Matthäus 1:21

And she shall bring forth a son--Observe, it is not said, "she shall bear thee a son," as was said to Zacharias of his wife Elizabeth (Luk 1:13). and thou--as his legal father. shalt call his name JESUS--from the Hebrew meaning "Jehovah the Saviour"; in Greek JESUS--to the awakened and anxious sinner sweetest and most fragrant of all names, expressing so melodiously and briefly His whole saving office and work! for he shall save--The "He" is here emphatic--He it is that shall save; He personally, and by personal acts (as WEBSTER and WILKINSON express it). his people--the lost sheep of the house of Israel, in the first instance; for they were the only people He then had. But, on the breaking down of the middle wall of partition, the saved people embraced the "redeemed unto God by His blood out of every kindred and people and tongue and nation." from their sins--in the most comprehensive sense of salvation from sin (Rev 1:5; Eph 5:25-27).

And she shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Jesus. For though she was with child, it could not be known any otherwise than by prediction or divine revelation, that she should have a son, whose name should be called Jesus; a name of the same signification with Joshua and Hosea, and may be interpreted a "Saviour", Act 13:23 for the word Jesus, comes from which signifies "to save." And to this agrees the reason of the name given by the Angel, for he shall save his people from their sins. The salvation here ascribed to him, and for which he is every way fit, being God as well as man, and which he is the sole author of, is to be understood, not of a temporal, but of a spiritual and everlasting salvation; such as was prophesied of, Isa 45:17 and which old Jacob had in his view, when he said, "I have waited for thy salvation, O Lord", Gen 49:18 which by the Jewish (f) Targumist is paraphrased thus: "Jacob said when he saw Gideon the son of Joash, and Samson the son of Manoah, that they would rise up to be saviours, not for the salvation of Gideon do I wait, nor for the salvation of Samson do I look, for their salvation is "a temporary salvation"; but for thy salvation, O Lord, do I wait and look, for thy salvation is "an everlasting salvation", or (according to another copy) but for the salvation of Messiah the son of David, who shall save the children of Israel, and bring them out of captivity, for thy salvation my soul waiteth.'' By "his people" whom he is said to save are meant, not all mankind, though they are his by creation and preservation, yet they are not, nor will they be all saved by him spiritually and eternally; nor also the people of the Jews, for though they were his nation, his kinsmen, and so his own people according to the flesh, yet they we…

This evangelist begins with the account of Christ's parentage and birth, the ancestors from whom he descended, and the manner of his entry into the world, to make it appear that he was indeed the Messiah promised, for it was foretold that he should be the son of David, and should be born of a virgin; and that he was so is here plainly shown; for here is, I. His pedigree from Abraham in forty-two generations, three fourteens (v. 1-17). II. An account of the circumstances of his birth, so far as was requisite to show that he was born of a virgin (Mat 1:18-25). Thus methodically is the life of our blessed Saviour written, as lives should be written, for the clearer proposing of the example of them.

1:21 Jesus is the Greek form of the Hebrew name Yeshua, which means “The Lord saves.” The name appropriately describes his role: he will save his people from their sins. • His people may refer either to Israel as a nation (2:6) or to the Messiah’s people, the church, which is comprised of both Jews and Gentiles (4:15-16; 16:18; 28:18-20).