Gospels Part 068
Sometimes the biblical writers give us a puzzle. Did Matthew the tax collector not know how to count, or is something else going on with his repeated references to “fourteen generations”?
Matthew 1:17 ends this genealogy with this statement:
“So all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations, from David until the captivity in Babylon are fourteen generations, and from the captivity in Babylon until the Christ are fourteen generations.”
That’s an interesting set of statements, with Matthew three times mentioning “fourteen generations.” What is the point? Why include this in his genealogical record?
The question goes deeper than that, because if you go back to the historical records in 1 Chronicles 3, you find that the number of generations really isn’t 14—Matthew has skipped some generations to come up with 14. Four generations are left out of the second set of names, and David is counted in both the first and second sets of names. In the third set of names, the time span from Zerubbabel to Joseph is about 500 years, but Matthew lists only nine names for that period—meaning each generation would be more than 50 years! So, it’s clear that other names have been omitted.
Technically speaking, in the biblical Hebrew of the Hebrew Scriptures (which Matthew likely used as a source), the word for “father” can mean “grandfather” or “ancestor,” regardless of the number of generations. Likewise, the word for “son” can mean “grandson” or “descendant,” regardless of the number of generations (which, incidentally, is why Jesus can properly be called “Son of David,” a messianic term for the ultimate descendant of David). This general terminology is common in biblical language. But that still doesn’t resolve the dilemma of the number of generations.
So, what’s going on? What would be the significance of the number 14 that’s mentioned three times here?
Matthew was writing to a predominantly Jewish audience to prove that Jesus was the prophesied Messiah foretold in the Hebrew Scriptures. This being the case, he incorporated some “Jewish” communication methods that other non-Jewish readers would not recognize (though they were understood by his readers of that day).
Gematria is a word seldom used in modern Western culture. But the concept has been common in various cultures in different periods of human history. Gematria is a term that refers to assigning a symbolic value to numbers. For example, we know that in the Bible, 7 and 12 represent completeness and perfection. In contrast, 6 represents man or Satan. This is widely recognized by Bible scholars.
Today we have numerals—1, 2, 3, etc.—that are separate from the letters of our alphabet. But ancient languages originally didn’t have numerals. They used letters of their alphabet not just for sounds, but also for numbers.
That may sound strange, but most of us likely learned this concept in school. What are Roman numerals? I= 1, V = 5, X = 10, L = 50, C = 100, D = 500, M = 1,000.
In biblical times the Hebrew people used a similar system. They assigned 1 to the first letter of their alphabet, the equivalent of their letter A (aleph), 2 to the second letter of their alphabet, the equivalent of their letter B (bet), 3 to the third letter of their alphabet, the equivalent of their letter C (gimel), and so on. The letter D, dalet, was the fourth letter of their alphabet, so it had a numerical value of 4. The letter V, vav, was the sixth letter of their alphabet, so it had a numerical value of 6. So, when the Jewish people of that day wrote numbers when counting, they used letters from their alphabet.
Matthew is using this numerical system to embed a deeper meaning in verse 17 with his repeated mention of the number 14. We find several other times where the biblical writers use gematria to insert a deeper or hidden message in their text. A Jewish reader would have been alert to look for things like this because they appear at times in the Hebrew Scriptures. So what is Matthew’s intent in repeating the number 14—and deliberately shaping the number of generations to reach that total—three times in verse 17?
To answer that, let’s consider some questions:
- Who was Israel’s most famous king? King David. He was the equivalent of our George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, and George Patton all rolled into one.
- Whose name is mentioned twice here in verse 17? David.
- How is David’s name spelled in Hebrew (and Hebrew didn’t use vowels)? D-V-D.
- What is the numerical value of D-V-D that we covered above? D = 4, V=6, and D=4.
- What is 4 + 6 + 4? 14. Fourteen is a symbolic way of writing David’s name, using the numerical equivalents for the letters of David’s name.
Again, this sounds odd to us because it’s so foreign to our way of thinking—but it does show up in the Gospels. When Matthew mentions 14 generations from Abraham to David, and 14 generations from David to the captivity in Babylon, and 14 generations from the captivity until Jesus Christ, he’s figuratively stamping DAVID, DAVID, DAVID across this verse. A non-Jewish reader would completely miss that. A first-century Jewish reader would pick up on Matthew’s point.
Matthew is saying, in a very first-century Jewish way, that Jesus is the prophesied son of David who would sit on David’s throne as King over Israel.
How does Matthew introduce Jesus in verse 1?
“This is the record of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham” (New English Translation [NET]).
In the first sentence of his Gospel, Matthew introduces Jesus as “the Son of David.” In verse 6, Matthew refers to David as “David the king” twice. Matthew, in his genealogy, repeatedly emphasizes the connection between Jesus and David, letting us know that Jesus is the fulfillment of the prophecies and promises to David!
This is one of many examples we’ll discuss why it is important to read the Gospels as the original audience would have understood them in the first century. We’re reading the Gospels almost 2,000 years later in a completely different culture based on a very different worldview. So, let's continue to dig beneath the surface to find the meanings that aren’t evident on a surface reading of the Gospels.
© 2026 Scott Ashley. All rights reserved. Used with permission.
UYA Team | uya@ucg.org
United Young Adults (UYA) primarily serves the 18–32-year age group for the United Church of God. There are three main areas of contribution to the lives of the young adults: Promoting Spiritual Growth, Developing Meaningful Relationships and Making the Most of Your Talents. The Know Your Sword series is a daily expository message introducing God’s Word from a trusted perspective.
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Scott Ashley
Scott Ashley was managing editor of Beyond Today magazine, United Church of God booklets and its printed Bible Study Course until his retirement in 2023. He also pastored three congregations in Colorado for 10 years from 2011-2021. He and his wife, Connie, live near Denver, Colorado.
Mr. Ashley attended Ambassador College in Big Sandy, Texas, graduating in 1976 with a theology major and minors in journalism and speech. It was there that he first became interested in publishing, an industry in which he worked for 50 years.
During his career, he has worked for several publishing companies in various capacities. He was employed by the United Church of God from 1995-2023, overseeing the planning, writing, editing, reviewing and production of Beyond Today magazine, several dozen booklets/study guides and a Bible study course covering major biblical teachings. His special interests are the Bible, archaeology, biblical culture, history and the Middle East.
