Matthew 1:6-11

Matthew 1:6-11

[6] And  Jesse  begat  David  the king;  and  David  the king  begat  Solomon  of  her  that had been the wife of Urias;  [7] And  Solomon  begat  Roboam;  and  Roboam  begat  Abia;  and  Abia  begat  Asa;  [8] And  Asa  begat  Josaphat;  and  Josaphat  begat  Joram;  and  Joram  begat  Ozias;  [9] And  Ozias  begat  Joatham;  and  Joatham  begat  Achaz;  and  Achaz  begat  Ezekias;  [10] And  Ezekias  begat  Manasses;  and  Manasses  begat  and  begat  Josias;  [11] And  Josias  begat  Jechonias  and  his  brethren,  about the time  they were carried away  to Babylon: 

What does Matthew 1:6-11 Mean?

Contextual Meaning

Matthew did not refer to Solomon or the other kings of Israel as kings. Probably he wanted to focus attention on David and on Jesus as the fulfillment of the promises God gave to David. Solomon did not fulfill these promises.
The writer"s reference to Bathsheba is unusual ( Matthew 1:6 b). It draws attention to the heinousness of David"s sin. Perhaps he wanted to stress that Uriah was not an Israelite but a Hittite ( 2 Samuel 11:3; 2 Samuel 23:39). Evidently Bathsheba was the daughter of an Israelite (cf. 1 Chronicles 3:5), but the Jews would have regarded her as a Hittite since she married Uriah.
Five kings do not appear where we would expect to find them. Three are absent between Joram and Uzziah: Ahaziah, Joash, and Amaziah ( Matthew 1:8), and two are lacking between Josiah and Jehoiachin, namely, Jehoahaz and Jehoiakim. As we shall note below ( Matthew 1:17), Matthew deliberately constructed his genealogy in three groups of14names. Why did he omit reference to these five kings? The first three were especially wicked. They all had connections with Ahab, Jezebel, and Athaliah. Moreover all of them experienced violent deaths. The second two were also evil, and Jehoiakim"s reign was very short, only three months. Matthew did not sanitize his genealogy completely, however, as his references to Tamar, Rahab, and David"s sin indicate.
"This man [1] is called Coniah in Jeremiah 22:24-30, where a curse is pronounced upon him. There it is predicted that none of his seed should prosper sitting upon David"s throne. Had our Lord been the natural son of Joseph, who was descended from Jeconiah, He could never reign in power and righteousness because of the curse. But Christ came through Mary"s line, not Joseph"s. As the adopted son of Joseph, the curse upon Coniah"s seed did not affect Him." [2]
Jehoiachin"s brothers ( Matthew 1:11), Jehoiakim and Zedekiah, also ruled over Judah. Zedekiah"s reign lasted11years, but he was a puppet of the Babylonians. The royal line passed through Jehoiachin.
"There is pathos in this second allusion to brotherhood [3]. "Judah and his brethren," partakers in the promise (also in the sojourn in Egypt); "Jeconiah and his brethren," the generation of the promise eclipsed." [4]