christ.
Yet there is also a shadow side to the inclusion of these particular women in the genealogy of Jesus. While naming them reminds us the successes of Israel from Abraham to Jesus, it also forces us to remember and acknowledge the dangers and abuses women face in a patriarchal society, both then and now. The successes of these women also reminds us of the failures of the men around them.
Matthew’s genealogy insists that the Gospel of Jesus Christ cannot be shared without telling the stories of women—both to celebrate and to mourn, both to repent and to encourage. The Gospel calls on us to do the same.
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