Title: The Genealogy of Yeshua
Only two of the four Gospel writers give us anything about the early life of Yeshua, and that is Matthew and Luke. Mark and Yochanan skip this whole segment. Now, while both Matthew and Luke record it, they give us a different perspective. Matthew tells the story of the birth of Yeshua and the circumstances surrounding it from Joseph’s perspective, and so he also gives us Joseph’s genealogy. Miriam plays a very passive role in Matthew’s account. Luke, however, tells us the story from Miriam’s perspective, and so it is Miriam’s genealogy that we are given. Joseph then plays a very passive role in Luke’s account.
Now we have two genealogies and there is a reason why we have the two. In the O.T. there were two main requirements for kingship. One was applicable to the Southern Kingdom of Judah with its capital in Jerusalem. This requirement for kingship is that the individual had to be of Davidic descent. No one that was not of Davidic descent could sit upon the throne in Israel. The second requirement for kingship was applicable to the Northern Kingdom of Israel, and that was Divine appointment or prophetic sanction. These two requirements together would insure that only one individual would sit upon the throne and rule the nation of Israel.
Sources: Deut. 18:18; II Samuel 7:14-16
Matthew 1:1-17
Mt. 1:1 The book of the genealogy of Yeshua the Messiah, the Son of David, the Son of Abraham:
Matthew introduces his account with these words: “A record of the genealogy of Yeshua the Messiah, the Son of David, the Son of Abraham.” To be cognizant of one’s past was essential for establishing confidence about the future. It also placed a certain responsibility on one to continue, if not even to improve upon, the excellent things of their heritage. This is a verification of Yeshua’s lineage. The Mishnah speaks of how important this is as it lists 10 classes of definite genealogy that came from Babylon (Kiddushin 4:1).
Source: M:Kiddushin 4:1
Mt. 1:2 Abraham begot Isaac, Isaac begot Jacob, and Jacob begot Judah and his brothers,
Since the beginning, the people of God have stressed the importance of understanding their uniqueness, of knowing from whom they have come. Roots were always important for Israel’s faith was deeply imbedded in history. Thus knowledge of beginnings is central to Biblical thought. To a Jewish person in the time of Yeshua, reading the Hebrew Scriptures was like reading a family album. This is one of the reasons why the destruction of the Temple in 70 C.E. was so traumatic. All of the genealogy records were stored there and were burned up in that fire, losing all that precious information forever.
Mt. 1:3 Judah begot Perez and Zerah by Tamar, Perez begot Hezron, and Hezron begot Ram,
Mt. 1:4 Ram begot Amminadab, Amminadab begot Nashon, and Nashon begot Salmon,
Mt. 1:5 Salmon begot Boaz by Rahab, Boaz begot Obed by Ruth, and Obed begot Jesse,
Mt. 1:6 And Jesse begot David the king. David the king begot Solomon by her who had been the wife of Uriah.
Matthew breaks Jewish custom in that he adds the names of women which was forbidden by Jewish custom for genealogies. In verse 3, he mentions Tamar, in verse5 Rahab, in verse 6 Ruth, and also in verse 6, not by name, but the pronoun “her” refers to Bethshevah. Two of the women were Jewish; the other two were Gentile. Matthew is bringing this out to show that although Yeshua’s primary mission is to the Jews, Gentiles will also benefit from His coming.
Another point that he brings out by the mention of these names in violation of Jewish custom is that He came to save sinners. Three of these four women were guilty of sexual sins. One was a prostitute, one was guilty of incest and one was guilty of adultery.
Mt. 1:7 Solomon begot Rehoboam, Rehoboam begot Abijah, and Abijah begot Asa,
Mt. 1:8 Asa begot Jehoshaphat, Jehoshaphat begot Joram, and Joram begot Uzziah,
In verse 8, the author skips 5 generations. In II Chronicles, chapter 20, we have the chronicles of the reign of the kings of Judah. Because it is the chronicles of the kings, it is extremely accurate. In chapter 21 we read of Jehoshaphat, that he died and was succeeded by his son Yehoram. In chapter 22, we read that Yehoram died and that he was succeeded by by Atalyah (Athaliah) who reigned As queen over the land. Atalyah was slain and was succeeded by her grandson Yoash (Joash). Yoash died and was succeeded by his son Amatzyaha (Amaziah). Amatzyaha died and was succeeded by his son Uziyahu (Uzziah). In other words, according to II Chronicles five whole generations were omitted from the account. Now, you might think that this is not a very accurate way of doing things, but to the Jewish mind it was very acceptable. Matthew is simply trying to paint a word picture of the fourteen generations.
