Endless genealogies] I suppose the apostle to mean those genealogies which were uncertain - that never could be made out, either in the ascending or descending line; and, principally, such as referred to the great promise of the Messiah, and to the priesthood. The Jews had scrupulously preserved their genealogical tables till the advent of Christ and the evangelists had recourse to them, and appealed to them in reference to our Lord's descent from the house of David; Matthew taking this genealogy in the descending, Luke in the ascending, line. And whatever difficulties we may now find in these genealogies, they were certainly clear to the Jews; nor did the most determined enemies of the Gospel attempt to raise one objection to it from the appeal which the evangelists had made to their own public and accredited tables. All was then certain; but we are told that Herod destroyed the public registers; he, being an Idumean, was jealous of the noble origin of the Jews; and, that none might be able to reproach him with his descent, be ordered the genealogical tables, which were kept among the archives in the temple, to be burnt. See Euseb. H. E., lib. i. cap. 8. From this time the Jews could refer to their genealogies only from memory, or from those imperfect tables which had been preserved in private hands; and to make out any regular line from these must have been endless and uncertain. It is probably to this that the apostle refers; I mean the endless and useless labour which the attempts to make out these genealogies must produce, the authentic tables being destroyed. This, were all other proofs wanting, would be an irresistible argument against the Jews that the Messiah is come; for their own prophets had distinctly marked out the line by which he was to come; the genealogies are now all lost; nor is there a Jew in the universe that can show from what tribe he is descended. There can, therefore, be no Messiah to come, as none could show, let him have what other pretensions he might, that he sprang from the house of David. The Jews do not, at present, pretend to have any such tables; and, far from being able to prove the Messiah from his descent, they are now obliged to say that, when, the Messiah comes, he will restore the genealogies by the Holy Spirit that shall rest upon him. "For," says Maimonides, "in the days of the Messiah, when his kingdom shall be established, all the Israelites shall be gathered together unto him; and all shall be classed in their genealogies by his mouth, through the Holy Spirit that shall rest upon him; as it is written, Mal. iii. 3: He shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and he shall purify the sons of Levi. First he will purify the Levites, and shall say: 'This man is a descendant from the priests; and this, of the stock of the Levites;' and he shall cast out those who are not of the stock of Israel; for behold it is said, Ezra ii. l13: And the Tirshatha said-they should not eat of the most holy things, till there stood up a priest with Urim and Thummim. Thus, by the Holy Spirit, the genealogies are to be revised." See Schoettgen.

Some learned men suppose that the apostle alludes here to the AEons, among the Gnostics and Valentinians, or whom there were endless numbers to make up what was called their pleroma; or to the sephiroth, or splendours of the Cabalists. But it is certain that these heresies had not arrived to any formidable head in the apostle's time; and it has long been a doubt with me whether they even existed at that time: and I think it the most simple way, and most likely to be the intention of the apostle, to refer all to the Jewish genealogies, which he calls Jewish fables, Tit. i. 14, to which we know they were strongly and even conscientiously attached and which, at this time, it must have been extremely difficult to make out.

Instead of genealogiaiv, genealogies, some learned men have conjectured that the original word was kevologiaiv, empty words, vain speeches; but this conjecture is not supported by any MS. or version.

Which minister questions] They are the foundation of endless altercations and disputes; for, being uncertain and not consecutive, every person had a right to call them in question; as we may naturally suppose, from the state in which the genealogical tables of the Jews then were, that many chasms must be supplied in different lines, and consequently much must be done by conjecture.

Rather than godly edifying] Such discussions as these had no tendency to promote piety. Many, no doubt, employed much of that time in inquiring who were their ancestors, which they should have spent in obtaining that grace by which, being born from above, they might have become the sons and daughters of God Almighty.

Instead of oikodomian qeou, godly edifying, or the edification of God, oikonomian qeou, the economy or dispensation of God, is the reading of almost every MS. in which this part of the epistle is extant, (for some MSS. are here mutilated,) and of almost all the versions, and the chief of the Greek fathers. Of the genuineness of this reading scarcely a doubt can be formed; and though the old reading, which is supported by the Latin fathers and the Vulgate, gives a good sense, yet the connection and spirit of the place show that the latter must be the true reading. Griesbach has received this reading into the text.

