Matthew's Genealogy Is Wrong

Have you ever read the genealogy of Jesus in Matthew 1? I know, I know - not really the most riviting piece of reading material in the world.

BUT.

Here’s a factual nugget you might not have known: the genealogy isn’t accurate (AND Matthew most certainly knew it).

For instance - in the genealogy, Matthew says that a guy named Joram was the father of a guy named Uzziah. “So what?”, you might ask. Well, if we take a trip back to the Old Testament book of 1 Chronicles (chapter 3) we’ll discover that although Joram was related to Uzziah, he was actually Uzziah’s great-great grandfather, WHICH MEANS that there are TWO generations missing in this part of Matthew’s genealogy.

Again, “so what?” you might ask.

WELL.

Matthew’s genealogy has 14 generations in it (going from Abraham to Jesus) - a number he came to by manipulating the genealogy, mind you - which must mean (I’d think) that the number “14” was meaningful to him.

But, why?

Right?

What’s the big deal about “14”?

Here are two possible ideas:

ONE: the number “7” is the number of “perfection” and what could be more perfect than doubling the number “7” to equal “14”? Perhaps Matthew has Jesus coming at the end of 14 generations to emphasize the ultimate Divinity of Jesus.

“Jesus is perfect”, Matthew could be saying. “He is powerful. He is Divine. He can be counted on.”

This would have been particularly meaningful to Matthew’s readers, too, because they were living in the wake of Rome’s destruction of Jerusalem and were recently relocated to Antioch - completely out of their element, miles away from Jerusalem - the very center of the Jewish universe.

(I WROTE A BOOK ABOUT THIS, BY THE WAY - YOU CAN GET IT HERE.)

“Jesus is with you”, Matthew was (perhaps) saying. “He’s great. He’s powerful. He’s present. He’s Divine.”

TWO: in the Hebrew spelling of David (which would be DVD - there are no vowels in ancient Hebrew) the corresponding numbers add up to …

Drum roll, please.

… 14 because the 2 “D’s” have a numerical value of 4 each and the “V” has a value of 6, adding up to 14.

So?

Well, if this was Matthew’s plan then this tells us (along with other hints throughout Matthew’s Gospel) that he was trying to equate Jesus with King David in an effort to emphasize that he came from the line of King David and is (thus) the Messiah that the Jews have been waiting for.

“Rome has beaten you down”, Matthew could be saying. “They have destroyed your home. They have destroyed your Temple. They have removed you from the center of the universe. BUT, Jesus is King. Jesus is the Messiah. Jesus comes from the line of our greatest king, King David. Do not fear. Do not be afraid. We will overcome.”

Interesting, no?

Now, either of these could be true OR both of them could be true (or neither!), but whatever the case may be what this tells me is that Matthew isn’t writing a history book.

Right?

Because right from the very first few verses of his book where he’s writing what seems to be a straight-forward geneology, we see that his facts aren’t historically accurate (something he must be very aware of) because he’s not out to write a history book, but to craft a story. He’s taking bits and pieces of the Jesus story and crafting it in such a way that it speaks to his readers/listeners who were facing what felt like (for them) the end of the world.

And for me?

For me this makes the Bible immensely more interesting, immensely more holy, and immensely more relevant.Why? Because rather than a Divine Guidebook on how to make it to heaven when I die, the Bible becomes a messy and human book where the writers are trying to help the readers understand and know how to walk through this very visible life with a very invisible God in the midst of heartache and sadness and highs and lows and joy and sadness.

AND.

I mean.

If we see this massive amount of wisdom being poured into 1 line of a genealogy, how much more wisdom is poured into the rest of the Scriptures?

Yeah?

Some say that since I left my Evangelical upbringing I now hate the Bible … but that’s simply not true. In fact, I would say I love the Bible more than I ever have and have a much deeper appreciation and respect for it than I ever knew did before.

Much love,

—

PS - If you want to know more about this sort of stuff, I suggest 3 resources.

ONE - “The New Testament” by Bart Ehrman (this is a textbook, you can find it cheaper on eBay)

TWO - “Heart and Mind” by Alexander John Shaia

THREE - “The SBL Study Bible”

Glenn Siepert