In the Gospel of Matthew, each of the three genealogy sections is presented as fourteen generations.
Matthew 1:17 summarizes the genealogy in three groups: from Abraham to David, from David to the Babylonian exile, and from the exile to Jesus. The repeated number fourteen gives the opening genealogy a deliberate literary structure and highlights Jesus’ connection with Israel’s royal history.
The genealogy begins with Abraham and moves through David, whose name is associated with the number fourteen in one ancient Hebrew numbering system. It then traces the line through the kings and the period of exile before reaching Joseph, the husband of Mary, through whom Jesus’ legal Davidic connection is presented.
Readers should not assume that Matthew and Luke provide identical family trees. Their genealogies differ in structure, names, and the line attributed to Joseph. Matthew also uses a stylized arrangement, so the phrase “fourteen generations” describes the Gospel’s stated grouping rather than a modern exhaustive census of every ancestor.