What had Jewish genealogies to do with the Gospel? Men were not to be saved by virtue of the privileges or piety of their ancestors. The Jews depended much on this. We have Abraham to our father imposed silence on every check of conscience, and every godly reproof which they received for their profligacy and unbelief. In the dispensation of God, FAITH in Christ Jesus was the only means and way of salvation. These endless and uncertain genealogies produced no faith; indeed they were intended as a substitute for it; for those who were intent on making out their genealogical descent paid little attention to faith in Christ. They ministered questions rather than that economy of God which is by faith. This dispensation, says the apostle, is by faith, oikonomian qeou thn en pistei? It was not by natural descent, nor by works, but by faith in Christ; therefore it was necessary that the people who were seeking salvation in any other way should be strictly informed that all their toil and labour would be vain.

John Gill's Bible Commentary

These Ezra brought up to Jerusalem thus distinguished, that they might be taken care of by the sanhedrim, and kept distinct; but these would often intermix and cause disputes; and sometimes these mixtures were connived at through partiality or fear f2 �Says R. Jochanan, by the temple, it is in our hands, (the gloss adds, to discover the illegitimate families of the land of Israel,) but what shall I do? for lo, the great men of this age are hid (or impure): in which he agreed with R. Isaac, who said, the family that is hid, let it be hid. Abai also saith, we have learned this by tradition, there was a family of the house of Tzeriphah, beyond Jordan, and a son of Zion, (a famous man, a man of authority,) set it at a distance, (proclaimed it illegitimate,) by his authority. And again, there was another, and he made it near (or pronounced it right) by his power. Again, there was another family, and the wise men would not discover it.�

By which we may see what management there was in these things, and what a foundation was laid for questions and debates. Of these public and private genealogies, (see Gill on � Matthew 1:16�), to which may be added what R. Benjamin says of some Jews in his time, who were the Rechabites, and were very numerous, and had a prince over them of the house of David; and, adds he, they have a genealogical book, twla� twrg�mw , �and extracts of questions�, which I should be tempted to render �clusters of questions�, which are with the head of the captivity; and this comes very near to what our apostle here says. And when it is observed, that Herod, that he might hide the meanness of his descent and birth, burnt all the genealogical writings in the public archives f4 , it must be still more difficult to fix the true account of things; and for the loss of the genealogical book, the public one, the Jews express a very great concern: for they say f5 , that �from the time the book of genealogies was hid, the strength of the wise men was weakened, and the light of their eyes grew dim. Says Mar Zutra, between Azel and Azel, (that is, between ( Chronicles 8:38) and ( 1 Chronicles 9:44)) there is need of four hundred camel loads of commentaries.�

So intricate an affair, and such an endless business was this. And this affair of genealogies might be now the more the subject of inquiry among judaizing Christians, since there was, and still is, an expectation among the Jews, that in the times of the Messiah these things will be set aright. Says Maimonides f6 , �in the days of the King Messiah, when his kingdom shall be settled, and all Israel shall be gathered to him, �lwk wsjyyty , �they shall all of them be genealogized�, according to his word, by the Holy Ghost, as it is said, ( Malachi 3:3) he shall purify the sons of Levi, and say, this is a genealogized priest, and this is a genealogized Levite; and shall drive them away who are not genealogized (or related) to Israel, as it is said, ( Ezra 2:63).

Hence you learn, that by the Holy Ghost they shall be genealogized, those that arrogate and proclaim their genealogy; and he shall not genealogize Israel but by their tribes, for he shall make known that this is of such a tribe, and this is of such a tribe; but he shall not say concerning such an one he is a bastard, and this is a servant; for so shall it be, that the family that is obscure shall be obscure.�

