At the same time, it would not be right to regard the textual problem as one of merely academic interest. It gives a valuable sidelight upon the history of the exegesis of Mt. i, ii in the early Christian centuries. It enables us to see how the Matthaean narrative was viewed, the difficulties it raised, and the way in which they were met. Thus it throws into strong relief the unique character of the Genealogy. It also sheds a welcome light upon the treatment which the text of the Gospels received at the hands of their earliest readers before these writings had acquired the status of sacred books. Even then if we have finally to acquiesce in Dr. Moffatt’s statement: “The textual problem of i. 16 is not yet settled”, the question is one of absorbing and of fruitful interest.(83) For our immediate purpose it is enough to say that the results, so far as they go, strengthen rather than weaken our belief that the compiler of the Genealogy worked under the presupposition of the Virgin Birth. II. The Genuineness of Mt. i, ii This problem can no longer be regarded as a burning question. Few scholars of the present day would contend that the First Gospel ever circulated without these chapters. In style, in vocabulary, and in mode of treatment, they are of a piece with the rest of the book. (1) The _literary style_ of the First Evangelist is not so marked as that of St. Luke, but it has nevertheless a distinct character of its own. As compared with that of St. Mark, it is “more prosaic and colourless”, but it is “more calm and balanced” (Milligan).(84) Prof. Burkitt describes it as follows: “I wish I could think of some other word than ‘formality’ by which to name the chief characteristic of the First Evangelist’s literary style. Formality suggests rigidity, generally with a certain measure of incapacity, and these are not among his defects. On the contrary, Matthew has great literary skill, as well as dignity. Everything that he says is put with admirable clearness and lucidity; what he writes down he has first understood himself. If there is an exception to be noted he notes it” (GHT., p. 186). Now this same style is manifest everywhere throughout the Gospel, in cc. i, ii, as well as elsewhere.(85) The theory therefore that these chapters are a later insertion labours under an immense initial disadvantage. It requires to be explained how it is that this characteristic literary style is just as manifest in cc. i, ii as in the rest of the Gospel, in spite of the fact that the subject‐matter of these chapters is peculiar and distinct. (2) The _Vocabulary_ and constructional forms of cc. i, ii are also characteristic of the Gospel as a whole. Burkitt (_Evan. Da‐Meph._, ii, p. 259) instances eight words from these chapters as “characteristic Matthaean words”. These words are given below. The statistics have been obtained by tracing the record of the words in Moulton and Geden’s _Concordance_ (doubtful cases and quotations being omitted).