Beth-El Baptist Church

04/13/2008

Greg Tomlinson

Concerning the Genealogies of Jesus

There are two genealogies of Jesus (Matthew 1 and Luke 3). There are differences and the count of the generations in Matthew 1 seems suspect.

Matthew 1:11-17 – Matthews lineage after Babylonian exile. Fourteen generations are there if Jeconias and Jesus are counted.

Luke 3:31-23 – read backwards for comparison with Matthew. The differences between the genealogies is a result of their focus. Matthew follows the kingly line through Solomon to demonstrate the legal right to inherit by being the “king of David” but Jeconias and his line were removed from acceptability of sitting on the throne of David. Luke follows the physical line through Nathan to demonstrate the descent of Mary from David which allows Jesus to be considered from David.

Genesis 38:6-10 – The declared father may not be the physical father but the legal father.

Deuteronomy 25:5-7 – Primary inheritance typically goes to the eldest. If the eldest dies without a child, the brother is to marry and raise up a child who is declared to be of the seed of the dead brother and thus maintain his inheritance.

Genesis 48:5-6, 13-20 – The acceptance of Ephraim and Manasseh as being the children of Israel and not as the children of Joseph. Israel's identifying of Ephraim, the youngest, as being in priority over Manasseh, the eldest. In this way, Joseph received a double inheritance from Jacob.

Matthew 1:12 – Jeconiah, Salathiel and Zerubbabel

Jeremiah 22:24-30 – The rejection of Jeconiah's decedents from the throne. Since Jesus is identified as being in the lineage of Jeconiah he should be rejected as king, but he would be an adopted son of Joseph thus giving him the legal access to the throne.

Luke 3:27 – Salathiel is the son of Neri but Matthew says Jeconiah. It could be a different Salathiel or it could be a type of adoption going on.

Haggai 1:1 – Zerubbabel is the son of Shealtiel.

Haggai 2:21-23 – Zerubbabel chosen by the LORD as a “signet”. This is a specially chosen child of God acting as the authority of God himself. Thus Zerubbabel would be considered to be king, a part of the royal lineage. This could be a marriage or adoption type relationship.

Zechariah 4:6-10 – Zerubbabel is not able to accomplish anything in his own power but by the power of God. There is a Messianic picture of Jesus as the anointed king bring grace, not the law.

Regardless, the result is that Jesus has proper access to the throne of David. While it is possible that there could be multiple Shealtiels fathering Zerubbabel, it is unlikely that there would be multiple Shealtiels fathering Zerubbabels and also being a descendant of David with legitimate access to the throne of David. Most likely there is a physical and a legal form (adoption or marriage) relationship among the fathers of Shealtiel.