Matthew 1 The Royal Bloodline of Christ

Mat 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 generation

I wanted to start from verse 17 and then go back for a reason. If you read this from verse 1 through you may well miss an important truth. There were 14 generations from Abraham to David, then another 14 generations from David to the carrying away into Babylon, then another 14 from the carrying away till the birth of Jesus Christ. So what I am going to do is set it up so you can see it.

Matthew 1

1The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.

2Abraham begat Isaac; and Isaac begat Jacob; and Jacob begat Judas and his brethren;

3And Judas begat Phares and Zara of Thamar; and Phares begat Esrom; and Esrom begat Aram;

4And Aram begat Aminadab; and Aminadab begat Naasson; and Naasson begat Salmon;

5And Salmon begat Booz of Rachab; and Booz begat Obed of Ruth; and Obed begat Jesse;

6And Jesse begat David the king; and David the king begat Solomon of her that had been the wife of Urias;

7And Solomon begat Roboam; and Roboam begat Abia; and Abia begat Asa;

8And Asa begat Josaphat; and Josaphat begat Joram; and Joram begat Ozias;

9And Ozias begat Joatham; and Joatham begat Achaz; and Achaz begat Ezekias;

10And Ezekias begat Manasses; and Manasses begat Amon; and Amon begat Josias;

11And Josias begat Jechonias and his brethren, about the time they were carried away to Babylon:

12And after they were brought to Babylon, Jechonias begat Salathiel; and Salathiel begat Zorobabel;

13And Zorobabel begat Abiud; and Abiud begat Eliakim; and Eliakim begat Azor;

14And Azor begat Sadoc; and Sadoc begat Achim; and Achim begat Eliud;

15And Eliud begat Eleazar; and Eleazar begat Matthan; and Matthan begat Jacob;

16And Jacob begat Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ.

Okay so let’s look at this in detail.

Abraham to David.

1.      Abraham the patriarch

2.      Abraham begat Isaac

3.      Isaac begat Jacob

4.      Jacob begat Judas and his brethren

5.      Judas begat Phares and Zara of Thamar

6.      Phares begat Esrom

7.      Esrom begat Aram

8.      Aram begat Aminadab

9.      Aminadab begat Naasson

10.  Naasson begat Salmon

11.  Salmon begat Booz of Rachab

12.  Booz begat Obed of Ruth

13.  Obed begat Jesse

14.  Jesse begat David the king

So there you have the first of three sets of 14 generations. So let’s go onto set number two.

David to the carrying away.

1.      David the king begat Solomon of her that had been the wife of Urias

2.      Solomon begat Roboam

3.      Roboam begat Abia

4.      Abia begat Asa

5.      Asa begat Josaphat

6.      Josaphat begat Joram

7.      Joram begat Ozias

8.      Ozias begat Joatham

9.      Joatham begat Achaz

10.  Achaz begat Ezekias

11.  Ezekias begat Manasses

12.  Manasses begat Amon

13.  Amon begat Josias

14.  Josias begat Jechonias and his brethren, about the time they were carried away to Babylon

Okay so far so good we have one more set to check out.

Carrying a to Babylon

1.   And after they were brought to Babylon, Jechonias begat Salathielway

2.   Salathiel begat Zorobabel

3.   Zorobabel begat Abiud

4.   Abiud begat Eliakim

5.   Eliakim begat Azor

6.   Azor begat Sadoc

7.   Sadoc begat Achim

8.   Achim begat Eliud

9.   Eliud begat Eleazar

10.  Eleazar begat Matthan

11.  Matthan begat Jacob

12.  Jacob begat Joseph the husband of Mary

13.  Mary of whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ

Houston we have a problem. There is only 13 generations yet in verse 17 says very plainly that there would be 14. Now whenever you have an apparent contradiction there are two places it can lay either in your understanding or in translation.

