Matthew also takes the unusual step of including women in the genealogy of Jesus. These women, moreover, are not obvious saints such as Sarah, Rebekah or Rachel but figures like Tamar (Genesis 38), Rahab (Joshua 2), Ruth and Uriah’s wife Bathsheba (2 Samuel 11)—women of questionable repute or in difficult marital circumstances or seen as publicly scandalous, yet who were true instruments of God’s Spirit and grace in preserving the messianic heritage and Israel. They prepare for Mary who is “found