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X-Dreamers · Lab sheet

Bible Family Tree

A zoomable family tree from Adam to Jesus, with the genealogies of Matthew and Luke traced side by side and the evidence for where they differ.

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David's household in the family tree: his wives, his sons and Nathan's line
David's household in the family tree: his wives, his sons and Nathan's line
From Adam: the family tree
From Adam: the family tree

Key facts

  • Matthew traces Jesus from Abraham through Solomon and the kings; Luke goes back to Adam through Nathan, another son of David.
  • The two lists agree from Abraham to David; after David they share only Shealtiel and Zerubbabel.
  • Joseph's father is Jacob in Matthew 1:16 and Heli in Luke 3:23.
  • Matthew names four women before Mary: Tamar, Rahab, Ruth and “the wife of Uriah”. Luke names none.
  • By the Hebrew numbers of Genesis 5, Methuselah died in the year of the Flood and lived alongside Noah for 600 years.
  • In class: start at a name the group knows, such as Ruth or David, and zoom out to see whose story it joins.

Key verses

The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.
Matthew 1:1 · King James Version
And Jesus himself began to be about thirty years of age, being (as was supposed) the son of Joseph, which was the son of Heli,
Luke 3:23 · King James Version
And the women her neighbours gave it a name, saying, There is a son born to Naomi; and they called his name Obed: he is the father of Jesse, the father of David.
Ruth 4:17 · King James Version

Talk about it

  1. Why might Matthew name Tamar, Rahab, Ruth and Bathsheba in the line of the Messiah?
  2. Matthew starts with Abraham, Luke goes back to Adam. What does each starting point say about Jesus?
  3. Who are the names in your own family's story of faith?

How sure can we be?

The Bible says
  • The names and the order of both genealogies come straight from Matthew 1 and Luke 3.
  • The ages before the Flood are the Hebrew figures of Genesis 5.
Our reconstruction
  • Family relations across the Old Testament draw on Theographic Bible Metadata, linked to their verses.
  • Placing the generations on one line assumes the lists have no gaps, which the text does not promise.
Still debated
  • Why the lists differ after David: Luke may give Mary's line, or Joseph may be Heli's son by levirate law. Both are possible; neither is proven.
  • The Greek Septuagint and the Samaritan Pentateuch give different ages in Genesis 5 and 11.
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