The Gospel of Matthew begins with a genealogy tracing Jesus’ ancestry to Abraham.
Matthew 1:1–17 presents a genealogy that runs from Abraham through David and the kings of Judah to Joseph, the husband of Mary. Matthew uses this lineage to connect Jesus with Israel’s patriarchal and royal history and to present him as the expected Messiah.
The genealogy is arranged in three groups of fourteen generations in the text. It differs in structure and names from the genealogy in Luke 3, which traces the line in the opposite direction and extends it back to Adam. These differences reflect the distinct purposes and literary perspectives of the two Gospel writers.
Mark begins with John the Baptist and Jesus’ baptism, while John opens with a theological prologue about the Word. Matthew’s opening genealogy therefore immediately frames Jesus within the history of Abraham, David, and Israel.