A Bible family tree from Adam to Jesus: the patriarchs, the twelve tribes, the house of David and the kings of Judah. Both genealogies of Jesus, Matthew's and Luke's, are traced through it, and you can see where they differ.
Pan and pinch through 237 people, from Adam to Jesus and beyond.
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Matthew traces Jesus forward from Abraham; Luke traces him back to Adam and to God. From Abraham to David the two lists agree. After David they share only two names, Shealtiel and Zerubbabel, and they give Joseph different fathers. Choose a name to find it in the tree.
Only Luke goes back before Abraham, with one name the Hebrew Genesis lacks: Cainan.
Luke ends: “which was the son of Adam, which was the son of God.”
The Gospels do not explain the difference, and neither mentions the other's list. Every explanation adds something the texts do not say. Here are the main ones, with how well each is supported.
Matthew: “Jacob begat Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus” (1:16), through Solomon and the kings. Luke: Jesus was “(as was supposed) the son of Joseph, which was the son of Heli” (3:23), through Nathan. They agree from Abraham to David, share Shealtiel and Zerubbabel, and differ everywhere else between David and Joseph.
16And Jacob begat Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ.
23And Jesus himself began to be about thirty years of age, being (as was supposed) the son of Joseph, which was the son of Heli,
31Which was the son of Melea, which was the son of Menan, which was the son of Mattatha, which was the son of Nathan, which was the son of David,
Matthew counts three groups of fourteen (1:17). To get them he passes over three kings between Joram and Uzziah (Ahaziah, Joash, Amaziah) and Jehoiakim before Jechoniah, all known from Kings and Chronicles. “Begat” can mean “was the ancestor of”. The third group has only thirteen names unless Jechoniah or Jesus is counted twice.
17So 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.
8And Asa begat Josaphat; and Josaphat begat Joram; and Joram begat Ozias;
11Joram his son, Ahaziah his son, Joash his son, 12Amaziah his son, Azariah his son, Jotham his son,
Heli was Mary's father, and Joseph is “son of Heli” as his son-in-law; or the parenthesis “(as was supposed) the son of Joseph” sets Joseph aside and the line runs from Jesus to Heli through his mother. Matthew would then give Joseph's legal line, Luke Mary's natural one.
23And Jesus himself began to be about thirty years of age, being (as was supposed) the son of Joseph, which was the son of Heli,
32He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David:
3Concerning his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, which was made of the seed of David according to the flesh;
Julius Africanus (c. AD 220), citing relatives of Jesus, says Jacob and Heli were half-brothers. Heli died childless, and Jacob married his widow to raise up a son for him, as the Law required. Joseph was then Jacob's son by birth and Heli's by law, so each Gospel is right.
5If brethren dwell together, and one of them die, and have no child, the wife of the dead shall not marry without unto a stranger: her husband’s brother shall go in unto her, and take her to him to wife, and perform the duty of an husband’s brother unto her. 6And it shall be, that the firstborn which she beareth shall succeed in the name of his brother which is dead, that his name be not put out of Israel.
19Master, Moses wrote unto us, If a man’s brother die, and leave his wife behind him, and leave no children, that his brother should take his wife, and raise up seed unto his brother.
8And Judah said unto Onan, Go in unto thy brother’s wife, and marry her, and raise up seed to thy brother.
Matthew gives the heirs to David's throne, not necessarily fathers and sons. When Solomon's line failed, perhaps after Jechoniah, whose descendants Jeremiah said would not prosper on the throne, the right passed to a relative from Nathan's line, and the two lists meet at Shealtiel.
30Thus saith the LORD, Write ye this man childless, a man that shall not prosper in his days: for no man of his seed shall prosper, sitting upon the throne of David, and ruling any more in Judah.
17And the sons of Jeconiah; Assir, Salathiel his son,
27Which was the son of Joanna, which was the son of Rhesa, which was the son of Zorobabel, which was the son of Salathiel, which was the son of Neri,
Most readers take them to be the same two men in both lists: the governor Zerubbabel and his father. Then Shealtiel had two fathers (Jechoniah, Neri), and 1 Chronicles 3:19 gives Zerubbabel a third (Pedaiah), which again points to levirate marriage or adoption. Others think Luke's pair were different men with the same names.
