The Genealogy of Jesus Christ
The Genealogy of Jesus Christ
The record of the birth of Christ is clearly given in
the Word of God.
Matthew 1:1:
The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son
of David, the son of Abraham.
The word “generation” is “offspring” as a part of a
family tree. Jesus was the offspring of David, the son of
Abraham,* the royal line of Mary. The record in Matthew
gives the genealogy of Mary’s forefathers.
The legality of the claims for Jesus Christ are confirmed
in Matthew because of His mother’s bloodline.
Mary had to be a direct descendant of the House of David
or Christ’s claims fail on legal grounds. The record of
Matthew 1:1 has to be the family tree of Mary’s side, she
being the only human parent of Jesus Christ.
At the close of the record of Joseph and Mary, Matthew gives an explanation.
Matthew 1:22, 23:
Now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled
which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet [Isaiah],
saying,
Behold, a virgin shall be with child. . . .
Matthew very carefully records the genealogy of Jesus
Christ, the son of Mary. “The book of the generation of
Jesus Christ.” Matthew 1:1-17. (The ancestral line of
Mary, the mother of Jesus.)
Abraham to David (14 generations)
1. Abraham 8. Aminadab
2. Isaac 9. Naasson
3. Jacob 10. Salmon
4. Judas 11. Booz
5. Phares 12. Obed
6. Esrom 13. Jesse
7. Aram 14. David (the King)
David to Carrying away to Babylon
(14 generations)
1. Solomon 8. Joatham
2. Roboam 9. Achaz
3. Abia 10. Ezekias
4. Asa 11. Manasses
5. Josaphat 12. Anion
6. Joram 13. Josias
7. Ozias 14. Jechonias
Carrying away to Babylon until Christ
(14 generations)
1. Salathiel (born after 8. Eliud
carrying away) 9. Eleazar
2. Zorobabel 10. Matthan
3. Abiud 11. Jacob
4. Eliakim 12. Joseph
5. Azor (father of Mary)
6. Sadoc 13. Mary
7. Achim 14. Jesus
Matthew cannot be giving the genealogy of Joseph, the
husband of Mary, which theologians have maintained
throughout the years, when this Gospel states so clearly
that Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit.**
Matthew 1:16:
And Jacob begat Joseph the husband of Mary. . . .
This translation in Matthew 1:16 giving Joseph as the
husband of Mary is an error, not on the part of the original
writer, Matthew, but the subsequent translators. When
we examine the records of Matthew in detail, it is evident
that God placed a safeguard to enable us to avoid such
a misunderstanding. Matthew numbered the genealogical
lineage of Jesus Christ and divided it into three groups
of 14 generations. This is the safeguard.
Matthew 1:17:
So all the generations from Abraham to David are
fourteen generations; and from David until the carrying
away into Babylon are fourteen generations; and
from the carrying away into Babylon unto Christ are
fourteen generations.
Counting carefully in the record of the Gospel of
Matthew, we note that the first two groupings each contain
fourteen generations, but the third group would have
only thirteen generations if Joseph were the husband of
Mary. Furthermore, Luke 3:23 declares the father of
Joseph to be Heli, while Matthew 1:16 declares the father
of Joseph to be Jacob. How do you reconcile the apparent
discrepancy? The two Josephs certainly cannot be the
same if the Word of God is the Will of God and means
what it says and says what it means.
Comparing the records as given by Matthew and Luke,
it is only logical and reasonable that they must be speak-
ing of two different people named Joseph. The error in
Matthew is due to the mistranslation of the Greek word
andra as “husband,” instead of “father.” In Matthew 1:16
the Greek word andra is from the root word anēr. Anēr is
a male person of full age and stature as opposed to a
child or female.
I Corinthians 13:11:
When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood
as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became
a man [anēr], I put away childish things.
Acts 1:16:
Men [anēr] and brethren, this scripture must needs
have been fulfilled, which the Holy Ghost by the
mouth of David spake before concerning Judas,
which was guide to them that took Jesus.
I Corinthians 16:13:
Watch ye, stand fast in the faith, quit you like men
[anēr], be strong.
I Peter 3:1:
Likewise, ye wives, be in subjection to your own
husbands [anēr]; that, if any obey not the word, they
also may without the word be won by the conversation
of the wives.
Acts 17:5:
But the Jews which believed not, moved with envy,
took unto them certain lewd fellows [anēr] of the
baser sort, and gathered a company, and set all the
city on an uproar, and assaulted the house of Jason,
and sought to bring them out to the people.
