MATTHEW 1:17 JESUS' GENEALOGY

One contradiction that biblical critics sometimes point out concerns the number of ancestors for Jesus listed in Matthew 1:17. This verse breaks down the names into 3 groups of 14 each, but as someone on the internet points out, “A carful account of the generation(s) reveals only 13.”

        14 from Abraham to David

        14 from David to Babylonian deportation

        14 from the deportation to Jesus

1. Actually, if you want to be even more “carful” in your counting, you will find out that Ahaziah, Joash and Amaziah are omitted from the first group, comparing names with the OT record.

2. There are too few generations listed for other groups. From the exile to Jesus = 600 years with only 13 names compared to Luke's 22 names for the same period. We also know that many names were omitted because there are no grandfather-father-son alternations in the list, which was the normal naming pattern in the Middle East. This points out why you can't just add up genealogies in the Bible to calculate the age of the earth since “son of” could also mean “descendant of.” Thus, Jesus is called the son of David. So it is obvious that Matthew was being selective in which ancestors he listed so that they could come out to 3x14. This number is important since (a) 14 = the numerical value of the letters in “David” and (b) it is also a multiple of 7, standing for perfection.

3. Now, what about the specific objection to the last series? Jechoniah is counted twice since, as several commentators point out, he closed out the second grouping on a gloomy note by being taken into exile and put into prison. But then in 2 Kings 25:27-30 he is released and gets to eat at the King of Babylon's table, symbolizing the upturn in the affairs of Israel that follows in the third grouping.

Regarding this manner of counting, Craig Blomberg, in his commentary on Matthew, notes that reckoning in the Bible is sometimes exclusive (the way we would count) and sometimes inclusive, where parts can be counted as a whole. Another example of inclusive counting in the Bible is when it states that Jesus spent three days and nights in the tomb although technically it appears that he was in the tomb for one full day and only parts of two other days. This same method of counting is also found in Esther 4:16 and 5:1.