Matthew’s Action-packed Genealogy

Marvel’s superhero movies famously begin with a sequence of images that rapidly flash one after another, like an old-fashioned flip book. This subtly communicates to the viewer that the movie is a part of a much larger Marvel Universe. So too, Matthew doesn’t slowly ease the audience into the Scripture Universe but plunges them into the story of redemption, beginning with a fast succession of characters he expects readers to know—Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Judah, Perez, Tamar.

Though we acknowledge these verses as Scripture, we tend to see this prime real estate at the beginning of the New Testament as wasted space—inspired but not interesting. Skipping past this introductory genealogy can be tempting, but if we read it slowly and thoughtfully, we’ll see its value. The genealogy communicates the correct genre of Matthew’s Gospel, shows that Jesus is heir of the Davidic covenant, and outlines the problem the Messiah has come to solve.

Bridging the Testaments

Matthew’s Gospel contains about 55 Old Testament quotations. That alone is impressive (it’s almost as many as the other Gospels combined), but including allusions drastically multiplies the number of references. Matthew alludes to the Old Testament hundreds of times, demonstrating his Gospel is somewhat unlike other biographies of antiquity, which were written more like standalone volumes. Instead, Matthew’s genealogy signals that what follows is part of a much larger story.

By situating his story within this larger scriptural one, Matthew establishes expectations of biblical literacy, setting us up to read with one finger in the Old Testament, as it were, looking for the larger web of textual connections. If we aren’t the sort of readers who think a fast-paced genealogical introduction that recaps Israel’s history is a good way to start, the problem is with us.

The King God Promised

Even though the genealogy goes from the beginning of the family tree to Jesus, the name David occurs first in verse 1. Matthew’s introduction, “The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David…” thus draws attention to this significant character. He is mentioned in the introduction five times, which is more than anyone else. And Matthew specifically depicts him as “David the king” in 1:6, despite the obvious fact that many others in the genealogy were kings as well.

Matthew establishes expectations of biblical literacy, setting us up to read with one finger in the Old Testament, looking for the larger web of textual connections.

Many scholars see the reference to 14 generations in verse 17 as a form of wordplay called gematria, in which letters have numerical value. In English, this would mean A is 1, B is 2, C is 3, and so on. So the word “cab” would have a value of 3+1+2=6. In Hebrew, aleph is 1, bet is 2, gimmel is 3, and so on. The numerical value of the consonants used in the name “David” is 14, which means even the genealogy’s organization into three sets of 14 emphasizes David + David + David. He’ll be an important figure throughout the Gospel, as the name David explicitly occurs 17 times.

Matthew invokes the name David often in reference to Jesus as “Son of David,” a messianic title that portrays him as the heir of the Davidic covenant (2 Sam. 7:12–16; Ezek. 34:23–24). As such, God says this is the One who will “shepherd [God’s] people Israel” (Matt. 2:6). The quotation on the scribes’ lips is a composite citation, combining the famous prophecy of Micah 5:2 with a passage about David from 2 Samuel 5:2. Matthew’s references to David climax in Jesus saying he’s more than David’s Son—he’s David’s Lord (Matt. 22:42–45). Jesus isn’t one of many flashing images that come across the screen; all Scripture points to him. The easily skipped genealogy begins a theme of the Davidic covenant that snowballs as the Gospel progresses.

The Savior God Provided

Such an emphasis on David piques our interest in his presence in the genealogy. Of all David’s great deeds, what would Matthew have us remember at the outset? “David was the father of Solomon by the wife of Uriah” (1:6). The typical pattern is simply “X begot Y and Y begot Z.” But Matthew wants to include the story of Bathsheba, and with an economy of words he reminds us that this one was not originally David’s wife (see 2 Sam. 11–12). Matthew glories in the Scriptures of Israel, but he includes sin like adultery and murder (similarly with Judah and Tamar in Matt. 1:3; see Gen. 38).

Matthew glories in the Scriptures of Israel, but he carefully includes sin like adultery and murder.

Much of the genealogy painfully recalls Israel’s past failings. This isn’t simply a matter of historical integrity; it makes a theological point about the needed role of the Messiah. Not only do the covenantal promises call for the Messiah’s coming, but the tragic downfall of God’s people does as well.

The genealogy tells the story of Israel’s rise in prominence and eventual downfall brought about by sin, which seems to stand in the way of the covenants being fulfilled. The genealogy signals that the story Matthew is about to tell is connected to the Scriptures, fulfills its covenants, and ultimately remedies the family problem. The mention of David is one of many images that quickly flash in front of us so we can intelligently hear the angelic pronouncement, “You shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins” (1:21).