Devin
Puritan Board Sophomore
Matthew\'s Genealogy
In studying the Gospels, I've come across a problem with Matthew's genealogy. Though I have read several different answers to the problem, I wanted to find out your opinions on it.
Matthew 1
17So all the generations from Abraham to David were fourteen generations, and from David to the deportation to Babylon fourteen generations, and from the deportation to Babylon to the Christ fourteen generations.
However, when you count up each generation in each group (verses 2-16), the 3rd group only has 13 and all together there are only 41 generations (14*3=42).
My understanding is that Matthew never meant to actually have 42 generations. What he meant to convey is 3 different groups of 14 that have transitional generations (David and Jechoniah) in between. These transitions are based around key events/eras (Abraham to David's Kingdom, David's Kingdom to Captivity, Captivity to Christ).
This would make:
Abraham to David the first group (14).
David to Jechoniah the second (14).
And then Jechoniah to Christ the third (14).
But like I said, I have heard other explanations of this issue, even to the point where one of the Jechoniahs was actually meant to be someone else.
I'm not completely sure of my interpretation, so I've come to brighter minds for help.
In studying the Gospels, I've come across a problem with Matthew's genealogy. Though I have read several different answers to the problem, I wanted to find out your opinions on it.
Matthew 1
17So all the generations from Abraham to David were fourteen generations, and from David to the deportation to Babylon fourteen generations, and from the deportation to Babylon to the Christ fourteen generations.
However, when you count up each generation in each group (verses 2-16), the 3rd group only has 13 and all together there are only 41 generations (14*3=42).
My understanding is that Matthew never meant to actually have 42 generations. What he meant to convey is 3 different groups of 14 that have transitional generations (David and Jechoniah) in between. These transitions are based around key events/eras (Abraham to David's Kingdom, David's Kingdom to Captivity, Captivity to Christ).
This would make:
Abraham to David the first group (14).
David to Jechoniah the second (14).
And then Jechoniah to Christ the third (14).
But like I said, I have heard other explanations of this issue, even to the point where one of the Jechoniahs was actually meant to be someone else.
I'm not completely sure of my interpretation, so I've come to brighter minds for help.