1611 AV,

THE GENEALOGIES

OF HOLY SCRIPTURES.

To the Christian Reader,

THE SPIRIT of God, in the sacred history, has provided such aids as are the foundation of all nations’ origins.

In them, the circumstances of Person, Time, and Place are paramount; without these, we wander as without a guide. Among these, the person is principal. Genealogies, drawn from those from whom all are descended and recorded by God’s own warrant, must inspire special reverence, for they are holy and far removed from those other genealogies against which St. Paul wrote.

Among their many uses, this is the greatest: they prove how Christ became truly man. Therefore, in several tables, these genealogies are here presented, beginning with their first root and continuing through their spreading branches, so far as Scripture gives them life. In reading them, let these few directions serve as your guide:

1. Genealogies that proceed uninterrupted from Parents to their Children are clearly displayed with double lines running from rung to rung. (see above image)

2. For those whose parentage is uncertain but who are identified by their Country, City, or Tribe, they are placed one under another with a specific symbol in the margin. (see above image)

3. Likewise, those arranged side by side and marked by another marginal symbol are not to be considered siblings but rather significant persons whose descent is inserted at that point for clarification.

4. The names of Nations and Peoples (and occasionally Cities or notable places) are not enclosed in the same circles as personal names. Instead, they are placed in compartments or marked with different lettering between direct lines, distinguishing them from individuals. Names listed beneath them are not necessarily their descendants but prominent figures among them.

5. And where it is necessary to break the succession and continue it on another page, this is done at key Persons—such as at the flood with Noah’s sons, or at the promise with Terah and Abraham. The individual at the point of interruption is always placed at the beginning of the following page, where their lineage continues. Although many pages may intervene, they are filled with collateral branches. For example, Abraham’s lineage continues from page 3 to his wives and seed on pages 6 and 7.

6. The lineage of our blessed Savior, which is our principal focus, is indicated by a chain-like trail. It begins with Adam and continues through Shem (page 1), Terah and Abraham (page 3), and so on. Similarly, from David (page 22) through his sons Solomon and Nathan (page 33), and finally to our Savior’s parents (page 34), the line is connected by the depiction of hands joined in marriage. Both Joseph and Mary descended from Zerubbabel, as the holy Evangelists recorded: from David, Judah, and Abraham, as Moses and the Prophets declared.

The Jews themselves acknowledge that the Messiah would be the son of a virgin named Mary, from Bethlehem, the daughter of Eli, of the house of Zerubbabel, and the tribe of Judah. In all these, our Christ is clearly designated. The Jews themselves also recorded him in their public register at Jerusalem as belonging to the royal bloodline and ascribed him this title: JESUS, THE SON OF THE LIVING GOD, AND OF THE VIRGIN MARY. Thus, he is the Son of David and the heir of Abraham, in whom all the families of the earth are blessed. He is the very image of the invisible God, the brightness of His glory, and the exact imprint of His being. In Him dwells the fullness of the Godhead bodily. To Him be all glory, praise, wisdom, thanksgiving, power, and might forevermore. Amen.

Marginal text of the Genealogies of the Holy Scriptures, from 1611 AV. First edition.

[References and sources]

•1 Timothy 1:4

•Matthew 1

•Luke 3

[Rabbinical comments]

•Rab. Haeadsh, in his third question on Isaiah 9:1

•Rab. Haeanai

•Rab. Ula

[Talmud]

•The treatise Sanhedrin, chapter Nigmar Hadin

[Jewish sources]

•Theodosius (Theodof), the Jew, in Suidas under the entry “Jesus”

[Additional Bible references]

•Colossians 1:15

•Hebrews 1:3

•Revelation 7:12

(Notes in brackets are added by the Bible Library and are not included in the 1611 AV)