The Holy Family

The Genealogy of Christ Based on Matthew 1:1


1. Abraham
2. Isaac
3. Jacob
4. Judah and his brothers
5. Perez, son of Judah and Tamar
6. Hezron
7. Ram
8. Amminadab
9. Nahshon
10. Salmon
11. Boaz, son of Salmon and Rahab
12. Obed, son of Boaz and Ruth
13. Jesse
14. David

15. Solomon, son of David and the wife of Uriah
16. Rehoboam
17. Abijah
18. Asaph
19. Jehoshaphat
20. Joram
21. Uzziah
22. Jotham
23. Ahaz
24. Hezekiah
25. Manasseh
26. Amos
27. Josiah
28. Jechoniah and his brothers

BABYLONIAN EXILE

29. Shealtiel
30. Zerubbabel
31. Abiud
32. Eliakim
33. Azor
34. Zadok
35. Achim
36. Eliud
37. Eleazar
38. Matthan
39. Jacob
40. Joseph, husband of Mary
41. Jesus, the Christ

"Thus the total number of generations
from Abraham to David,
is fourteen generations;
from David to the Babylonian Exile,
fourteen generations;
from the Babylonian Exile to the Christ,
fourteen generations."

Note: The actual number of generations from Shealtiel to the Christ appears to be 13, not 14, generations. One must either count David twice, count Jechoniah twice, or count the Babylonian Exile as a "lost generation" in order to bring the numbers to three sets of 14.

For further discussion, see "How Many Generations Are Listed in Matthew 1?" by the Rev. Sam Harris, at this PDF link:

http://www.ankerberg.com/Articles/_PDFArchives/bible-for-dummies/BD3W0303.pdf

See also: "Generations of Jesus Christ" from Chapter 6 of Jim A. Cornwell's 1995 book The Alpha and the Omega:

http://www.mazzaroth.com/ChapterSix/MatthewsGenealogy.htm



What Makes A King The King?

The Gospel of Matthew very specifically underscores the fact that Jesus was not the natural and legitimate son of Joseph, or Joseph's bloodline, but rather the supernatural "son of the Holy Spirit."

This raises a paradoxical question: How could Jesus, the son of Joseph, claim to be a legitimate heir to the crown of King David ("King of the Jews") if he was the son of God, and not truly the son of Joseph?

Was Christ the King by virtue of the royal family's flesh and blood or by virtue of the Holy Spirit?

Above: A rose window in the south transept of the Basilica of St. Denis, France, depicts the ancestors of Jesus from Jesse onwards.


The Genealogy of Mary

Some claim that Jesus was also a matrilineal heir to the House of David through the bloodline of his mother Mary. An interesting discussion of Mary's genealogy may be found in a Wikipedia article, "Genealogy of Jesus," at the link below:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GenealogyofJesus

"The Catholic Encyclopedia (1913) states that aside from a general implication of her Davidic origin, there is no explicit Biblical record of Mary's genealogy, but a number of extra-biblical sources, some relatively early, claim to provide her immediate ancestry, as well as an explanation for the divergence between Matthew and Luke."

The descent of "Mary and Joseph" as provided in the Gospel of Luke 3:23 is as follows:

1. Abraham
2. Isaac
3. Jacob
4. Judah
5. Pharez
6. Hezron
7. Ram
8. Amminadab
9. Nahshon
10. Salmon
11. Boaz
12. Abed
13. Jesse
14. David

15. Nathan
16. Mattatha
17. Menna
18. Melea
19. Eliakim
20. Jonam
21. Joseph
22. Judah
23. Simeon
24. Levi
25. Matthat
26. Jorim
27. Eliezer
28. Joshua

29. Er
30. Elmadam
31. Cosam
32. Addi
33. Melchi
34. Neri
35. Shealtiel
36. Zerubbabel
37. Rhesa
38. Joanan
39. Joda
40. Josech
41. Semein
42. Mattathias
43. Mahath
44. Naggai
45. Hesli
46. Nahum
47. Amos
48. Mattathias
49. Joseph
50. Jannai
51. Melchi
52. Levi
53. Matthat
54. Heli
55. Mary and Joseph
56. Jesus, the Christ