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The Generations of David  

The first 'ten generations' were: Adam, Seth, Enos, Cainan, Mahalaleel, Jared, Enoch, Methuselah, Lamech, Noah.

Noah is #10.   Clearly given in Genesis chapt 5, and also in 1Chr1 with spelling variations. It should be noted that the names of Enoch and Lamech are earlier found in the line of Cain, so these here are Enoch II and Lamech II. More about them further on.

Abram is #20.   The second 'ten generations': Shem, Arphaxad, Shelah, Eber, Peleg, Reu, Serug, Nahor, Terah, Abram. Gen11:10-26 and 1Chr1:24-27. We're on the trail of the pedigree, so it's Shem (instead of Ham or Japheth) which leads the way to the House of David.   Note that Abraham is #20.

The third 'ten generations' is found in the Book of Ruth 4:18:22, but it doesn't begin where Abraham left off -- it skips three generations and begins: Pharez, Hezron, Ram, Amminadab, Nahshon, Salmon, Boaz, Obed, Jesse, David. (Boaz is #30).

We have thirty (30) names here, all different (no repeats), but three names have been 'skipped' -- Isaac#21, Jacob#22, and Judah#23, have to be included, and this means that David is generation #33. Maybe it's just a crazy coincidence, but when you add 21 + 22 + 23 it comes out 66! (That will be the Jesus generation!) When we get to the genealogy of Matthew, we will see yet another instance of 'skipped' generations.

Stumbling block? Yes, Luke3:36 inserts another Cainan between Shelah and Arphaxad (in the middle group), and if that were so, there would be eleven generations instead of ten, so I conclude the added Cainan was simply a copyist error from the legitimate Cainan in verse 37.

Added confusion? It doesn't make a difference here, but the Shelah of Lk3:35 is spelled "Sala", apparently the result of changing from Hebrew to Greek. Another "Shela" in scripture was the third son of Judah, after Er and Onan who had Tamar to wife.

33 Generations to David, and then 33 more to Jesus!

David had many sons; but only Solomon and Nathan seem viable candidates for leading to Jesus. Nathan was a son born in Jerusalem, 1Chr3:5, and a prophet of God to David has that name in 2Sam7:2. The son's name appears in Luke3:31 -- the "supposed" lineage of Jesus.

As it turns out, (bear with me), Nathan's genealogy leads to the husband of Mary, and Solomon's genealogy leads to Mary herself. Both Mary and her husband are from the Tribe of Judah IAW Numb36:6 -- she was figuratively a "daughter of Zelophehad", meaning she had no brothers and was to marry within the tribe of her father. To top this off, Mary's father and husband were both named "Joseph". (Consider how our heavenly Father is also called a 'husband' in Isa54:5, and how we are "espoused as a chaste virgin to Christ" in 2Cor11:2). Therefore, our Heavenly Father is also our Heavenly Husband, and we're a member of the "Body and Bride of Christ".

The name Joseph means 'the Lord will add a son", and in the OT referred to the twelth son; Benjamin. In the NT we can see how it applies to the husband of Mary, when the angel told Joseph what was happening.

Matthew 1:16 refers to the three groups of fourteen generations, but neglects to include the 19 names which precede Abraham. When the 19 are added to the 14 from Abraham to David, we get a total of 33 generations from Adam to David.

The Solomon column is short by five (5) names, so it actually totals 19; just like the number 19 prior to Abraham. The skipped (or "missing") names are: Ahaziah#40, Joash#41, Amaziah#42, Jehoiakim#50, Assir#52.

The 'carrying away to Babylon' column begins: Salathiel, Zorobabel, and just to add to the confusion, there is ANOTHER father/son pair of Salathiel / Zorobabel in Luke3:27.

Back in Genesis, we remember the father/son pair of Jacob to Joseph, and now in this third column of 14, we again find a Jacob to Joseph, just preceding Mary and Jesus. Mary and her husband would be in the SAME generation, so this tells us Jacob#63 must be Mary's grand-father, and Joseph#64 her father; with Mary herself being #65, and Jesus #66.

The Generation Chart