Albert Barnes Commentary Matthew 1:17

"So all the generations from Abraham unto David are fourteen generations; and from David unto the carrying away to Babylon fourteen generations; and from the carrying away to Babylon unto the Christ fourteen generations." — Matthew 1:17 (ASV)

All the generations, etc. This division of the names in their genealogy was doubtless adopted to aid the memory. It was common among the Jews, and other similar instances are preserved. They were destitute of other books besides the Old Testament and had only a few copies of it among them, chiefly in their synagogues.

They would, therefore, naturally devise plans to preserve the memory of the principal facts in their history. One method of doing this was to divide the tables of genealogy into portions of equal length, to be committed to memory. This greatly facilitated remembering the names. A man who wished to commit to memory the names of a regiment of soldiers, would naturally divide it into companies and platoons, and this would greatly facilitate his work.

This was doubtless the reason in the case before us. And though it is not strictly accurate, it was the Jewish way of keeping their records and answered their purpose. There were three leading persons and events that nearly divided their history into equal portions: Abraham, David, and the Babylonian captivity. From one to the other was about fourteen generations, and by omitting a few names, it was sufficiently accurate to be made a general guide or directory in remembering their history.

In counting these divisions, however, it will be seen that there is some difficulty in making out the number fourteen in each division. This may be explained in the following manner. In the first division, Abraham is the first and David the last, making fourteen together. In the second series, David would naturally be placed first, and the fourteen was completed in Josiah, about the time of the captivity, as sufficiently near for the purpose of convenient computation (2 Chronicles 35).

In the third division, Josiah would naturally be placed first, and the number was completed in Joseph. Thus, David and Josiah would be counted twice. This may be shown by the following list of names:

1st division. (Abraham to David – 14 names):

• Abraham
• Isaac
• Jacob
• Judas
• Perez
• Esrom
• Ram
• Amminadab
• Naasson
• Salmon
• Boaz
• Obed
• Jesse
• David

2nd division. (David to Josiah – 14 names):

• David
• Solomon
• Roboam
• Abia
• Asa
• Josaphat
• Joram
• Uzziah
• Joatham
• Achaz
• Ezekias
• Manasses
• Amon
• Josiah

3rd division. (Josiah to Joseph – 14 names):

• Josiah
• Jechonias
• Salathiel
• Zorobabel
• Abiud
• Eliakim
• Azor
• Sadoc
• Achim
• Eliud
• Eleazar
• Matthan
• Jacob
• Joseph

Carrying away into Babylon. This refers to the captivity of Jerusalem and the removal of the Jews to Babylon by Nebuchadnezzar, 588 years before Christ (see 2 Chronicles 36).

Josiah was king when these calamities began to come upon the Jews, but the exact time of the seventy years of captivity did not begin until the eleventh year of Zedekiah's reign, or 32 years after the death of Josiah.

Babylon was situated on the Euphrates and was encompassed with walls that were about 60 miles in circuit, 87 feet broad, and 350 feet high. The city was entered by a hundred bronze gates, 25 on each side.

It was the capital of a vast empire, and the Jews remained there for seventy years. (See Barnes on Isaiah 13:1 and following).