Or else the genealogical account of their traditions may be meant, which they trace from Moses to Joshua, from Joshua to the elders, from the elders to the prophets, from the prophets to the men of the great synagogue, and from one doctor to another f7 , which to pursue is endless, tedious, and tiresome: which minister questions ; as the traditions of the elders, and the genealogical account of them did; the Talmud is full of the questions, debates, contentions, and decisions of the doctors about them: rather than godly edifying, which is in faith ; and which is the principal end of preaching, hearing, and conversation; and that may be called �godly edifying, or the edification of God�, as it may be rendered, which he is the author of, and which he approves of, and is by, and according to his word; or that in which souls are built up an habitation for God, and are built up in faith and holiness, and by an increase of every grace: and this is �in faith�, not only in the grace of faith, but by the doctrine of faith, on which the saints may build one another, and by which they are edified through the faithful ministration of it by the ministers of the word; when fabulous stories and disputes, about genealogies, are useless and unedifying: not that the apostle condemns all genealogies, such as we have in the writings of the Old Testament, and in the evangelists, nor all inquiries into them, and study of them, which, rightly to settle, is in some cases of great importance and use, but the private and unprofitable ones before mentioned. Some copies read, �the dispensation of God, which is in faith�; meaning the dispensation of the mysteries of grace, which are in the doctrine of faith, which becomes a faithful steward of them, and not fables and genealogies, which issue in questions, quarrels, and contentions.

Matthew Henry Commentary

Greek Textus Receptus

Fables (muqoiv). Muqov, in its widest sense, means word, speech, conversaton or its subject. Hence the talk of men, rumour, report, a saying, a story, true or false; later, a fiction as distinguished from logov a historic tale. In Attic prose, commonly a legend of prehistoric Greek times. Thus Plato, Repub. 330 D, oiJ legomenoi muqoi peri twn ejn %Aidou what are called myths concerning those in Hades. Only once in LXX, Sir. xx. 19, in the sense of a saying or story. In N.T. Only in Pastorals, and 2 Pet. i. 16. As to its exact reference here, it is impossible to speak with certainty. Expositors are hopelessly disagreed, some referring it to Jewish, others to Gnostic fancies. It is explained as meaning traditional supplements to the law, allegorical interpretations, Jewish stories of miracles, Rabbinical fabrications, whether in history or doctrine, false doctrines generally, etc. It is to be observed that muqoi are called Jewish in Tit. i. 14. In 1 Tim. iv. 7, they are described as profane and characteristic of old wives. In 2 Tim. iv. 4, the word is used absolutely, as here.

Endless genealogies (genealogiaiv aperantoiv). Both words Past o For genealogia ( o LXX) comp. Tit. iii. 9. Genealogeisqai to trace ancestry, only Hebrew vii. 6; comp. 1 Chron. v. 1, the only instance in LXX. Aperantov endless, N.T.o . Twice in LXX. By some the genealogies are referred to the Gnostic aeons or series of emanations from the divine unity; by others to the O.T. Genealogies as interpreted allegorically by Philo, and made the basis of a psychological system, or O.T. Genealogies adorned with fables: by others again to genealogical registers proper, used to foster the religious and national pride of the Jews against Gentiles, or to ascertain the descent of the Messiah. Aperantov from aj not, and perav limit or Terminus. Perav may be taken in the sense of object or aim, so that the adjective here may mean without object, useless. (So Chrysostom, Holtzmann, and von Soden.) Others take it in a popular sense, as describing the tedious length of the genealogies (Alford); and others that these matters furnish an inexhaustible subject of study (Weiss). "Fables and endless genealogies" form a single conception, the kai and being explanatory, that is to say, and the "endless genealogies" indicating in what the peculiarity of the fables consists.

Which (aitinev). Rather the which: inasmuch as they.

Minister (parecousin). Afford, furnish, give occasion for. Only twice in Paul. Elsewhere mainly in Luke and Acts.

Questions (ekzhthseiv) Better, questionings. N.T.o . o LXX. o Class. The simple zhthseiv in Pastorals, John and Acts. The preposition ejk gives the sense of subtle, laborious investigation: inquiring out.

Godly edifying. According to the reading oijkodomian edification. So Vulg. Aedificationem. But the correct reading is oijkonomian ordering or dispensation: the scheme or order of salvation devised and administered by God: God's household economy. Oikonomia is a Pauline word. With the exception of this instance, only in Paul and Luke. See Eph. i. 10; iii. 2, 9; Col. i. 25.

Which is in faith (thn en pistei). See on verse 2. Faith is the sphere or clement of its operation.

Robertson's NT Word Studies