2Then stood up Jeshua the son of Jozadak, and his brethren the priests, and Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and his brethren, and builded the altar of the God of Israel, to offer burnt offerings thereon, as it is written in the law of Moses the man of God.
19And the sons of Pedaiah were, Zerubbabel, and Shimei: and the sons of Zerubbabel; Meshullam, and Hananiah, and Shelomith their sister:
27Which was the son of Joanna, which was the son of Rhesa, which was the son of Zorobabel, which was the son of Salathiel, which was the son of Neri,
Luke's Cainan (3:36) comes from the Greek Septuagint of Genesis 11:12, which Luke used; the Hebrew text lacks him. In Luke 3:33 many manuscripts read “Admin, the son of Arni” where the KJV, following the Textus Receptus, has “Aram”.
36Which was the son of Cainan, which was the son of Arphaxad, which was the son of Sem, which was the son of Noe, which was the son of Lamech,
12And Arphaxad lived five and thirty years, and begat Salah:
33Which was the son of Aminadab, which was the son of Aram, which was the son of Esrom, which was the son of Phares, which was the son of Juda,
Matthew names Tamar, Rahab, Ruth and “her that had been the wife of Urias”. Why these four is a matter of interpretation: all have irregular or scandalous stories, and at least Rahab and Ruth were foreigners; together they prepare for the unusual birth from Mary.
3And Judas begat Phares and Zara of Thamar; and Phares begat Esrom; and Esrom begat Aram;
5And Salmon begat Booz of Rachab; and Booz begat Obed of Ruth; and Obed begat Jesse; 6And Jesse begat David the king; and David the king begat Solomon of her that had been the wife of Urias;
16And Jacob begat Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ.
No explanation is proven. Christians have discussed the question since at least the early third century; the evidence leaves more than one reasonable answer.
Genesis gives each father's age when his son was born and how long he lived. Laid end to end, the Hebrew figures make the lives overlap in surprising ways. Choose a bar to see who was alive at the same time.
Years from Adam, by the Hebrew figures
Shem (1558–2158) was alive at the same time as:
Assumes the lists have no gaps and that each figure is exact. The Greek Septuagint and the Samaritan Pentateuch give different ages, so these overlaps hold for the Hebrew text (followed by KJV and the 1919 CUV) only. Shem is placed at Noah's 502nd year (Genesis 11:10 with 7:6) and Abram at Terah's 70th (Genesis 11:26); Acts 7:4 may imply 130.
Parent and partner links come from Theographic Bible Metadata, restricted to the 237 people shown here and checked against the text: every name is found in its key verses (KJV and the 1919 CUV), and the order of Matthew 1 and Luke 3 is tested name by name. Where the dataset takes an interpretive side (it makes Mary the daughter of Heli) or follows one genealogy (it puts Luke's Cainan into Genesis 11), the tree follows the text and marks the other reading. The layout draws one row per generation, so rows are not dates.
| Direction | Matthew: Abraham down to Jesus · Luke: Jesus back to Adam, “the son of God” |
|---|---|
| Names | Matthew: 41, Abraham to Jesus · Luke: 76, Jesus to Adam |
| After David | Matthew: through Solomon and the kings · Luke: through Nathan |
| Joseph's father | Matthew: Jacob (1:16) · Luke: Heli (3:23) |
| Shared after David | Shealtiel and Zerubbabel |
| Pattern | Matthew: three groups of fourteen generations (1:17) |
| Women named | Matthew: Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, Uriah's wife and Mary · Luke: none |
1The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.
16And Jacob begat Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ.
17So 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.
23And Jesus himself began to be about thirty years of age, being (as was supposed) the son of Joseph, which was the son of Heli,
38Which was the son of Enos, which was the son of Seth, which was the son of Adam, which was the son of God.
