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Matthew 1:1-17

The Genealogy of Jesus

Matthew opens his gospel with the genealogy of Jesus: “the book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.” It is a royal and legal line — it starts with Abraham rather than Adam, runs through King David and his son Solomon, follows the kings of Judah into the Babylonian exile, and lands on Joseph, the legal father of Jesus. Matthew arranges it in three sets of fourteen generations and compresses several kings to make that structure work.

Luke tells it differently: his genealogy runs backwards from Jesus through Nathan, another son of David, all the way to Adam, and is usually read as Mary's biological line. See Luke's genealogy, Adam to Jesus →

Abraham to Jesus, generation by generation

Our list follows the same curated data as the interactive tree, so it restores the kings Matthew compresses (Ahaziah, Joash, Amaziah and Jehoiakim). Each name links to its printable study guide.

  1. 1Abraham1992 BC – 1817 BC· PatriarchsGenesis 12:1-3
  2. 2Isaac1892 BC – 1712 BC· PatriarchsGenesis 21:1-7
  3. 3Jacob1832 BC – 1685 BC· PatriarchsGenesis 27-50
  4. 4Judahb. 1751 BC· PatriarchsGenesis 38
  5. 5PerezGenesis 38:29
  6. 6Hezronb. 1710 BC· PatriarchsRuth 4:18-19
  7. 7Ramb. 1600 BC· PatriarchsRuth 4:19
  8. 8Amminadabb. 1520 BC· PatriarchsRuth 4:19-20
  9. 9Nahshonb. 1470 BC· Egypt & ExodusNumbers 1:7
  10. 10Salmonb. 1400 BC· Egypt & ExodusRuth 4:20-21
  11. 11Boazb. 1190 BC· JudgesRuth 2-4
  12. 12Obedb. 1150 BC· JudgesRuth 4:17-22
  13. 13Jesseb. 1080 BC· Judges1 Samuel 16
  14. 14David1036 BC – 966 BC· United Kingdom1 Samuel 16-2 Samuel 24
  15. 15Solomon986 BC – 927 BC· United Kingdom1 Kings 1-11
  16. 16Rehoboam966 BC – 909 BC· United Kingdom1 Kings 12
  17. 17Abijah940 BC – 908 BC· United Kingdom1 Kings 15:1-8
  18. 18Asa908 BC – 866 BC· Divided Kingdom1 Kings 15:9-24
  19. 19Jehoshaphat889 BC – 844 BC· Divided Kingdom1 Kings 22
  20. 20Jehoram878 BC – 837 BC· Divided Kingdom2 Kings 8:16-24
  21. 21Ahaziah (Judah)861 BC – 841 BC· Divided Kingdom2 Kings 8:25-29
  22. 22Joash (Judah)843 BC – 796 BC· Divided Kingdom2 Kings 11-12
  23. 23Amaziah815 BC – 767 BC· Divided Kingdom2 Kings 14:1-22
  24. 24Uzziah804 BC – 736 BC· Divided Kingdom2 Kings 15:1-7
  25. 25Jotham766 BC – 728 BC· Divided Kingdom2 Kings 15:32-38
  26. 26Ahaz748 BC – 712 BC· Divided Kingdom2 Kings 16
  27. 27Hezekiah737 BC – 683 BC· Divided Kingdom2 Kings 18-20
  28. 28Manasseh705 BC – 639 BC· Divided Kingdom2 Kings 21:1-18
  29. 29Amon660 BC – 636 BC· Divided Kingdom2 Kings 21:19-26
  30. 30Josiah644 BC – 605 BC· Divided Kingdom2 Kings 22-23
  31. 31Jehoiakim634 BC – 598 BC· Divided Kingdom2 Kings 23:34-24:6
  32. 32Jeconiah611 BC – 562 BC· Divided Kingdom2 Kings 24:8-17
  33. 33Shealtiel580 BC – 540 BC· Exile1 Chronicles 3:17
  34. 34Zerubbabel550 BC – 490 BC· ExileEzra 3
  35. 35AbiudMatthew 1:13
  36. 36EliakimMatthew 1:13
  37. 37AzorMatthew 1:13-14
  38. 38ZadokMatthew 1:14
  39. 39AkimMatthew 1:14
  40. 40EliudMatthew 1:14-15
  41. 41EleazarMatthew 1:15
  42. 42MatthanMatthew 1:15
  43. 43JacobMatthew 1:15-16
  44. 44Joseph30 BC – 20 AD· Second TempleMatthew 1:16-25
  45. 45Jesus4 BC – 30 AD· Roman / NativityMatthew 1:18-25

Keep reading

Open the interactive family tree →Luke's genealogy: Adam to Jesus →Study guide: Abraham →Study guide: David →Study guide: Joseph →