Acts 7:26:
And the next day he shewed himself unto them as
they strove, and would have set them at one again,
saying, Sirs [anēr], ye are brethren; why do ye wrong
one to another?
Luke 24:19:
And he said unto them, What things? And they said
unto him, Concerning Jesus of Nazareth, which was
a prophet [anēr] mighty in deed and word before
God and all the people.
Acts 3:14:
But ye denied the Holy One and the Just, and desired
a murderer [anēr] to be granted unto you.
Anēr is used of an adult male person in various relations
where the context must determine its true meaning.
As indicated in the above verses the usage of anēr in its
relationship is as follows: (1) man; (2) husband; (3) fellow;
(4) sir; (5) a man as a prophet; (6) a man as a
murderer.
There is therefore no basis for translating anēr “husband”
rather than “father” in Matthew 1:16, and every
reason from the genealogy to translate it “father.” This is
further authenticated from the Aramaic. Anēr in Matthew
1:16 is gbra in Aramaic, meaning “mighty man.” The
Aramaic word for “husband” is bāla, used in Matthew
1:19, “Then Joseph her husband [bāla] . . .”
Matthew 1:16 and 19:
And Jacob begat Joseph the husband [gbra, mighty
man] of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is
called Christ.
Then Joseph her husband [bāla], being a just man,
and not willing to make her a publick example, was
minded to put her away privily.
Biblical and Oriental customs further verify this truth.
The father who is the head of the household is the “mighty
man.” The son, even though a husband, is always under
subjection to the father, the “mighty man,” who presides
over the whole household, until he, the father, dies. Then
the son, who is a husband and father, becomes the head
of the household, the “mighty man.” The son would never
be referred to as the head of the household, the “mighty
man,” while his father is alive.
Matthew 1:16 should read, “And Jacob begat Joseph,
the father of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is
called Christ.” This translation makes the Word of God
in Matthew and Luke fit perfectly, and deprives Bible
critics of every argument relating to this subject of genealogy.
It is certainly acceptable and easily understood that
Mary could have a father having the same name as her
husband, namely, Joseph. Studying the Matthew record in
detail from genealogy, the Greek word usage, the Aramaic
word usage and the Biblical and Oriental customs,
we conclusively discover from all four that Matthew 1:16
must be translated “Joseph the father of Mary.” This then
establishes the fourteen generations “from the carrying
away into Babylon unto Christ.”
Luke rings a striking truth in the light of the above
insight.
Luke 3:23:
And Jesus himself began to be about thirty years
of age, being (as was supposed) the son of Joseph,
which was the son*** of Heli.
The purpose in setting Luke’s genealogy of Joseph as
the supposed father of Jesus as reckoned by Judean laws
was simply to establish Jesus, whom Joseph subsequently
treated as his son, with complete legal standing in the
House of David.
The genealogy of Joseph, the husband of Mary, is
given in Luke 3:23-38. (The ancestral line of Joseph is
the legal male side.)
God
1. Adam
2. Seth
3. Enos
4. Cainan
5. Maleleel
6. Jared
7. Enoch
8. Mathusala
9. Lamech
10. Noe
11. Sem
12. Arphaxad
13. Cainan
14. Sala
15. Heber
16. Phalec
17. Ragau
18. Saruch
19. Nachor
20. Thara
21. Abraham
22. Isaac
23. Jacob
24. Juda
25. Phares
26. Esrom
27. Aram
28. Aminadab
29. Naasson
30. Salmon
31. Booz
32. Obed
33. Jesse
34. David (the King)
35. Nathan
36. Mattatha
37. Menan
38. Melea
39. Eliakim
40. Jonan
41. Joseph
42. Juda
43. Simeon
44. Levi
45. Matthat
46. Jorim
47. Eliezer
48. Jose
49. Er
50. Elmodam
51. Cosam
52. Addi
53. Melchi
54. Neri
55. Salathiel
56. Zorobabel
57. Rhesa
58. Joanna
59. Juda
60. Joseph
61. Semei
62. Mattathias
63. Maath
64. Nagge
65. Esli
66. Naum
67. Amos
68. Mattathias
69. Joseph
70. Janna
71. Melchi
72. Levi
73. Matthat
74. Heli (father of
Joseph)
75. Joseph (husband of Mary)
Nothing is so dynamically thrilling as the inherent
accuracy of God’s wonderful, matchless Word. How truly
wonderful it is to know that the Bible is the inspired Word
of God and, as originally given when holy men of God
recorded it as they were moved by the Holy Spirit, is
absolute truth.