Scripture quotations: King James Version (1769) (KJV).
What the Bible says, what our model adds to it, where good readers disagree, and where the old copies and the translations differ. We set the views side by side and do not pick a winner.
Parents and partners come from Theographic Bible Metadata, with each change the lab makes listed with its reason.
Jesus' two genealogies are both shown, each marked as Matthew's or Luke's, without merging them.
Luke's Cainan, between Arphaxad and Shelah, is drawn as Luke's link only; the main line follows the Hebrew of Genesis 11.
Stated in Scripture. Quoted from the King James Version (KJV) and the 1919 Chinese Union Version (和合本).
Matthew opens with the genealogy of Jesus Christ, son of David, son of Abraham, and traces it down from Abraham.
Textually stated
X-Dreamers1The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.
In Matthew, Joseph is the son of Jacob, the husband of Mary, of whom Jesus was born.
Textually stated16And Jacob begat Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ.
In Luke, Jesus was "(as was supposed) the son of Joseph, which was the son of Heli", and the line runs up to Adam.
Textually stated23And Jesus himself began to be about thirty years of age, being (as was supposed) the son of Joseph, which was the son of Heli,
Matthew counts three sets of fourteen generations.
Textually stated17So 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.
Genesis gives the generations of Adam, and the later lines of Shem and of the patriarchs.
Textually stated1This is the book of the generations of Adam. In the day that God created man, in the likeness of God made he him;
Choices the reconstruction has to make where the text is silent, each with its evidence level and the reason for it.
Parents and partners come from Theographic Bible Metadata, with each change the lab makes listed with its reason.
Why: Theographic is an open dataset of biblical people tied to their verses; the lab checks that every person's name occurs in KJV or the 和合本 at the verses cited.
Jesus' two genealogies are both shown, each marked as Matthew's or Luke's, without merging them.
Why: Both are Scripture, and they differ between David and Joseph; merging them would choose one explanation.
Matthew's line goes from Joram straight to Uzziah; the three kings between them are shown from Kings and Chronicles.
Why: 1 Chronicles 3:11–12 names Ahaziah, Joash and Amaziah between Joram and Azariah (Uzziah).
Name meanings are given only where the text explains the name or the Hebrew is clear.
Why: Many names are explained in the verse that gives them (Genesis 29–30, for example); others are uncertain and left without a meaning.
Luke's Cainan, between Arphaxad and Shelah, is drawn as Luke's link only; the main line follows the Hebrew of Genesis 11.
Why: Genesis 11:12 and 1 Chronicles 1 have no Cainan; the Greek Septuagint of Genesis and Luke 3:36 do. Theographic routes the line through Cainan, and the lab corrects that.
The arrangement of branches, colours and generations on screen is a drawing choice.
Why: The text gives relations, not a layout; spouses and lines are placed to keep the tree readable.
Where careful readers disagree. Each view with who holds it and the evidence for and against it. No verdict.
Matthew 1:16; Luke 3:23
Held by A common explanation among theologians, revived by Annius of Viterbo in 1498
For
Against
Sources: Wikipedia, "Genealogy of Jesus"
Held by Julius Africanus (3rd century, Epistle to Aristides), reporting a family tradition
For
Against
Sources: Wikipedia, "Genealogy of Jesus"
Held by Another common explanation: one line is legal, the other by blood
For
Against
Sources: Wikipedia, "Genealogy of Jesus"
What the lab shows (a drawing choice, not a ruling): The tree shows both lines side by side and does not join them.
Places where manuscripts, ancient versions or translations differ in numbers or wording. KJV and 和合本 are quoted as they stand.
