Matthew 1:15
Encyclopedia
Matthew 1:15 is the fifteenth verse of the first chapter of the Gospel of Matthew
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 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 Eliud begat Eleazar;
and Eleazar begat Matthan;
and Matthan begat Jacob;


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:
Eliud became the father of Eleazar.
Eleazar became the father of Matthan.
Matthan became the father of Jacob.


For a collection of other versions see BibRef Matthew 1:15

This section goes through Joseph's great-grandfather Eleazar, grandfather Matthan, and father Jacob. None of these figures are mentioned anywhere other than in Matthew and nothing else is known about them. As with most of the later section of Matthew's genealogy it conflicts with that given in Luke 3
Luke 3
Luke 3 is the third chapter of the Gospel of Luke in the New Testament of the Christian Bible. It contains an account of John the Baptist as well as a Genealogy of Jesus.- John the Baptist :...

. There is some similarity in this passage Matthew gives Joseph's grandfather as Matthan and Luke as Matthat, the other names, however, are wholly different. Eleazar was a common Old Testament name, appearing many times in that work.

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...

, who is highly skeptical of the earlier parts of Matthew's genealogy, believes that these later figures are likely accurate as it is unlikely no one would know who Joseph's father and grandfather were. Even if the author of Matthew did not known their names it is unlikely he would risk being creative as he could be fairly sure that somebody would spot his error. Gundry posits that Eleazar is the last fictional creation and that Matthan and Jacob were real people.
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