Text Used to Create the Splice “The Genealogy of Jesus”
Matthew 1:1-17 (Greek Text Analysis beginning with Matthew 1:1)
Luke 3:23-38 (Greek Text Analysis beginning with Luke 3:23)
Other supporting texts listed here
Revelation 22:16
“I, Jesus, have sent My angel to testify to you these things for the churches. I am the root and the descendant of David, the Bright Morning Star.”
THE SPLICE
1 Jesus began His ministry when He was about thirty years old. This is a 2 record of the genealogy of 3 Jesus Christ the Messiah, the descendant of Abraham and David. The record is divided up into three parts. The first part is a shared genealogy of 2 Mary and 2 Joseph, working backwards from King David to God. The second part is 2 Joseph’s family lineage and the third part is 2 Mary’s family lineage. 2 Joseph was not Jesus’s biological family member, but Jesus was Joseph’s adopted son.
Here is the shared genealogy of Mary and Joseph:
4 King David, who was the son of 5 Jesse, who was the son of 6 Obed, who was the son of 7 Boaz by Ruth, who was the son of 8 Salmon by 9 Rahab, who was the son of 10 Nahshon, who was the son of 11 Amminadab, who was the son of 12 Admin, who was the son of 13 Ram, who was the son of 14 Hezron, who was the son of 15 Perez, who was the son of 16 Judah by 17 Tamar (they also had a son named 18 Zerah, Perez’s twin). 19 Judah and his brothers were the sons of 20 Jacob, who was the son of 21 Isaac, who was the son of 22 Abraham, who was the son of 23 Terah, who was the son of 24 Nahor, who was the son of 25 Serug, who was the son of 26 Reu, who was the son of 27 Peleg, who was the son of 28 Heber, who was the son of 29 Shelah, who was the son of 30 Cainan, who was the son of 31 Arphaxad, who was the son of 32 Shem, who was the son of 33 Noah, who was the son of 34 Lamech, who was the son of 35 Methuselah, who was the son of 36 Enoch, who was the son of 37 Jared, who was the son of 38 Mahalaleel, who was the son of 39 Cainan, who was the son of 40 Enosh, who was the son of 41 Seth, who was the son of 42 Adam, who was the son of God, as God was his Creator.
Joseph and Mary have different lineages after King David. Two of King David’s and Bathsheba’s sons, Solomon and Nathan, are Jesus’s ancestors. Solomon is Joseph’s ancestor. and Nathan is Mary’s ancestor.
Comments
1 Jesus began His ministry: In Numbers 8:24-25, there is the decree by God that going forward, Levite priests were to be between the ages of 25 and 50 (the first set of priests were between 30 and 50, see Numbers 4:3), in order to serve. Jesus is described as our High Priest (Hebrews 4:14-15), but this mandate in Numbers 8 has nothing to do with Jesus, although it is widely cited as the reason why Jesus “waited” until age 30 to begin His ministry. Jesus was neither a priest in the temple, nor was He a Levite. He did not have to “wait” to begin His ministry—Luke shows us that Jesus was astonishing people at the age of twelve (Luke 2:46-47). Simply put, 30 years old was God’s perfect timing, and Jesus always did what His Father commanded (see Luke 22:42,; John 14:31).
2 record of the genealogy: see Setting the Scene for the Genealogy of Jesus
3 Jesus Christ the Messiah…: For God’s covenant with Abraham, see Genesis 17 and 22:16-18, together with Galatians 3:8. For God’s covenant with David, see 1 Chronicles 17:11-14 in joint with Hebrews 1:5 and 2 Corinthians 6:18.
4 King David: The name David, probably comes from the Hebrew word dod or dowd and means “well-beloved”. David’s history is well-recorded in Ruth 4:16-22; 1 Samuel 16:1 – 31:13; all of 2 Samuel, 1 Kings 1:1-2:11; 1 Chronicles 10:14 – 29:30. David was also the author of many of the Psalms in the Bible, the most famous being Psalm 23.
5 Jesse: Isaiah 11:1, 10 mentions that the Messiah will come from Jesse. Jesse is introduced in 1 Samuel 16:1 – 17:20. He is also mentioned in Ruth 4:17, 22; 1 Samuel 25:10 and Acts 13:22.
6 Obed: The name Obed means “worshiper” in Hebrew. We really don’t know much about him, except that he was Jesse’s father. See Ruth 4:22.
7 Boaz and Ruth: The book of Ruth gives us the story of Boaz and Ruth. In Hebrew, Boaz means “quickness” and Ruth means “friendship”.
8 Salmon: Matthew 1:4 and Luke 3:32 both call him Salmon but 1 Chronicles 2:11 calls him Salma. Salmon and Salma are essentially the same name, both coming from the Hebrew word salmah which means “wrapper, mantle, clothes, garments”. We know almost nothing about him, except that he is the father of Boaz by Rahab, and his father is Nahshon.
