Matthew 1:17 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
Matthew 1:17
So all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations; and from David until the carrying away into Babylon are fourteen generations; and from the carrying away into Babylon unto Christ are fourteen generations.
Abraham · noun — genitive singular masculine, a proper name
to
ἕωςhe'ōs
G2193
a conjunction · preposition
David
ΔαυὶδDauid
G1138
Dabid (i.e. David) · noun — genitive singular masculine, a proper name
fourteen
δεκατέσσαρεςdekatessares
G1180
ten and four · adjective — nominative plural feminine
generations
γενεαὶgeneai
G1074
a generation · noun — nominative plural feminine
and
καὶkai
G2532
and · conjunction
from
ἀπὸapo
G575
"off · preposition
David
ΔαυὶδDauid
G1138
Dabid (i.e. David) · noun — genitive singular masculine, a proper name
until
ἕωςhe'ōs
G2193
a conjunction · preposition
into
μετοικεσίαςmetoikesias
G3350
a change of abode · noun — genitive singular feminine
Babylon
ΒαβυλῶνοςBabulōnos
G897
Babylon · noun — genitive singular feminine, a place
fourteen
δεκατέσσαρεςdekatessares
G1180
ten and four · adjective — nominative plural feminine
generations
γενεαὶgeneai
G1074
a generation · noun — nominative plural feminine
and
καὶkai
G2532
and · conjunction
from
ἀπὸapo
G575
"off · preposition
into
μετοικεσίαςmetoikesias
G3350
a change of abode · noun — genitive singular feminine
Babylon
ΒαβυλῶνοςBabulōnos
G897
Babylon · noun — genitive singular feminine, a place
unto
ἕωςhe'ōs
G2193
a conjunction · preposition
Christ
ΧριστοῦChristou
G5547
anointed · noun — genitive singular masculine, a title
fourteen
δεκατέσσαρες.¶dekatessares
G1180
ten and four · adjective — nominative plural feminine
generations
γενεαὶgeneai
G1074
a generation · noun — nominative plural feminine
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Matthew 1:11-12 And Josias begat Jechonias and his brethren, about the time they were carried away to Babylon:
2 Kings 24:14 And he carried away all Jerusalem, and all the princes, and all the mighty men of valour, even ten thousand captives, and all the craftsmen…
Jeremiah 27:20 Which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon took not, when he carried away captive Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim king of Judah from Jerusalem to Ba…
Matthew 11:2 Now when John had heard in the prison the works of Christ, he sent two of his disciples,
John 1:41 He first findeth his own brother Simon, and saith unto him, We have found the Messias, which is, being interpreted, the Christ.
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Matthew 1:1-17
Concerning this genealogy of our Saviour, observe,
I. The title of it. It is the book (or the account, as the Hebrew word sepher, a book, sometimes signifies) of the generation of Jesus Christ, of his ancestors according to the flesh; or, It is the narrative of his birth. It is Biblos Geneseōs - a book of Genesis. The Old Testament begins with the book of the generation of the world, and it is its glory that it does so; but the glory of the New Testament herein excelleth, that it begins with the book of the generation of him that made the world. As God, his outgoings were of old, from everlasting (Mic 5:2), and none can declare that generation; but, as man, he was sent forth in the fulness…
So all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations; and from David until the carrying away--or migration.
into Babylon are fourteen generations; and from the carrying away into Babylon--the migration of Babylon.
unto Christ are fourteen generations--that is, the whole may be conveniently divided into three fourteens, each embracing one marked era, and each ending with a notable event, in the Israelitish annals. Such artificial aids to memory were familiar to the Jews, and much larger gaps than those here are found in some of the Old Testament genealogies. In Ezr 7:1-5 no fewer than six generations of the priesthood are omitted, as will appear by comparing it with Ch1 6…
So all the generations from Abraham,.... The Evangelist having traced the genealogy of Christ from Abraham, which he divides into "three" parts, because of the threefold state of the Jews, "first" under Patriarchs, Prophets, and Judges, "next" under Kings, and "then" under Princes and Priests, gives the sum of each part under its distinct head; "so all the generations", that is, the degrees of generation, or the persons generated from Abraham to David, both being included, "are fourteen generations"; as there were, and no more, and are as follow, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Judah, Phares, Esrom, Aram, Amminadab, Naasson, Salmon, Boaz, Obed, Jesse, David.
And from David until the carrying away in…
The Church Fathers
(Verse 17) The man of Mary, from whom Jesus was born, who is called Christ. When you hear the word 'man', do not entertain the suspicion of marriage; but remember the custom of the Scriptures, that the husband is called the spouse of the bride.
He made fourteen generations, because the ten denotes the decalogue, and the four the four books of the Gospel; whence this shows the agreement of the Law and the Gospel. And he put the fourteen three times over, that he might show that the perfection of law, prophecy, and grace, consists in the faith of the Holy Trinity. But if any, maintaining that it is not the same Jeconiah, but two different persons, make the number forty and two, we then shall say that the Holy Church is signified; for this number is the product of seven, and six; (for six times seven make forty-two;) the six denotes labour, and the seven rest.
(in Luc. c. 3.) Let us not think this is to be overlooked, that though there were seventeen Kings of Judæa between David and Jeconiah, Matthew only recounts fourteen. We must observe that there might be many more successions to the throne than generations of men; for some may live longer and beget children later; or might be altogether without seed; thence the number of Kings and of generations would not coincide. (ubi sup.) Again, from Jeconiah to Joseph are computed twelve generations; yet he afterwards calls these also fourteen. But if you look attentively, you will be able to discover the method by which fourteen are reckoned here. Twelve are reckoned including Joseph, and Christ is the thirteenth; and history declares that there were two Joakims, that is two Jeconiahs, father and son. The Evangelist has not passed over either of these, but has named them both. Thus, adding the younger Jeconiah, fourteen generations are computed.
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Generation — Gen. 2:4, “These are the generations,” means the “history.” 5:1, “The book of the generations,” means a family register, or history of Adam. 37:2, “The generations of Jacob” = the history of Jacob…
Genealogies · Of Christ: Given — Of Christ: Given
Human Nature Of Christ, The · Genealogy of — Genealogy of
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
Matthew 1:1-17
Matthew 1:1-17
Luke 3:23-38
1. The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham. 2. And Abraham began Isaac. And Issac begat Jacob. And Jacob begat Judah and his brethren. 3. And Judah begat Pharez and Zarah by Tamar. And Pharez begat Hezron. and Hezron begat Ram. 4. And Ram begat Amminadab. And Amminadab begat Nahshon. And Nahshon begat Salma. 5. And Salma begat Boaz by Rahab. And Boaz begat Obed by Ruth. And Obed begat Jesse. 6. And Jesse begat David the king. And David the king begat Solomon by her who had been the wife of Uriah. 7. And Solomon begat Rehoboam. And Rehoboam begat Abijah. And Abijah begat Asa. 8. And Asa begat Jehoshaphat. A…
Matthew states that each period has fourteen generations, but the first and third periods list only thirteen. A legitimate Jewish and Old Testament approach would count David in both the first and second groupings and include Jesus in the third grouping. This suggests that Matthew is probably stressing the gematria (letters representing numbers): The letters in the Hebrew word dawid (“David”) also add up to fourteen. Matthew is highlighting Jesus’ credentials as the Messiah (1:1).
