Matthew 1:5 is a link in the long family list that opens the Gospel of Matthew. It tells us that Salmon, Boaz and Obed were the ancestors of King David’s father, Jesse, and that two women with troubled pasts, Rahab and Ruth, stand in that line. Matthew is not making a speech here. He is tracing Jesus’s descent from Abraham through the family tree that Israel itself would have known, and he chooses to name names that many readers would have found surprising.
Salmon became the father of Boaz by Rahab. Boaz became the father of Obed by Ruth. Obed became the father of Jesse.
Matthew 1:5 (WEB)
What Matthew 1:5 Means
The verse moves in three short steps. Salmon fathered Boaz, and Boaz’s mother is named as Rahab. Boaz then fathered Obed, and Obed’s mother is Ruth. Obed fathered Jesse. Each generation passes the family line forward, so the verse shows continuity: the promise to Abraham and Judah is carried from one father to the next until it reaches David’s household.
The phrase “by Rahab” and “by Ruth” is the unusual part. In ancient genealogies, a man’s wife is rarely named, so mentioning two women in one short verse draws attention. The verse does not explain why Matthew names them, and it does not promise that God will use every family history for good. What it does show is that the family line of the Messiah was not limited to people with spotless records.
The Context of Matthew 1:5
Matthew’s Gospel was written for a largely Jewish readership, and it opens with a genealogy that starts at Abraham and runs through David to Jesus. The author is traditionally identified as Matthew, the tax collector and disciple. Verses 2 through 8 list men from Abraham down to Uzziah in a steady rhythm of “became the father of,” and verse 5 sits in the middle of that rhythm.
Just before verse 5, Judah’s son Perez is born to Tamar (verse 3), and verse 4 covers Salmon’s ancestors. Just after, verse 6 names David and then Solomon, whose mother is described as Uriah’s wife. Read in that setting, verse 5 forms part of a pattern in which Matthew repeatedly points to people whose stories involve hardship, foreignness or scandal. That pattern shapes how the verse should be read.
Key Phrases in Matthew 1:5
Joshua 2:11
As soon as we had heard it, our hearts melted, and there wasn’t any more spirit in any man, because of you: for the LORD your God, he is God in heaven above, and on earth beneath.
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This verse records Rahab’s confession that the God of Israel is God in heaven and on earth. Reading it alongside Matthew 1:5 shows how her faith, not only her background, is what the genealogy quietly honors.
Ruth 4:17
The women, her neighbors, gave him a name, saying, “A son is born to Naomi”. They named him Obed. He is the father of Jesse, the father of David.
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This verse names Obed as the son born to Ruth and Boaz and as the father of Jesse. Reading it with Matthew 1:5 confirms the family link Matthew traces and shows how Ruth’s story closes with a child who becomes David’s grandfather.
A Short Prayer From Matthew 1:5
Father, thank you that your plan of salvation runs through real families with real histories. You chose to include Rahab and Ruth, and you have never needed people to be flawless before you use them. Help me bring my own story to you honestly, including the parts I would rather hide. Show me where you have already been at work, and give me the courage to welcome others the way you have welcomed me. Amen.