Matthan Ματθάν
Ancestor of Joseph, the husband of Mary.
Who is Matthan in the Bible?
Matthan is an ancestor of Jesus Christ mentioned in the genealogy recorded in Matthew 1:15. He was the son of Eleazar and the father of Jacob, who became the grandfather of Joseph, the husband of Mary and earthly father of Jesus. Matthan appears in Matthew's carefully constructed genealogy, which is organized into three sets of fourteen generations, and some scholars believe Matthew deliberately omitted certain individuals in his lineage to achieve this numerical structure. His significance lies not in his personal actions or character, but in his place within the lineage that establishes Jesus's legal descent through Joseph and connects Jesus to the line of King David.
Biography
Matthan is mentioned in the genealogy of Jesus Christ, as recorded in the Gospel of Matthew. He was the son of Eleazar and an ancestor or father of Jacob, who was the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary, the mother of Jesus (Mat.1.15). His son and a few generations after him are anonymous placeholders unnamed missing individuals that are necessray to increase the number of generations in Jesus' genealogy as recorded in Matthew to become the same as the number of generations in Luke. Matthew is known to deliberately miss out some individuals (kings Ahaziah, Joash and Amaziah) so it is likely he also missed out others, in order to create three sets of 14 generations (Mat.1.17).
Family
In Scripture
1 biblical book ; 1 with study contentMatthew 1 verse
- Matthew 1:15
"Eliud was the father of Eleazar, Eleazar the father of Matthan, Matthan the father of Jacob,"
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Names & Aliases
| Form | Language | Script |
|---|---|---|
| Named | Greek | Ματθάν |