ABSTRACT
While Matthew explicitly draws on Old Testament sources in support of his arguments, Luke’s use of Old Testament sources is more subtle. The prophecy and fulfillment scheme that directs Matthew’s Gospel places Jesus within a dynastic succession that counts Abraham as his most distant eponym (Mt. 1:1–17). The 42 generations that make up the list create a succession through Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, whose fourth son Judah is followed by ten generations down to David. Thereafter, 14 generations of Judah’s kings make up another section until the exile and yet another 14 generations are counted until the birth of Jesus, son of Joseph. The tripartite scheme of 14 adds up to a total of 42 generations, the exact number of all Israel’s and Judah’s kings as recounted in the Books of Kings. 1 The apparent symbolism in these numbers invite consideration of the number 14 as the sum of the digits of the Hebrew consonants דוד of David’s name (4+6+4), and the number 42, which in Egyptian mythology corresponds to the number of provinces in Egypt. 2 The fragmentation, death, resurrection and wholeness themes implied in both biblical 3 and Egyptian mythology structure the Gospels as well. Matthew’s genealogy might imply these numbers by sheer coincidence based on his reuse of 1 Chron. 2:1–15 and Ruth 4:18–22, both of which count 14 generations. The mythological value of the number 42 might, however, find affirmation in Luke’s placement of David as number 42 in his similar, yet quite different genealogy (Lk. 3:23–38). I will return to that below.
