A significant point of resemblance and rivalry is the claim of both the king and the patriarch to exclusive possession of and access to certain written records which went back to the beginning of time and confirmed his particular claim to legitimacy of priesthood and kingship.
The Genealogies of Jesus
Two genealogies frame the Son: Matthew descends from Abraham through the kings to Christ; Luke ascends from Christ all the way to “Adam, who was formed of God.” In the JST, Luke’s line is recast from a chain of literal sons into a record of descent reaching back to God himself.
Tap a Gospel to show or hide its column — narrow to any two to read them side by side.
? How to read this edition
The reading is the Covenant Christian Edition — the Joseph Smith Translation reading — carried beside each Gospel and set against the King James baseline. Headers give both numbering systems: the CCE chapter and verse, and the traditional KJV reference.
1The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham. Abraham begot Isaac, and Isaac begot Jacob, and Jacob begot Judah and his brethren, and Judah begot Perez and Zerah of Tamar, and Perez begot Hezron, and Hezron begot Ram, and Ram begot Amminadab, and Amminadab begot Nahshon, and Nahshon begot Salmon, and Salmon begot Boaz of Rahab, and Boaz begot Obed of Ruth, and Obed begot Jesse, and Jesse begot David the king. 6And David the king begot Solomon of her whom David had taken of Uriah, and Solomon begot Rehoboam, and Rehoboam begot Abijah, and Abijah begot Asa, and Asa begot Jehoshaphat, and Jehoshaphat begot Joram, and Joram begot Uzziah, and Uzziah begot Jotham, and Jotham begot Ahaz, and Ahaz begot Hezekiah, and Hezekiah begot Manasseh, and Manasseh begot Amon, and Amon begot Josiah, and Josiah begot Jeconiah and his brethren about the time they were carried away to Babylon. 12And after they were brought to Babylon, Jeconiah begot Shealtiel, and Shealtiel begot Zerubbabel, and Zerubbabel begot Abihud, and Abihud begot Eliakim, and Eliakim begot Azor, and Azor begot Zadok, and Zadok begot Achim, and Achim begot Eliud, and Eliud begot Eleazar, and Eleazar begot Matthan, and Matthan begot Jacob. 16And Jacob begot Joseph, the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, as the prophets have written, who is called Christ. 17So all the generations from Abraham to David were fourteen generations, and from David until the carrying away into Babylon were fourteen generations, and from the carrying away into Babylon until Christ were fourteen generations.
23And Jesus himself began to be about thirty years of age, having lived with his father, being (as was supposed of the world) the son of Joseph, who was from the loins of Heli, who was from the loins of Matthat, who was the son of Levi, who was a descendant of Melchi, and of Jannai, and of Joseph, and of Mattathias, and of Amos, and of Nahum, and of Esli, and of Naggai, and of Maath, and of Mattathias, and of Semein, and of Joseph, and of Joda, and of Joanan, and of Rhesa, and of Zerubbabel, and of Shealtiel, who was the son of Neri, who was a descendant of Melchi, and of Addi, and of Cosam, and of Elmadam, and of Er, and of Joshua, and of Eliezer, and of Jorim, and of Matthat, and of Levi, and of Simeon, and of Judah, and of Joseph, and of Jonam, and of Eliakim, and of Melea, and of Menna, and of Mattatha, and of Nathan, and of David, and of Jesse, and of Obed, and of Boaz, and of Salmon, and of Nahshon, and of Amminadab, and of Ram, and of Hezron, and of Perez, and of Judah, and of Jacob, and of Isaac, and of Abraham, and of Terah, and of Nahor, and of Serug, and of Reu, and of Peleg, and of Eber, and of Selah, and of Cainan, and of Arphaxad, and of Shem, and of Noah, and of Lamech, and of Methuselah, and of Enoch, and of Jared, and of Mahalaleel, and of Cainan, and of Enos, and of Seth, and of Adam, who was formed of God and the first man upon the earth.
The Chronology Running Back to the Beginning
For Nibley a genealogy was never a bare list of names but the charter of a holy line — the written record running back through the fathers to the beginning, by which a man held his claim to priesthood and covenant. Abraham himself set out to “delineate the chronology running back… to the beginning of the creation, for the records have come into my hands” (Abraham 1:28); Luke carries that same line all the way to “Adam, who was formed of God.”
The Son of God and the Second Adam
Luke traces Jesus’ line to “Adam, the son of God”; Barker reads that royal sonship through the enthronement tradition — Jesus as the second Adam, the divine Son whom the angels must worship.
Jesus is the second Adam enthroned as the Son and the angels have to worship him. Remember, Luke’s genealogy of Jesus describes Adam as the son of God (Lk.3.38). The story of Satan refusing to worship Adam is also the context for Jesus’ temptations in the wilderness.
- Matthew opens his Gospel descending from Abraham to “the son of David”; Luke ascends past Abraham, past Adam, to God. What is each writer telling you about who Jesus is by where he begins and ends the line?
- The JST recasts Luke’s genealogy from “the son of” into “a descendant of” and “from the loins of.” Why might it matter that the line is a record of descent rather than a chain of literal fathers and sons?
- Luke’s line ends not at Adam but at God — “Adam, who was formed of God and the first man upon the earth.” How does that one phrase reframe the whole genealogy you have just read?