Source: II Chronicles, Chpts. 20, 21
Mt. 1:9 Uzziah begot Jotham, Jotham begot Ahaz, and Ahaz begot Hezekiah,
Mt. 1:10 Hezekiah begot Manasseh, Manasseh begot Amon, and amon begot Josiah,
Mt. 1:11 Josiah begot Jeconiah and his brothers about the time they were carried away to Babylon.
Jeremiah 22:24-30
“As I live,” says the Lord, “ though Conia (Jeconiah) the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, were the signet on My right hand, yet I would pluck you off; and I will give you into the hand of those who seek your life and into the hand of those whose face you fear — the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and the hand of the Chaldeans. So I will cast you out, and your mother who bore you, into another country where you were not born; and there you will die. But to the land to which they desire to return, they shall not return. Is this man Coniah (Jeconiah) a despised broken idol? Is he a vessel in which there is no pleasure? Why are they cast out, he and his descendants, and cast into a land they do not know? O earth, O earth, hear the word of the Lord! “Thus says the Lord, write this man down as childless, a man who shall not prosper in his days; for none of his descendants shall prosper, sitting on the throne of David, and ruling any more in Judah.”
Because of the kind of man that Jeconiah was, Jeremiah pronounced a curse upon him; that no descendants of Jeconiah will ever have the right to sit upon the throne of Israel. The Bible does not say why a curse was placed on Jeconiah, but God makes it very clear that no male descendant of his would ever sit on the throne of David. Now, we are told by Matthew that Yoseph was a direct descendant of Jeconiah. If Joseph was really Yeshua’s father, Yeshua could not be king. This is why he starts out by recounting the virgin birth. Matthew is telling us that Yeshua was not really born of Joseph and therefore could be King.
Mt. 1:12 And after they were brought to Babylon, Jeconiah begot Shealtiel, and Shealtiel begot Zerubbabel,
One of the two main purposes of Matthew’s genealogy is to show how that if Joseph was Yeshua’s father, then He could not be the King of Israel. Matthew traces His genealogy beginning with Abraham, then to David, and then on to David’s son Solomon. He then continues to a man named Jeconiah, which is very significant.
Mt. 1:13 Zerubbabel begot Abiud, Abiud begot Eliakim, and Eliakim begot Azor,
Mt. 1:14 Azor begot Zadok, Zadok begot Achim, and Achim begot Eliud,
According to a Talmudic tradition (ARN10.5)
Zadok and
Boethis misquoted the teachings of
Antigonus of Socho concerning the immortality of the soul and started the
Sadducean and
Boethusian sects.
Mt. 1:15 Eliud begot Eleazor, Eleazor begot Matthan, and Matthan begot Jacob,
Mt. 1:16 And Jacob begot Joseph the husband of Miriam, of whom was born Yeshua who is called Messiah.
Mt. 1:17 So all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations, from David until the captivity in Babylon are fourteen generations, and from the captivity in Babylon until the Messiah are fourteen generations.
Matthew uses the numerical equivalent of names to identify Yeshua with King David. The numerical value of the three Hebrew letters of the name David (DVD) is fourteen. The letter “dalet” (D) has a value of four. The letter “vav” (V) has a value of six. The final letter in David’s name is another “dalet” (D) with the vale of four. Matthew records in detail that fourteen generations elapsed between Abraham and David, fourteen generations between David and the Babylonian Captivity, and fourteen generations between the Exile and Yeshua. This was a Jewish method of connecting Yeshua with King David, the anointed king who was a prototype of the Messiah to come.
In Hebrew the word “begot” or that so and so was the father of, can best be understood as the ancestor of. Even today we speak of Abraham as “our father.” The fact is that these chronologies were all quite accurate to the Hebrew mind give the confines with which they were working. This is an important fact one must take into consideration when trying to reconstruct Biblical history.
Luke’s Genealogy
Now we come to Luke’s genealogy. Luke follows strict Jewish law. He mentions no women, not even Miriam, though it is her genealogy he is tracing. He skips no names. He shows that Yeshua could still be King, because Yeshua is a descendant of the house of David, but apart from Jeconiah. He has no problem with Jeconiah, so he begins his Gospel with the virgin birth and then later deals with the genealogy to show that Yeshua descended from King David.
