
Matthew 1.1-17.
In the New Testament, Christ Jesus has two genealogies.
Two different genealogies. And they don’t line up. If that contradiction (or
Matthew 1.1 KWL - The book of the genesis of King Jesus,
- son of David, son of Abraham.
Other translations have “Christ Jesus” or “Messiah Jesus.” Mostly because they’re going for literalness; the Greek word is
We Christians claim Jesus was anointed by the L
Ancient Romans didn’t realize what Christ means, which is why ancient Christians used the title “Christ Jesus” instead of
Yeah, there was a lot of racism wrapped up in Pharisee ideas about Messiah. Unfortunately that’s still true in popular interpretations about
And though Jesus is a literal descendant of both David, the third king of Israel, and Abraham ben Terah, the ancestor of the Israelis, Edomites, and Arabs, the more important thing is Jesus is the fulfillment of
Yep, all of that in the very first verse of the New Testament! But wait; there’s more.
Jesus’s ancestors.
If certain names don’t sound familiar, it’s because
Matthew 1.2-16 KWL 2 Abraham fathers Isaac.- Isaac fathers Jacob.
- Jacob fathers Judah, and his siblings.
3 Judah fathers Peréch and Zerákh by Tamár.- Peréch fathers Khechrón.
- Khechrón fathers Ram.
4 Ram fathers Amminadáv.- Amminadáv fathers Nakhšón.
- Nakhšón fathers Šalmá.
5 Šalmá fathers Boaz by Rahab.- Boaz fathers Ovéd by Ruth.
- Ovéd fathers Jesse.
6 Jesse fathers David the king.- David fathers Solomon by Uriah’s woman.
7 Solomon fathers Rekhavám.- Rekhavám fathers Aviyáh.
- Aviyáh fathers Asá.
8 Asá fathers Yehošafát.- Yehošafát fathers Yorám.
- Yorám is the ancestor of Uzziyáhu.
9 Uzziyáhu fathers Yotám.- Yotám fathers Akház.
- Akház fathers Khizqiyáhu.
10 Khizqiyáhu fathers Menaššeh.- Menaššeh fathers Amón.
- Amón fathers Josiah.
11 Josiah grandfathers Yekhanyáhu and his siblings- at the time of the Babylonian exile.
12 After the Babylonian exile,- Yekhanyáhu fathers Šehaltiél.
- Šehaltiél fathers Zerubbabel.
13 Zerubbabel fathers Avihúd.- Avihúd fathers Elyaqím.
- Elyaqím fathers Azzúr.
14 Azzúr fathers Chadóq.- Chadóq fathers Ahím.
- Ahím fathers Elihúd.
15 Elihúd fathers Elazár.- Elazár fathers Mattán.
- Mattán fathers Jacob.
16 Jacob fathers Joseph, Mary’s man.- Jesus is mothered by her—
- Jesus, who’s called King.
“Begat” is the way the
Matthew 1.17 KWL - So all the generations from Abraham to David:
- 14 generations.
- And from David to the Babylonian exile:
- 14 generations.
- And from the Babylonian exile to the King:
- 14 generations.
As a result, loads of Christian commentators attempt to read some kind of weird Christian numerology into the number 14. It’s two sevens; that must mean something. It’s as many days as there are in two weeks; that must mean something. Two must have one hidden meaning and seven must have another, and if you put ’em together you create some new, profound meaning… and then they try to imagine what these meanings are, or swipe ideas from rabbinic Judaism and Kabbalah and medieval Christianity
But there are no dots. There were 14 generations from Abraham to David, 14 generations from the exile to Jesus… but 18 generations from David to the exile. The author of Matthew chose to make all the segments 14 generations long. He skipped Yorám’s son Akhazyáhu, his grandson Yoáš, his great-grandson Amachyáhu, and went straight to his great-great-grandson Uzziyáhu (
If you’re
The point of Jesus’s genealogy.
I already mentioned how Matthew is trying to make the point that Jesus is the literal descendant of Abraham and David, and why that’s significant. There’s more to it, of course.
When you look at other genealogies in the Old Testament, y’might notice women tend to get skipped. Not always, but frequently. No, it’s not because women and mothers aren’t important. It’s because ancient Hebrew genealogies have to do with inheritance. It’s about who inherits
Whereas if you’re an ancient Israeli woman, you’re not included in the family inheritance, nor the genealogies, unless your father has no sons.
In Jesus’s case, the deal with his genealogy is whether he is, or counts as, a direct descendant of David. And since
Okay, so why does Matthew bring up five women in Jesus’s genealogy?—Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, “Uriah’s woman” (i.e. Bathsheba), and Mary? Most of us figure of course Mary comes up,
The most common theory is a sexist one: It’s that the four Old Testament women are all sinners. Tamar tricked Judah into having sex with her, Rahab was a sex worker in Jericho, Ruth was a Moabite pagan, and Bathsheba cheated on Uriah with David. It’s to point out how Jesus is descended from sinners. But he conquered sin, so it’s all good.
I call it sexist for two reasons: If you wanna talk about sinners, lookit the men! A whole lot of them—particularly the kings—are profoundly awful people. Secondly, labeling all the women as sinners doesn’t hold up: Ruth’s not a sinner! The scriptures say nothing against her. (Go read Ruth again. I’ll wait.) She deliberately left Moab to righteously follow her mother-in-law and the L
As for the other women, historical context (i.e. Judah wasn’t doing right by Tamar) and the absence of historical details (i.e. did Bathsheba have any say whatsoever in the matter of her affair?) makes this interpretation hugely problematic. It likely slanders the other women just as much.
The other theory, which has way more merit, is these four Old Testament women weren’t descendants of Israel. They joined Israel. They’re immigrants who married Israelis. Tamar and Rahab were Canaanites, Ruth was Moabite, and Bathsheba was likely the same ethnicity as Uriah, who was Hittite. It’s to establish Jesus is authentically Israeli… but he’s also the descendant of gentiles, because

