Jesus was about thirty years old when He began His public ministry. Jesus was known as the son of Joseph. Joseph was the son of Heli.
Heli was the son of Matthat. Matthat was the son of Levi. Levi was the son of Melki. Melki was the son of Jannai. Jannai was the son of Joseph.
Joseph was the son of Mattathias. Mattathias was the son of Amos. Amos was the son of Nahum. Nahum was the son of Esli. Esli was the son of Naggai.
Naggai was the son of Maath. Maath was the son of Mattathias. Mattathias was the son of Semein. Semein was the son of Josech. Josech was the son of Joda.
Joda was the son of Joanan. Joanan was the son of Rhesa. Rhesa was the son of Zerubbabel. Zerubbabel was the son of Shealtiel. Shealtiel was the son of Neri.
Neri was the son of Melki. Melki was the son of Addi. Addi was the son of Cosam. Cosam was the son of Elmadam. Elmadam was the son of Er.
Er was the son of Joshua. Joshua was the son of Eliezer. Eliezer was the son of Jorim. Jorim was the son of Matthat. Matthat was the son of Levi.
Levi was the son of Simeon. Simeon was the son of Judah. Judah was the son of Joseph. Joseph was the son of Jonam. Jonam was the son of Eliakim.
Eliakim was the son of Melea. Melea was the son of Menna. Menna was the son of Mattatha. Mattatha was the son of Nathan. Nathan was the son of David.
David was the son of Jesse. Jesse was the son of Obed. Obed was the son of Boaz. Boaz was the son of Salmon. Salmon was the son of Nahshon.
Nahshon was the son of Amminadab. Amminadab was the son of Admin. Admin was the son of Arni. Arni was the son of Hezron. Hezron was the son of Perez. Perez was the son of Judah.
Judah was the son of Jacob. Jacob was the son of Isaac. Isaac was the son of Abraham. Abraham was the son of Terah. Terah was the son of Nahor.
Nahor was the son of Serug. Serug was the son of Reu. Reu was the son of Peleg. Peleg was the son of Eber. Eber was the son of Shelah.
Shelah was the son of Cainan. Cainan was the son of Arphaxad. Arphaxad was the son of Shem. Shem was the son of Noah. Noah was the son of Lamech.
Lamech was the son of Methuselah. Methuselah was the son of Enoch. Enoch was the son of Jared. Jared was the son of Mahalalel. Mahalalel was the son of Kenan.
Kenan was the son of Enosh. Enosh was the son of Seth. Seth was the son of Adam. Adam was the son of God.
Luke 3:23-38
The best way to handle the detail is to look at the details in the context of the big picture. I have suggested in that you notice the direction of flow. I suggested that you read it through a number of times. That you take note of the names mentioned and note those familiar to you. It will be obvious to you I am sure that when it comes to a genealogy we need to know who the people are and how they are connected. What side of the family they belong to? etc. Are we talking about Joseph’s side of the family or Mary’s side of family? Or are we following something more related to a connection with Jesus Himself. In this case we have three sides of the family: Joseph. Mary and God. All normal genealogical questions really. Firstly take the time to see what you can work out from the names you know. When you have done that you need to spend some time finding out about the other names in the list that you don’t know anything about. Like normal genealogical research check out “any unknown relatives”. Get to know the new rellies. So do that here with those names you don’t know. Use the ISBE in E-Sword.
I have suggested that you compare Luke’s genealogy with Matthew’s. What macro differences did you observe? I have sought to make that task easier for you this time around. See the attached file where I have listed for you the two separate genealogies side by side. Did you indeed notice the direction of flow in both genealogies as listed in the Bible? I am sure you did. One moves down from Abraham to Jesus. The other moves in reverse from Jesus to Adam and then to God. For ease of comparison I have reversed Luke’s order for you. There are 41 names in Matthew’s list whereas there are 77 names in Luke’s list. Luke takes the genealogy all the way back to Adam and then God. Matthew only goes back to Abraham. This accounts for 21 of the extra names, but there are still 15 additional names after the names between Abraham and Adam have been taken out. Not only that, but between David and Joseph there are only two other names which match – that of Shealtiel and Zerubbabel. In both lists only 18 names match. The real problem of comparison occurs when we compared the names between David and Jesus.
With my comment in the last paragraph, I am sure you can see now why I included the Genesis 5 genealogy in Gem 773. Luke indeed takes the genealogy all the way back to Adam and thence to God. In so doing he includes the full genealogy found in Genesis 5. Which of course includes the names included in Gem 773 with the associated meaning of the names behind the list.
There are two major problems with these two distinctly different genealogies.
- The difference in the number of the genealogies (the order and number of descendants)Between David and Joseph there are only two names the same – that of Sheltiel and Zerubbabel.
- To sort out the difference in names we must do some genealogical research and find out who these people are.
Also why does Luke take Jesus’ genealogy back to Adam and then to God while Matthew is content to take the list back to Abraham only. From Abraham to David the lists are identical. It’s in the other sequences that there are some interesting differences. Maybe Luke is not so thorough after all or perhaps Matthew and Luke were seeking to accomplish two entirely different purposes. Time for you to check it out and come up with your explanation.
Research: What I’m doing, when I don’t know what I’m doing.
Anon
Genealogical research: Every family tree has some sap in it.
Anon
Genealogical research: Shake your family tree and watch the nuts fall out!
Anon
Genealogical research: Many a Family Tree needs pruning.
Anon