S. Michael Houdmann Supporter Got Questions Ministries

Matthew's genealogy traces the ancestors of Joseph, the legal father of Jesus. The structure of the genealogy descends from father to son, beginning with Abraham. Additionally, Matthew divides the ...

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July 01 2013 • 1 response • Vote Up • Share • Report

Thomas K M Supporter A retired Defence Scientist from Indian Defence R&D Orgn.

This genealogy of Jesus Christ is recorded in Mathew Chapter 1. There are three periods of 14 according to Matt.1:17 but the astute reader soon discovers 5 Old Testament names are unexpectedly missing from the second 14 and the third 14 and the third 14 appears to be short one generation. Some names are spelled differently, probably because of the change in language Hebrew to Greek. 

In Gen.6:9 see how Noah was perfect in his generation. Noah is the tenth generation from Adam. The next ten generation leads to Abraham at No.20. The third last group of ten is up to Ruth which takes us from Pharez to David. David would be at generation No.30, But we would be wrong because of three skipped names namely Issac, Jacob and Judah. So David is at No. 33 and Jesus is at No 66. All the generations from Adam to David is 33 and from David to Jesus 33

September 24 2014 • 1 response • Vote Up • Share • Report

John Appelt Supporter

Matthew’s way of counting and the way he excludes certain people, seems to show the count of generations might contain errors.

Instead, Matthew purposefully composed the genealogy in a particular pattern. In Matthew 1:17, Matthew states there are three sets of fourteen signifying three periods of history: pre-monarchy, the monarchy, and post-monarchy. He may not have followed the Hebrew numerical value of David’s name which is fourteen, as Jewish traditions hold. Also, he may not have considered three sets of fourteen is equal to six sets of seven making the coming of Christ at the seventh seven, or Jubilee as some have pointed out. More practically, Matthew structured the genealogy as a teaching aid perhaps for ease in memorizing.

This fits with Matthew’s profession of being a tax collector and accountant who organized information in a precise, symmetrical and orderly fashion as in a ledger or register. As his job required counting, the use of the hand helped, whether using the five fingers of one hand or using the total fourteen digits of fingers and thumb of the hand. Matthew used numerical structure in his gospel. For example, the book of Matthew has five speeches that Jesus gave. These make up five definite divisions in the book. 

In considering the genealogy of Christ with three sections of fourteen entries, the reader or audience could count along using the digits of the fingers and thumb of the hand and remember them. 

In the first fourteen series, Matthew 1:2-6a, the genealogy starts, not with Adam, but with Abraham, through whom God made a covenant, promising land, a people, and a Person who will be the Messiah. From Abraham to David, none are excluded in these fourteen generations, strictly a father-to-son lineage.

The second fourteen has some purposeful alterations. Matthew 1:8 omits Ahaziah, Joash, and Amaziah, possibly because they were notably wicked kings who were not registered due to contamination of Ahab and Jezebel. Exodus 20:5 may give the reason. In Matthew 1:11 is another omission, that of Jehoiakim who also was wicked. The record jumps to his son Jeconiah (Jehoiachin) and his brothers (his uncles). The jumping over generations was linguistically allowable, because to begat someone applied both to father-son and father-grandson/descendant relationships.

In the last group of fourteen, 12-16, it is not known how many were omitted. Jeconiah is listed again intentionally. In the previous group he was king, but in this group, he was a civilian in captivity.

Some generations were omitted but there were no errors. Anyone could have gone to the archives to verify what he wrote was true, and no one questioned his record of the genealogy.

Matthew, with his professional background, composed the book as he felt was helpful. But the main purpose of this genealogy was to make the case that Jesus had the historical and legal right to be the king through David the king, Matthew 1:1. This was Matthew’s first step in authenticating Jesus the Messiah as the rightful king.

13 days ago • 0 responses • Vote Up • Share • Report