Matthew 1:7
Encyclopedia
Gospel of Matthew
The Gospel According to Matthew is one of the four canonical gospels, one of the three synoptic gospels, and the first book of the New Testament. It tells of the life, ministry, death, and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth...
in the New Testament
New Testament
The New Testament is the second major division of the Christian biblical canon, the first such division being the much longer Old Testament....
. The verse is part of the section where the genealogy
Genealogy
Genealogy is the study of families and the tracing of their lineages and history. Genealogists use oral traditions, historical records, genetic analysis, and other records to obtain information about a family and to demonstrate kinship and pedigrees of its members...
of Joseph
Saint Joseph
Saint Joseph is a figure in the Gospels, the husband of the Virgin Mary and the earthly father of Jesus Christ ....
, the legal father of Jesus
Jesus
Jesus of Nazareth , commonly referred to as Jesus Christ or simply as Jesus or Christ, is the central figure of Christianity...
, is listed.
In the King James Version of the Bible the text reads:
- And Solomon begat Roboam;
- and Roboam begat Abia;
- and Abia begat Asa;
The World English Bible
World English Bible
The World English Bible is a public domain translation of the Bible that is currently in draft form. Work on the World English Bible began in 1997 and was known as the American Standard Version 1997...
translates the passage as:
- Solomon became the father of Rehoboam.
- Rehoboam became the father of Abijah.
- Abijah became the father of Asa.
For a collection of other versions see BibRef Matthew 1:7
This part of the list coincides with the list of the Kings of Judah
Kings of Judah
The Kings of Judah ruled the ancient Kingdom of Judah after the death of Saul, when the tribe of Judah elevated David to rule over it. After seven years, David became king of a reunited Kingdom of Israel. However, in about 930 BC the united kingdom split, with ten of the twelve Tribes of Israel...
that is present in a number of other parts of the Bible
Bible
The Bible refers to any one of the collections of the primary religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. There is no common version of the Bible, as the individual books , their contents and their order vary among denominations...
. Unlike other parts of Matthew's genealogy this list is fully in keeping with the other sources. The first listed is King Solomon
Solomon
Solomon , according to the Book of Kings and the Book of Chronicles, a King of Israel and according to the Talmud one of the 48 prophets, is identified as the son of David, also called Jedidiah in 2 Samuel 12:25, and is described as the third king of the United Monarchy, and the final king before...
of Israel who is said to have reigned c.962 BC to c.922 BC. The genealogy then follows that of the kings of Judah
Kings of Judah
The Kings of Judah ruled the ancient Kingdom of Judah after the death of Saul, when the tribe of Judah elevated David to rule over it. After seven years, David became king of a reunited Kingdom of Israel. However, in about 930 BC the united kingdom split, with ten of the twelve Tribes of Israel...
beginning with Rehoboam
Rehoboam
Rehoboam was initially king of the United Monarchy of Israel but after the ten northern tribes of Israel rebelled in 932/931 BC to form the independent Kingdom of Israel he was king of the Kingdom of Judah, or southern kingdom. He was a son of Solomon and a grandson of David...
whose reign W.F. Albright dates from 922 BC to 915 BC. Rehoboam's son Abijah
Abijah
Abijah or Abiah or Abia is a Biblical unisex name that means Aviya or "my Father is Yahweh" in Hebrew. In the Old Testament the name Abijah was borne by several characters:Women...
ruled from his father's death for two years and his son Asa of Judah
Asa of Judah
Asa was the third king of the Kingdom of Judah and the fifth king of the House of David. He was the son of Abijam, grandson of Rehoboam, and great-grandson of Solomon. The Hebrew Bible gives the period of his reign as 41 years. His reign is dated between 913-910 BCE to 873-869 BCE. He was...
ruled from 913 BC to 873 BC. Rehoboam is most noted for presiding over the breakup of his kingdom and a civil war between the tribes of Israel. His son Asia had a brief and unsuccessful reign. Asa's long reign was more successful.
Gundry
Robert H. Gundry
Robert Horton Gundry is a Biblical scholar. He received a B.A. and a B.D. degree from the Los Angeles Baptist College and Seminary, and his Ph.D. from Manchester University in Manchester, England in 1961 and has taught for several decades at Westmont College in California...
notes that the author of Matthew adds a "φ" to Asa's name. Gundry believes this is an attempt to link the king to Asaph, to whom Psalm 78
Psalm 78
Psalm 78 is the 78th psalm in the biblical Book of Psalms. It is one of the 12 Psalms of Asaphand is described as a "maskil".-Uses in Judaism:*Is recited on the third thru sixth days of Passover in some traditions....
is attributed. Psalm 78 contains important messianic prophecies. Brown
Raymond E. Brown
The Reverend Raymond Edward Brown, S.S. , was an American Roman Catholic priest, a member of the Sulpician Fathers and a major Biblical scholar of his era...
, and most other scholars feel this is more likely an error than a scheme and most translators of the Bible "correct" Matthew in this verse. Who made the error is uncertain. The author of Matthew could have been working from an incorrect source, he could have made the error himself, or an early copier of the Gospel could have added the letter.