The very first name in Matthew’s genealogy is that of Abraham. Why is he on the head of the list? For one, Abraham stands at the beginning of, or at a decisive point in, several schematic accounts of Jewish history. (1 Maccabees 2:51-60;
1 Enoch 89:10; 93:5;
4 Ezra 6:7-8;
2 Baruch 53:5; 57:1-3;
Mishnah, Avot 5.2, 3; Exodus Rabbah on 12:2) Starting with Abraham also provides a neat transition from “son of Abraham,” and also makes David - significantly enough - the fourteenth name on the list. The fact that Abraham is also regarded in some traditions as a king (
b. Sanhedrin 108b;
Genesis Rabbah on 22:1; Justin’s
Epitome 36.2 reports a tradition that Abraham was at one time king of Damascus; cf. Josephus,
Antiquities 1.159-160) lends weight to the interpretation that Matthew’s genealogy is designed to show Jesus’ royal pedigree: if Matthew knew this tradition, it may have partly influenced his decision to begin with Abraham. (Cf. also David’s genealogical tree in Numbers Rabbah on 13:14, which has Abraham as its root.) Matthew may have been of the same mind as the author of 2 Baruch (57:1-3), in that Abraham marked a beginning no less than that marked by Adam:
And after these (waters) you did see bright waters: this is the fount of Abraham, also his generations and advent of his son, and of his son’s son, and of those like them. Because at that time the unwritten law was named amongst them,
And the works of the commandments were then fulfilled,
And belief in the coming judgment was then generated,
And hope of the world that was to be renewed was then built up,
And the promise of the life that should come hereafter was implanted.
These are the bright waters, which you have seen.
Now, the very first “begetting” on the list (Abraham of Isaac) is significant in that it was somewhat miraculous in nature (Genesis 17:15-21; 18:9-15; 21:1-7); in other words the first begetting in 1:2 has something in common with the last in 1:16.
The number of generations from Abraham to Jesus Christ was fourteen. I have heard that the number seven in Biblical numerology represents perfection. Does the fact that fourteen is twice seven point to the glory and the perfection of Jesus Christ?
A minor correction: the grand total isn’t fourteen. As Matthew himself says, “So all the generations from Abraham to David were fourteen generations, and from David to the deportation to Babylon fourteen generations, and from the deportation to Babylon to the Christ fourteen generations.” So what you have - at least according to Matthew - is
three sets of
fourteen, giving you a total of fourty-two generations. (The description isn’t totally correct, however; there are only thirteen generations in the final set in the text we have.)
More likely it is a reference to David’s name. In many ancient writing systems, letters also doubled as numbers - Greek and Hebrew are two such examples. In Hebrew, David’s name is composed of
three consonants (
d-w-d) - note that
Hebrew is an
abjad, a type of writing system that (originally) only recorded consonants - the numerical value of which amounts to
fourteen:
d(aleth) +
w(aw) +
d(aleth) = 4 + 6 + 4 = 14.
The interesting thing we should note here is that the one name with three consonants and the value of fourteen is the
fourteenth name on the list. In addition, this name is mentioned immediately before the genealogy (1:1), and twice at its conclusion (1:17), and that it is honored by the title “king.” Coincidence? Probably not.