9 Rahab: Rahab’s story can be found in Joshua 2:1-22, 6:17-25 and her faith is mentioned in Hebrews 11:31, as well as James 2:25. Two notes about Rahab: she lied (Joshua 2:4-6) and she was a prostitute (Joshua 2:1). The end never justifies the means; it is never acceptable to God that we lie (John 8:44 and Revelation 21:8, for example). It is also not acceptable to work as a prostitute or to employ one’s services (1 Corinthians 6:15-16). Any sexual activity outside of marriage, which God has deemed as between one man and one woman for life (with 2 exceptions), is forbidden (see Genesis 1:24, Matthew 19:1-12; Mark 10:2-12; 1 Corinthians 6:9, 7:1-5, Hebrews 13:4). As for Rahab, God only has imperfect people to work with, and although Rahab was beginning to see the light of God, her faith was probably at the “small and new” stage (see 1 Corinthians 3:1-3). Another note: the mentions of Rahab’s faith in Hebrews and James is for welcoming the Israeli spies into her home and sending them out by a rope through the window (Joshua 2:15) so they wouldn’t be caught by the king of Jericho’s men, not because she lied about hiding them.
10 Nahshon: Nahshon comes from the Hebrew word nachash which means “serpent”. Mentioned in Exodus 6:23 as the brother-in-law of Aaron, he is also mentioned in Numbers 1:7 and Numbers 2:3 and 1 Chronicles 2:10 as head of household/leader for all of Judah.
11 Amminadab: The name means “my kinsman is noble” in Hebrew. He was Aaron’s father-in-law (Exodus 6:23).
12 Admin: Matthew does not mention Admin as the father of Amminadab; Ram is listed as the father of Amminadab. In Luke 3:33, Admin is the son of Ram and Amminadab is the son of Admin. According to the Greek text, the name Admin is the same as Ram and they are both from the same word: Aram or Arni. Many English translations omit Admin all together from Luke 3:33, because it is assumed that Admin/Aram/Arni/Ram are all the same person, since all these names mean the same thing. However, there are a few English translations that keep Admin in as the son of Ram. This is because the original Greek has it listed in this way. 1 Chronicles 2:3-4:23 gives the genealogy for Judah. In verse 2:10, the there is no one named “Admin” between Ram and Amminadab.
13 Ram See note 12. He is mentioned in 1 Chronicles 2:9-10, along with his sons.
14 Hezron: the name Hezron or Chetsron comes from the Hebrew word “chatser”, which means “village, settlement”. Hezron is mentioned in 1 Chronicles 2:5 along with his brother, Hamul. He is also mentioned in Ruth 4:18-19.
15 Perez: Perez’s story, along with information on how Judah and Tamar ended up together, is told in Genesis 38.
16 Judah: see note 15. Judah was the 4th born son of Leah and Jacob. The name Judah comes from the Hebrew name Yehudah which means “praised or celebrated.” In the Greek, Judah and Judas are from the same name, Ioudas. A detailed genealogical record of Judah’s descendants is located in 1 Chronicles 2:3-4:23.
17 Tamar: see note 16. Tamar was Judah’s daughter-in-law. Tamar means “palm tree” in Hebrew.
18 Zerah, Perez’s twin: see Genesis 38:27-30.
19 Judah and his brothers: a record of the births of these 12 pillars of Jewish heritage can be found in Genesis 29:32-30:24 and Genesis 35:16-18, 22-26. The twelve tribes of Israel take their names from these 12 brothers and their names will be written on the twelve gates of the New Jerusalem (Revelation 21:12). You can read about the brothers’ history in Genesis 34, 37-50.
20 Jacob: Jacob’s story can be found roundly from Genesis 25-50. God renamed Jacob to Israel in Genesis 35:9-12. The name Jacob/Yaaqob comes from the Hebrew word aqab and means “heel/heel catcher, or to supplant/circumvent”. The name Israel means “God strives”.
21 Isaac: the name Isaac/Yitschaq which comes from the Hebrew word tsachaq and means “to laugh”. Isaac’s story can be found in Genesis 15:1-6; Genesis 17:16-19, 21; 18:10-14; 21:1-8; 22:1-18; and roughly Genesis 24-28. His death is recorded in Genesis 35:28-29.
22 Abraham: Abraham started out with the name Abram, and both names mean “exalted father”. God changed his name to Abraham in Genesis 17:5. You can read about Abraham’s story within the chapters of Genesis 11-25.
23 Terah: We know very little about Terah. He shares his name with a place where the Israelites camped in Numbers 33:27. You can read about him in Genesis 11:24-32.