Okay so you check the word fourteen in all three spots it is the Greek word is dekatessares so that is clear that it is suppose to be fourteen. If you notice number 12 says Jacob begat Joseph the husband of Mary let’s look at that. The word for husband is the word anēr.  This translated man 156 times, husband 50 times sir 6 times and fellow 1 time. According to blueleatherbible.org this is:

Outline of Biblical Usage

1) with reference to sex

a) of a male

b) of a husband

c) of a betrothed or future husband

2) with reference to age, and to distinguish an adult man from a boy

3) any male

4) used generically of a group of both men and women

Aner is a male person of full age and stature as opposed to a child or female. Also look at:

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,

Even with an adopted child the legal bloodline came from the father's side. Every time where the bloodline is involved it says David the son of Jesse. So Luke sets up the legal blood line going all the way back to Adam otherwise you could not prove that Jesus was legally a man. My father was Clarence if I adopted a child he would legally become a part of my blood line I would be Donald son of Clarence and my child would be Joe the Son of Don the son of Clarence.

In Luke we are told that Joseph’s father name is Heli in verse 16 of Mathew it says Joseph was begat by Jacob. So the translation problem is in verse 16 it should be translated Joseph the father of Mary.

Carrying a to Babylon

1.   And after they were brought to Babylon, Jechonias begat Salathielway

2.   Salathiel begat Zorobabel

3.   Zorobabel begat Abiud

4.   Abiud begat Eliakim

5.   Eliakim begat Azor

6.   Azor begat Sadoc

7.   Sadoc begat Achim

8.   Achim begat Eliud

9.   Eliud begat Eleazar

10.  Eleazar begat Matthan

11.  Matthan begat Jacob

12.  Jacob begat Joseph

13.  Joseph begat Mary

14.  Mary of whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ

It is very possible that Mary’s father and husband both had the same name. Also that way there is no contradiction with Luke. There is one more point and that being that Joseph was not the father of Jesus God was. So in every possible way the word has to be translated father and not husband.

There are two bloodlines that are important to establish the Legal bloodline going back to Adam and the Royal bloodline going back to David and to Abraham because the promise was made to old Abe that the redeemer would come from his bloodline.

So let’s move on now and see what else is in Mathew 1.

17 Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise: When as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost.

Now there is a great deal of information left out here that is all contained in Luke which we will look at in another teaching.

It says in Mathew that they were espoused. Too many people don’t have any idea the difference between an espousal and an engagement.

The Etymology Dictionary defines espousal

late 14c., from O.Fr. esposailles (pl.) "act of betrothal" (12c., Mod.Fr. époussailles), from L. sponsalia "betrothal, espousal," neut. pl. of sponsalis "of a betrothal," from sponsa "spouse." For the -e- see especial.

Biblicaly an espousal was the same as a marriage. In fact they would have had to have gotten a bill of divorcement to undo the espousal. It was as binding as a marriage. Remember we are dealing with a time when all marriages were arranged. Joseph and Mary had been bound since birth. They had none of our traditions of dating and such and subsequently they had a minimal divorce rate. It talks some about this in Mathew so let’s proceed.

19 Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not willing to make her a public example, was minded to put her away privily.

The word privily means privately. This is where it is talking about getting the bill of divorcement. Joseph didn’t want to make Mary a public example. There was also another option that being that Joseph could have had Mary stoned for adultery

20 But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the LORD appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost.

So here we learn that Joseph was also a descendant of King David.

21 And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins.

22 Now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying,

23 Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.

If you look at Isaiah 7:14 you will see the prophecy of the virgin birth. They called him Jesus that is his Greek name. His Aramaic name was Joshua. Now I’m not advocating we start calling him Joshua any more than I think we should call him Emanuel.

24 Then Joseph being raised from sleep did as the angel of the Lord had bidden him, and took unto him his wife:

25 And knew her not till she had brought forth her firstborn son: and he called his name JESUS.

When it speaks of a man knowing a woman it is speaking of them having sexual intercourse. Some teach that it means sexual intercourse ending in a pregnancy. There basis for this is several places in the Hebrew Scriptures it talks about a husband knowing his wife and it ends in her becoming pregnant. I am not 100% sure which it is so I leave that for you to study out. All I am sure of is it says Joseph did not know his his wife till after the birth of Christ.