Book of Genealogy of Jesus Christ: Doubts loom on accuracy

Significance of the Genealogy in Matthew 1: Understanding Jesus Christ’s Ancestry

Genealogy of Jesus Christ: The passage from the New Testament (NT), specifically Matthew 1, provides a genealogy tracing the ancestry of Jesus Christ back to Abraham and David. It lists the generations from Abraham to David, David to the Babylonian exile, and from the exile to the birth of Christ. The genealogy includes notable figures such as Joseph, Mary, and Jesus. This passage demonstrates the lineage of Jesus Christ.

However, questions arise about the accuracy of the genealogy and its alignment with historical timelines. The absence of certain events, discrepancies with other genealogies, and the use of Greek names raise doubts about its authenticity. Furthermore, the transformation of the name “Nazarine Johosua” to “Jesus Christ” and the lack of acknowledgment of the virgin birth in the genealogy suggest a lack of understanding or awareness by the writer.

Source: Matthäus 1

1 Βίβλος γενέσεως Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ υἱοῦ Δαυὶδ υἱοῦ Ἀβραάμ. (The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham)

Note: This book of genealogy must had some independent origin and never be part of the original gospel. This book has only seventeen sections. Who preserved the genealogy for the future reader is questionable. The gospellers failed to preserve even the proper name of Jesus, so how come they had any genuine information about the genealogy of Jesus? Mary and Josef were uneducated people they could hardly remember 3 to 4 generations and nothing more. Again most astonishingly all the names are in Greek. No doubt the list is imaginary.

2 Ἀβραὰμ ἐγέννησεν τὸν Ἰσαάκ, Ἰσαὰκ δὲ ἐγέννησεν τὸν Ἰακώβ, Ἰακὼβ δὲ ἐγέννησεν τὸν Ἰούδαν καὶ τοὺς ἀδελφοὺς αὐτοῦ, (Abraham begat Isaac; and Isaac begat Jacob, and Jacob begat Juda and his brethren)

3 Ἰούδας δὲ ἐγέννησεν τὸν Φάρες καὶ τὸν Ζάρα ἐκ τῆς Θαμάρ, Φάρες δὲ ἐγέννησεν τὸν Ἑσρώμ, Ἑσρὼμ δὲ ἐγέννησεν τὸν Ἀράμ,

4 Ἀρὰμ δὲ ἐγέννησεν τὸν Ἀμιναδάβ, Ἀμιναδὰβ δὲ ἐγέννησεν τὸν Ναασσών, Ναασσὼν δὲ ἐγέννησεν τὸν Σαλμών,

5 Σαλμὼν δὲ ἐγέννησεν τὸν Βόες ἐκ τῆς Ῥαχάβ, Βόες δὲ ἐγέννησεν τὸν Ἰωβὴδ ἐκ τῆς Ῥούθ, Ἰωβὴδ δὲ ἐγέννησεν τὸν Ἰεσσαί,

6 Ἰεσσαὶ δὲ ἐγέννησεν τὸν Δαυὶδ τὸν βασιλέα. Δαυὶδ δὲ ἐγέννησεν τὸν Σολομῶνα ἐκ τῆς τοῦ Οὐρίου,

7 Σολομὼν δὲ ἐγέννησεν τὸν Ῥοβοάμ, Ῥοβοὰμ δὲ ἐγέννησεν τὸν Ἀβιά, Ἀβιὰ δὲ ἐγέννησεν τὸν Ἀσάφ,

8 Ἀσὰφ δὲ ἐγέννησεν τὸν Ἰωσαφάτ, Ἰωσαφὰτ δὲ ἐγέννησεν τὸν Ἰωράμ, Ἰωρὰμ δὲ ἐγέννησεν τὸν Ὀζίαν,

9 Ὀζίας δὲ ἐγέννησεν τὸν Ἰωαθάμ, Ἰωαθὰμ δὲ ἐγέννησεν τὸν Ἀχάζ, Ἀχὰζ δὲ ἐγέννησεν τὸν Ἑζεκίαν,

10 Ἑζεκίας δὲ ἐγέννησεν τὸν Μανασσῆ, Μανασσῆς δὲ ἐγέννησεν τὸν Ἀμώς, Ἀμὼς δὲ ἐγέννησεν τὸν Ἰωσίαν,

11 Ἰωσίας δὲ ἐγέννησεν τὸν Ἰεχονίαν καὶ τοὺς ἀδελφοὺς αὐτοῦ ἐπὶ τῆς μετοικεσίας Βαβυλῶνος.

