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Luke 3:23-38

The ancestors of Jesus

23 Jesus was about 30 years old when he began his work. People thought that he was the son of Joseph.

Joseph was from the family of Heli.

3:23To the Jews, a person's family was very important. God had promised to send the Messiah, who would be from David's family. It was necessary to show that the Messiah was from the family of David. So both Matthew and Luke record the family of Jesus. But the two lists are completely different. Matthew gives the list of names from Abraham to Joseph that the law would recognize. In Jewish law, Joseph was the father of Jesus but in fact, he was not. Matthew starts his list with Abraham and finishes with Jesus (see Matthew 1:2-16). This shows that Jesus as a man is Jewish. Jesus was the Messiah that God promised to Israel. Luke shows that Jesus is not in fact a son of Joseph. So he gives the list of the people in Mary's family. Joseph was the son of Jacob (see Matthew 1:16). Heli was the father of Joseph's wife Mary. Mary was the daughter of Heli. But the Jews would not usually end or start the family list with a woman. So Luke does not mention Mary by name.

24 Heli was from the family of Matthat.

Matthat was from the family of Levi.

Levi was from the family of Melchi.

Melchi was from the family of Jannai.

Jannai was from the family of Joseph.

25 Joseph was from the family of Mattathias.

Mattathias was from the family of Amos.

Amos was from the family of Nahum.

Nahum was from the family of Esli.

Esli was from the family of Naggai.

26 Naggai was from the family of Maath.

Maath was from the family of Mattathias.

Mattathias was from the family of Semein.

Semein was from the family of Josech.

Josech was from the family of Joda.

27 Joda was from the family of Joanan.

Joanan was from the family of Rhesa.

Rhesa was from the family of Zerubbabel.

Zerubbabel was from the family of Shealtiel.

Shealtiel was from the family of Neri.

28 Neri was from the family of Melchi.

Melchi was from the family of Addi.

Addi was from the family of Cosam.

Cosam was from the family of Elmadam.

Elmadam was from the family of Er.

29 Er was from the family of Joshua.

Joshua was from the family of Eliezer.

Eliezer was from the family of Jorim.

Jorim was from the family of Matthat.

Matthat was from the family of Levi.

30 Levi was from the family of Simeon.

Simeon was from the family of Judah.

Judah was from the family of Joseph.

Joseph was from the family of Jonam.

Jonam was from the family of Eliakim.

31 Eliakim was from the family of Melea.

Melea was from the family of Menna.

Menna was from the family of Mattatha.

Mattatha was from the family of Nathan.

Nathan was from the family of David.

32 David was from the family of Jesse.

Jesse was from the family of Obed.

Obed was from the family of Boaz.

Boaz was from the family of Salmon.

Salmon was from the family of Nahshon.

33 Nahshon was from the family of Amminadab.

Amminadab was from the family of Ram.

Ram was from the family of Hezron.

Hezron was from the family of Perez.

Perez was from the family of Judah.

34 Judah was from the family of Jacob.

Jacob was from the family of Isaac.

Isaac was from the family of Abraham.

Abraham was from the family of Terah.

Terah was from the family of Nahor.

35 Nahor was from the family of Serug.

Serug was from the family of Reu.

Reu was from the family of Peleg.

Peleg was from the family of Eber.

Eber was from the family of Shelah.

36 Shelah was from the family of Cainan.

Cainan was from the family of Arphaxad.

Arphaxad was from the family of Shem.

Shem was from the family of Noah.

Noah was from the family of Lamech.

37 Lamech was from the family of Methuselah.

Methuselah was from the family of Enoch.

Enoch was from the family of Jared.

Jared was from the family of Mahalalel.

Mahalalel was from the family of Cainan.

38 Cainan was from the family of Enosh.

Enosh was from the family of Seth.

Seth was from the family of Adam.

Adam was from God.

3:38The names of all the people in a family were very important to the Jews. In that way, they knew that they were Jews. The list shows that Jesus was in the same family as Judah, David and Abraham.