text. This want of the article puts the name Joseph outside the genealogical series properly so called, and assigns to it a peculiar position. We must conclude from it—1st. That this name belongs rather to the sentence introduced by Luke; 2d. That the genealogical document which he consulted began with the name of Heli; 3d. And consequently, that this piece was not originally the genealogy of Jesus or of Joseph, but of Heli. There is a second question to determine: whether we should prefer the Alexandrine