Matthew 1:8 1177
The Genealogy of Jesus
the Messiah
This is the genealog y a of Jesus the Messi
ah b the son of David, the son of Abraham:
1
2 Abraham was the father of Isaac,
Isaac the father of Jacob,
Jacob the fat her of Jud ah and his
brothers,
3 Judah the father of Perez and Zerah,
whose mother was Tamar,
Perez the father of Hezron,
Hezron the father of Ram,
4 Ram the father of Amminadab,
Amminadab the father of Nahshon,
Nahshon the father of Salmon,
JESUS
ERA 6
5 Sal
mon
the fat her of Boaz, whose
mother was Rahab,
Boaz the father of Obed, w
hose mother
was Ruth,
Obed the father of Jesse,
6 and Jesse the father of King Dav id.
David was the father of Solomon, w
hose
mother had been Uriah’s wife,
7 Solomon the father of Rehoboam,
Rehoboam the father of Abijah,
Abijah the father of Asa,
8 Asa the father of Jehoshaphat,
a 1 Or
is an account of the origin b 1 Or Jesus
Christ. Messiah (Hebrew) and Christ (Greek) both
mean Anointed One; also in verse 18.
MESSIANIC FULFILLMENT:
JESUS’ GENEALOGY
Matthew 1:1–17
The purpose of Matthew’s version of Jesus’ genealogy is twofold. First, as many Bible com-
mentators are quick to point out, Matthew employs the genealogy of Jesus to demonstrate
that He is the legitimate heir to the throne of David.
This is more than simply a list of names authenticating Jesus’ royal credentials. There’s a
second, even larger purpose for the genealogy. Matthew uses Jesus’ genealogy not merely
to demonstrate that Jesus is the legitimate heir to the Davidic throne, but that He’s the
messianic Son of David who has come to inaugurate the restoration of Israel and bring
about the physical and spiritual redemption of His people from exile.
And that’s the key to understanding Matthew’s genealogy. This “end-of-exile” theme forms
an overarching story. Using the genealogy, Matthew signals the reader that Jesus has come
in fulfillment of God’s promise to redeem Israel. He divides Israel’s past and present into
three great periods of history: from Abraham to David; from David to the exile; and from
the exile to Jesus.
The first group of names reminds Matthew’s readers of God’s covenant with Abraham and
His promise to make his descendants a great nation—a promise that came to fruition in
“David the king.” The second group reminds Matthew’s readers of the national disaster
that befell God’s people because of covenant unfaithfulness and sin.
Now, in verses 12 through 16, Matthew reveals that the shame and humiliation of exile is
over. The third group of names brings Israel’s history to a dramatic climax with the coming
of the Messiah. From Matthew’s perspective, the genealogy of Jesus parallels—and more
importantly, fulfills—the history of Israel’s sin, exile, and ultimate restoration!
The summary statement of verse 17 makes it clear that Matthew attaches symbolic value to
the number fourteen and the division of Israel’s history into these three groups of fourteen
generations each. David is spelled dalet-vav-dalet in Hebrew. When the numeric value of
each Hebrew letter in the name is added up, we arrive at the number fourteen. Matthew
uses this wordplay between the name David and the number fourteen to emphasize the
theme of God’s covenant with David and its fulfillment in Jesus, the ultimate Son of David.
The purpose of Matthew’s genealogy is more theological than chronological. From Mat-
thew’s perspective, the whole of Israel’s history is about God’s covenant with David, and
that covenant comes to its climax with the birth of Jesus the Messiah.
For more information on this subject, see article “Messianic Fulfillment,” p. 1515.