24 Nahor: There are two people named “Nahor” in the Bible: One is Terah’s father and the other is the son of Terah, named for his grandfather. Nahor comes from the Hebrew word nachar, which means “nostrils” or “snoring, snorting”. You can read about them in Genesis 11:22-29.
25 Serug: Serug comes from the Hebrew word sarag and means “to be intertwined”, as in a wreath. He is mentioned in Genesis 11:20-23.
26 Reu: Reu has roots in the Hebrew word rea meaning “friend, companion”. He is mentioned in Genesis 11:19-21.
27 Peleg: Mentioned in Genesis 11:17-19, his name comes from the Hebrew word palag, which means “to split or divide”.
28 Heber: Heber or Eber, is mentioned in Genesis 11:14-17. The name Eber means “region beyond”.
29 Shelah: The name Shelah comes from the Hebrew word shalach and means “to send”. Shelah is mentioned in Genesis 11:13-15.
30 Cainan: This man Cainan is only mentioned in Luke 3:36. There is no Cainan mentioned in the Old Testament accounts for the genealogy of Shem, only Kenan/Cainan descended from Seth. It is possible that the Cainan who is descended from Shem is skipped in the Old Testament lists because he didn’t raise Shelah, but his father Arphaxad did. This could have been due to an early death of Shelah’s parent/s. The Bible is silent on the matter. Cainan shares his name with his ancestor Kenan/Cainan and comes from the Hebrew word qanan which means “nest”.
31 Arphaxad: Arphaxad/Arpachshad is listed in the Old Testament accounts as Shelah’s father (see note 30), however in Luke 3:36, we get the clarification that he is Cainan’s father, Shelah’s grandfather.
32 Shem: One of the eight humans on board the Ark, Shem is the son of Noah, probably the oldest one. Shem is one of the 3 ancestors that all humans are descended from, the other two being his brothers Ham and Japheth (Genesis 9:18-19). You can read about Shem within Genesis 6-11.
33 Noah: Noah’s name comes from the Hebrew word nuach and means “rest or rested”. You can read about Noah’s story in Genesis 5:30-32 and Genesis 6:8-Genesis 9:29.
34 Lamech: Mentioned in Genesis 5:26-31, Lamech didn’t have as long of a life as his contemporaries, living 777 years. It is possible that he was a true God-fearing man, and God took him in comparative earliness, to spare him suffering from the flood. The Bible is silent on the matter, however.
35 Methuselah: Methuselah has the honor of having the longest lifespan in the Bible, clocking in at 969 years. It may seem incredible to us that people would have lived that long back then. However, the blessing of long life was a gift from God, and we must remember that things were not the same as today. For example, there was a separation of water that existed above our sky, (Genesis 1:6-8) and all living things were vegan (Genesis 1:29-30). Meat-eating only began after the flood (Genesis 9:2-3). Also, it seems that time was slower before, if we are to believe this article.
36 Enoch: Enoch certainly had a limited life span in comparison with his contemporaries, as he lived only 365 years. In Genesis 5:24, it says that Enoch “walked with” God, meaning he was obedient to the ways of God, and then God “took him”, meaning he died. We do not know why God took him at such an early age for the era, as the Bible is silent on the reason. God still chooses to sometimes take a person early or unexpectedly and we can’t possibly know why. Jesus addresses this unknown, in a way, in Luke 13:1-5. More importantly, He warns that we need to repent of sin, because we do not know when God will require our soul from us (Luke 12:20). There is also the warning not to attribute an unexpected death/early death or a gruesome death with especial wrongdoing on the part of the deceased. You can read about Enoch in Genesis 5:19-24.
37 Jared: Jared’s name comes from the Hebrew word yarad and means “to go downwards”. He is mentioned in Genesis 5:15-20.
38 Mahalaleel: Mahalaleel has a beautiful name, stemming from the two Hebrew words mahalal and el. Put together, they mean “praise of God”. Mahalaleel is mentioned in Genesis 5:13-17.
39 Cainan: see note 30. You can read about Cainan in Genesis 5:9-14.
40 Enosh: Enosh’s name means “man, mankind” in Hebrew. You can read about him in Genesis 5:6-11.
41 Seth: Born after the murder of his older brother Abel by his other brother Cain, the name Seth is from the Hebrew word shith and means “to set” or “to appoint”. You can read about Seth in Genesis 4:25-26 and 5:3-8. To read about the murder of Abel and punishment of Cain, see Genesis 4.
42 Adam: Adam is the only person in this list with no earthly father, and the one through whom all humankind begins. Adam was created on the sixth day of creation. Adam’s name was given to him by God directly; it means “man”. You can read about Adam within Genesis 1:26-5:5.