12 Μετὰ δὲ τὴν μετοικεσίαν Βαβυλῶνος Ἰεχονίας ἐγέννησεν τὸν Σαλαθιήλ, Σαλαθιὴλ δὲ ἐγέννησεν τὸν Ζοροβαβέλ (after the carrying away of Babylon, Jechonias begat Salathiel, and Salathiel begat Zorobabel)

Note: The period of the Babylonian Exile (586–538) BCE was around 70 years. Here the geology up to the birth of Jesus never corresponding with the calendar (11 X 30=330 yrs). There is the missing link of at least (5 X 30 = 150 yrs) with the adjustment that Jechonias married at the age of 30s and so on. Luke`s (3:23) genology is completely different. Because there were several genealogical books before the gospel compilers.

13 Ζοροβαβὲλ δὲ ἐγέννησεν τὸν Ἀβιούδ, Ἀβιοὺδ δὲ ἐγέννησεν τὸν Ἐλιακίμ, Ἐλιακὶμ δὲ ἐγέννησεν τὸν Ἀζώρ,

14 Ἀζὼρ δὲ ἐγέννησεν τὸν Σαδώκ, Σαδὼκ δὲ ἐγέννησεν τὸν Ἀχίμ, Ἀχὶμ δὲ ἐγέννησεν τὸν Ἐλιούδ,

15 Ἐλιοὺδ δὲ ἐγέννησεν τὸν Ἐλεάζαρ, Ἐλεάζαρ δὲ ἐγέννησεν τὸν Ματθάν, Ματθὰν δὲ ἐγέννησεν τὸν Ἰακώβ,

16 Ἰακὼβ δὲ ἐγέννησεν τὸν Ἰωσὴφ τὸν ἄνδρα Μαρίας, ἐξ ἧς ἐγεννήθη Ἰησοῦς ὁ λεγόμενος Χριστός (Jacob begat Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ)

Note: Who called Jesus the ‘Christ’? We are here not taking into account the interpolated St. Peter passage. The first caller must have called Jesus something in Aramaic or Hebrew. Marry and Josef and their other siblings never called him Johosua Christ or something like that. The transformation of Nazarine Johosua to Jesus Christ is missing in the gospel. Romans 1:3 declared that Jesus “was descended from David according to the flesh.” Josef was the biological (ἐγεννήθη) father of Jesus. The writer of this genealogy had no idea of the virgin birth of Jesus. The Story of Virgin Birth was another small book included in Matthew (after 375 CE).

17 Πᾶσαι οὖν αἱ γενεαὶ ἀπὸ Ἀβραὰμ ἕως Δαυὶδ γενεαὶ δεκατέσσαρες, καὶ ἀπὸ Δαυὶδ ἕως τῆς μετοικεσίας Βαβυλῶνος γενεαὶ δεκατέσσαρες, καὶ ἀπὸ τῆς μετοικεσίας Βαβυλῶνος ἕως τοῦ Χριστοῦ γενεαὶ δεκατέσσαρες. (So all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations, and from David until the carrying away into Babylon are fourteen generations; and from the carrying away into Babylon unto Christ are fourteen generations)

Note: An important event in Egypt and exodus is conspicuously missing from the narrative of geology. Why did the author forget to remember the exodus event?

Now what is the purpose of the inclusion of the book of genealogy in Matthew? Greeks and Romans would not take interest in the genealogy of Jesus. And if Jews were the instrumentality for the death of Jesus, then why would they hear the genealogy of Jesus and again they could discover the flaws in the lineage? The genealogy was introduced to balance the gospel with the Jewish national story and the Torah, is the answer. How many Jews accepted Christianity? Possibly very few and, more possibly the count would be zero in the first century. This little book fixed the identity of Jesus and it was fixed not before than 375 CE.

Words: Abraham Babylon Christ David Jesus Joseph Mary,

Read:

The New Testament Global Scholastic Commentary

Anti-Christian Library: Historical Context of Anti-Christian Discourse