Lk. 2:23 Now Yeshua Himself began His ministry at about thirty years of age, being (as was supposed) the son of Joseph, the son of Heli,
Is there any significance for the age of thirty for a Jewish male? Mishnah Avoth 5:21 gives us at least a brief outline of the high points in a Jewish man’s life: “R. Judah ben Tema used to say, ‘at five years of age one is ready for the study of the Scriptures, at ten years of age one is fit for the study of the Mishnah, at the age of thirteen for the fulfillment of the commandments (Bar Mitzvah), at the age of fifteen for the study of the Talmud, at the age of eighteen for marriage, at the age of twenty for pursuing a vocation, at the age of thirty for entering into one’s full vigor, at the age of forty for understanding, , at the age of fifty for counsel, at the age of sixty one attains old age, at the age of seventy for the hoary head, at the age of eighty for special strength, at the age of ninety for bending beneath the weight of old age, at the age of one hundred one is though he were already dead and passed away and ceased from the world.’”
Source: M:Avoth 5:21
How do we know that Heli is Miriam’s father? Well, according to Jerusalem Talmud, order Moved, tractate Chagigah 2:4, Heli is Miriam’s father. It was no accident that in Jewish writings of the first and second century that Yeshua is referred to by the Rabbis as the son of Heli, because they recognized this. It was not unusual in the Jewish system of genealogy to trace a woman’s origin through her husband. You have two examples of this in the O.T. (Ezra 2:61 and Nehemiah 7:63) where a woman’s origin was not traced by her
real line but through her husband’s name. This was because of the strict Jewish law concerning mentioning women in genealogy. So, Luke was following strict Jewish practice in the manner in which the Jews did it. He wants to trace Miriam’s line, but he can’t mention her name. So, he uses Joseph’s name. This is also in keeping with his entire Gospel, because it is the story from Miriam’s viewpoint, not Joseph’s.
Sources: JT:Chagigah 2:4; Ezra 2:61; Nehemiah 7:63
Now he traces the genealogy in revers order. He begins with his own time and traces backward. He traces the genealogy back to David, but David had another son, and that is Nathan. While David’s line through Solomon ended with Jeconiah and the curse, Yeshua, however, was the son of David through a different son. There was no blood of Jeconiah in
His veins. He was a member of the house of David apart from Jeconiah and so He could be King.
But this does not solve the entire problem, for the simple reason that Yeshua was not the only descendant of David like this. At this point in Jewish history there were a number of descendants of David apart from Jeconiah. Why Yeshua above the others? This is because of the second element which will be looked at later, and that is the element of Divine Appointment.
Lk. 3:24 The son of Matthat, the son of Levi, the son of Melchi, the son of Janna, the son of Joseph,
Lk. 3:25 The son of Mattathiah, the son of Amos, the son of Nahum, the son of Esli, the son of Naggai,
Lk. 3:26 The son of Maath, the son of Mattathiah, the son of Semei, the son of Joseph, the son of Judah,
Lk. 3:27 The son of Joanas, the son of Rhesa, the son of Zerubbabel, the son of Shealtiel, the son of Neri,
Lk. 3:28 The son of Melchi, the son of Addi, the son of Cosam, the son of Elmodam, the son of Er,
Lk 3:29 The son of Jos, the son of Eliezer, the son of Jorim, the son of Matthat, the son of Levi,
Lk. 3:30 The son of Simeon, the son of Judah, the son of Joseph, the son of Jona, the son of Eliakim,
Lk. 3:31 The son of Melea, the son of Menan, the son of Maattathat, the son of Nathan, the son of David,
Lk. 3:32 The son of Jesse, the son of Obed, the son of Boaz, the son of Salmon, the son of Nashon,
Lk. 3:33 The son of Amminadab, the son of Ram, the son of Hezron, the son of Perez, the son of Judah,
Lk. 3:34 The son of Jacob, the son of Isaac, the son of Abraham, the son of Terah, the son of Nahor,
Lk. 3:35 The son of Serug, the son of Ru, the son of Peleg, the son of Eber, the son of Shelah,
Lk. 3:36 The son of Caiman, the son of Arphaxad, the son of Shem, the son of Noah, the son of Lameck,
Lk. 3:37 The son of Methuselah, the son of Enoch, the son of Jared, the son of Mahalael, the son of Cainan,
Lk.3:38 The son of Enos, the son of Seth, the son of Adam, the son of God.
Finally, there are four titles given to Yeshua in these genealogies which represent His basic status: (1) son of David; (2) son of Abraham; (3) son of Adam; and (4) Son of God. The “son of David means that He was a King. The “son of Abraham” means that He was a Jew. The son of Adam means that He was a man. The “Son of God” means that He was God. In this context, “Son of God” does not necessarily mean physical descendancy. If it did, we would have a violation of the most basic concepts in the Bible, that of monotheism. If it implied physical descendancy, then you would have two gods, not One.
