One of the two main purposes of Matthew‘s genealogy is to show how that if Joseph was Y‘shua‘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 Jechonias, which is very
significant and explained further on.
But the genealogies presented in Matthew and Luke presents numerous difficulties that, unfortunately, are
often "glossed over" (for lack of an explanation.) There are a number of issues that critics raise including:
The "problem" with Y‘shua not being Joseph's actual son.
The lineage in Luke's account passing through David's son Nathan, and not Solomon as Scripture said it had
to (for the Kingship of Messiah).
The inclusion of a lineage through Jehoiachin (see #5‘s explanation below) being invalid, as he was cursed
by YHWH.
The last segment of the "14 generations" in Matthew only having 13 generations listed.
Verse 11 stating that Josiah (Josias) begat Jeconiah (Jechonias), which he did not.
Regarding #1, According to Jewish law, Y‘shua was Joseph‘s son if Joseph claimed him as such—which he
did. Therefore, legitimately, Joseph's genealogy can be considered Y‘shua's. Note that Joseph is called
―husband of Mary (Miryam)" regarding Y‘shua‘s relationship to him.
Regarding #2, many Christian commentaries try to get around the problem of the cursed Jehoiachin (see
#3, below) by simply using Luke's genealogy as the one for the Messianic lineage. There are two serious
problems with this:
First is the issue of the genealogy passing through Nathan rather than Solomon (in Luke's genealogy). This
is unacceptable. The promise of Messiah being a "son of David" went specifically through Solomon and not
Nathan.
Secondly, lineage was passed through the father's side in First Century Judaism (and prior). The idea of
tracing Jewishness through the mother's side developed later. Matthew's genealogy seems to be that of
Joseph, and Luke's genealogy that of Miriam's (Mary‘s). Matthew's is the one that "counts", however, as it
passes through Solomon.
Regarding #3, the curse on Jehoiachin (Zerubbabel) was reversed by YHWH Himself in Haggai 2:20-23,
when He chose Zerubbabel as His signet ring; thus re-establishing that lineage and giving validity to
Matthew's genealogy.
Regarding #4, this is clearly an error in transcribing (more evidence of someone translating the book from
an original Hebrew into the Greek). Fortunately, there is a version of Matthew that does not include this error
and shows the (missing) 14th generation. The "DuTillet" Hebrew Matthew (available on the Internet at
http://www.nazarene.net/)) corrects ―Abiud begat Eliakim‖, showing that Abiud actually begat Av'ner (Abner),
who in turn begat Eliakim.
Regarding #5, this is evidently another error due to translation (KJV incorrect, LITV, MKJV and NLT Bibles
are correct), as 1 Chron 3:15-16 clearly says that Josiah (Jonias) was the father of Jehoiakim (Jehoiachim),
who in turn was the father of Jeconiah (Jechonias). However, if we were to simply include the missing
Jehoiakim, we would then have fifteen generations, which would cause verse 17 to be in error. The most
reasonable explanation may be that, although the curse was lifted on Jeconiah's lineage, his name was still
to be "blotted out‖. A careless scribe deleted Jehoiakim by mistake. By replacing the reference to
Jeconiah (Jechonias) with one to Jehoiakim (Jehoiachin), we would correct the error, offer a
reasonable explanation for Jeconiah's (Jechonias) omission, and maintain the number of
generations at fourteen. Please view the layout below:
From Matt 1:11 (KJV) From Matt 1:11 (LITV)
- Josias 1) Josiah (same as Josias)
- (Jehoiachim not mentioned – incorrect) 2) Jehoiachin (mentioned – correct translation)
- Jechonias (cursed but left in – not correct) 3) (Jechonias cursed and left out – correct)
- Salathiel 4) Shealtiel
Both the KJV and LITV confirm this in 1 Chron 3:15-16!
From 1 Chron 3:15-16 (KJV) From 1 Chron 3:15-16 (LITV)
- Josiah (same as Josias) 1) Josiah
- Jehoiakim (now mentioned in OT) 2) Jehoiakim (same as Jehoiachin)
- Jeconiah 3) Jeconiah
- Salathiel 4) Shealtiel