36Which was the son of Cainan, which was the son of Arphaxad, which was the son of Sem, which was the son of Noe, which was the son of Lamech,
36沙拉是該南的兒子、該南是亞法撒的兒子、亞法撒是閃的兒子、閃是挪亞的兒子、挪亞是拉麥的兒子、
12And Arphaxad lived five and thirty years, and begat Salah:
12亞法撒活到三十五歲、生了沙拉．
| Hebrew Genesis 11:12 and 1 Chronicles 1 | no Cainan: Arphaxad fathered Shelah |
|---|---|
| Greek Septuagint of Genesis; the Book of Jubilees | Cainan between Arphaxad and Shelah |
Both KJV and the 和合本 have Cainan in Luke 3:36 and no Cainan in Genesis 11:12. Luke's list agrees with the Greek Genesis, not the Hebrew.
Sources: Wikipedia, "Cainan"
8And Asa begat Josaphat; and Josaphat begat Joram; and Joram begat Ozias;
8亞撒生約沙法．約沙法生約蘭．約蘭生烏西亞．
11Joram his son, Ahaziah his son, Joash his son, 12Amaziah his son, Azariah his son, Jotham his son,
11約沙法的兒子是約蘭、約蘭的兒子是亞哈謝、亞哈謝的兒子是約阿施、12約阿施的兒子是亞瑪謝、亞瑪謝的兒子是亞撒利雅、亞撒利雅的兒子是約坦、
Matthew has "Joram begat Ozias" (Ozias is Uzziah); Chronicles lists Ahaziah, Joash and Amaziah between them (Uzziah is also called Azariah). Leaving them out keeps the second set at fourteen; they were also kings remembered as especially wicked.
Sources: Wikipedia, "Genealogy of Jesus"
Matthew traces Jesus from Abraham through Solomon and the kings; Luke goes back to Adam through David's son Nathan. They agree from Abraham to David, share only Shealtiel and Zerubbabel after David, and give Joseph different fathers: Jacob in Matthew 1:16, Heli in Luke 3:23. The Gospels do not explain the difference. The main explanations are that Luke gives Mary's line, or that Joseph was Jacob's son by birth and Heli's by law through levirate marriage, as Julius Africanus wrote about AD 220. Both are plausible; neither is proven.
Luke's list names 76 people from Jesus back to Adam, “the son of God” (Luke 3:23–38), so it counts 75 generations between them. That is a count of names, not of years: biblical genealogies can pass over generations, as Matthew does on purpose, and Luke's Cainan (3:36) is not in the Hebrew text of Genesis 11. Manuscripts of Luke also differ by a name or two.
Possibly. Some take Heli as Mary's father, with Joseph called his son as son-in-law, or read “(as was supposed) the son of Joseph” as setting Joseph aside. Against it, Luke names Joseph, not Mary, and the view became common only from the late fifteenth century. The lab rates it plausible, not proven.
Matthew counts three groups of fourteen (Matthew 1:17): Abraham to David, David to the exile, and the exile to Christ. His list names 41 people from Abraham to Jesus. To keep the pattern he passes over four kings known from Kings and Chronicles (Ahaziah, Joash, Amaziah and Jehoiakim), and the third group has only thirteen names unless one is counted twice.
Matthew names Tamar, Rahab, Ruth and “her that had been the wife of Urias”, then Mary. Why these four is a matter of interpretation: their stories are irregular or scandalous, and at least Rahab and Ruth were foreigners. Luke's list names no women.
By the Hebrew figures in Genesis 5, yes: Methuselah died in the year of the Flood, and he and Noah were alive together for 600 years. This assumes the lists have no gaps; the Greek Septuagint and the Samaritan Pentateuch give different ages.
237 people: the line from Adam through Noah and Shem to Abraham; the patriarchs and the twelve tribes; Levi's line with Moses, Aaron and the priests; the houses of Saul and David and the kings of Judah; neighbouring peoples such as Edom, Moab and Ishmael; and both genealogies of Jesus, down to his brothers, John the Baptist and Paul. The Bible names far more people; the tree keeps to the lines that carry the story.
Scripture is quoted only from KJV and the 1919 和合本. Other works are cited for facts and arguments, not quoted at length.
What’s new · v1.1.1Version 1.1.1: English Scripture is now quoted from the King James Version (1769). Matthew 1 and Luke 3 now show the names as the KJV spells them (Booz, Naasson, Phares…).