In the first book of the New Testament, the gospel-writer Matthew offers this genealogy of our Savior Jesus Christ
1 The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.
2 Abraham was the father of
Isaac, and Isaac the father of
Jacob, and Jacob the father of
Judah and his brothers,
3 and Judah the father of
Perez and Zerah by
Tamar, and Perez the father of Hezron, and Hezron the father of Ram,
4 and Ram the father of Amminadab, and Amminadab the father of Nahshon, and Nahshon the father the Salmon,
5 and Salmon the father of
Boaz by
Rahab, and Boaz the father of Obed by
Ruth, and Obed the father of Jesse,
6 and Jesse the father of
David the King. And David was the father of Solomon by the wife of Uriah,
7 and Solomon the father of Rehoboam, and Rehoboam the father of Abijah, and Abijah the father of Asaph,
8 and Asaph the father of Jehoshaphat, and Jehoshaphat the father of Joram, and Joram the father of Uzziah,
9 and Uzziah the father of Jotham, and Jotham the father of Ahaz, and Ahaz the father of Hezekiah,
10 and Hezekiah the father of Manasseh, and Manasseh the other of Amos, and Amos the father of Josiah,
11 and Josiah the father of Jechoniah and his brothers, at the time of the deportation to Babylon.
12 And after the deportation to Babylon: Jechoniah was the father of Shealtiel, and Shealtiel the father of Azor,
14 and Azor the father of Zadok, and Zadok the father of Achim, and Achim the father of Eliud,
15 and Eliud the father of Eleazar, and Eleazar the father of Matthan, and Matthan the father of Jacob,
16 and Jacob the father of Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom Jesus was born, who is called Christ.
17 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.
Normally, a list of generations is not all that exciting, but there are some pretty remarkable names here (italicized above). First, the patriarchs:
- Abraham,
- his son Isaac,
- and his son Jacob.
- Then Jacob's son Judah,
- then Judah's son Perez - whose mother was Tamar (the widow of Judah's older son) who persuaded Judah that she was a prostitute in an attempt to conceive a child
- Going down the line, Boaz is the son of Rahab, a prostitute (although a very helpful one, as it was Rahab who protected the Hebrew spies who came to Jericho).
- Boaz married Ruth, the Moabite woman who had married Naomi's son (Moabites were considered to be lower class, and certainly not Hebrews). After Ruth's husband died, she chose to stay with her mother-in-law rather than return to her family home. "Your people shall be my people, and your God my God." And her God rewarded her kindness to Naomi.
- Ruth thus became the great-grandmother of King David - and an ancestor of Jesus.
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