Does the Bible contradict itself in Matthew chapter 1? Are there 41 or 42 generations in Jesus' genealogy?

“Thus there were fourteen generations in all
from Abraham to David, fourteen from David to the exile to Babylon, and fourteen
from the exile to the Messiah.”

Matthew 1: 1 – 16 – “This is the genealogy^[a] of Jesus the Messiah^[b] the son of David, the son of Abraham:

² Abraham was the father of Isaac,

Isaac the father of Jacob,

Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers,

³ Judah the father of Perez and Zerah, whose mother was Tamar,

Perez the father of Hezron,

Hezron the father of Ram,

⁴ Ram the father of Amminadab,

Amminadab the father of Nahshon,

Nahshon the father of Salmon,

⁵ Salmon the father of Boaz, whose mother was Rahab,

Boaz the father of Obed, whose mother was Ruth,

Obed the father of Jesse,

⁶ and Jesse the father of King David.

David was the father of Solomon, whose mother had been Uriah’s wife,

⁷ Solomon the father of Rehoboam,

Rehoboam the father of Abijah,

Abijah the father of Asa,

⁸ Asa the father of Jehoshaphat,

Jehoshaphat the father of Jehoram,

Jehoram the father of Uzziah,

⁹ Uzziah the father of Jotham,

Jotham the father of Ahaz,

Ahaz the father of Hezekiah,

¹⁰ Hezekiah the father of Manasseh,

Manasseh the father of Amon,

Amon the father of Josiah,

¹¹ and Josiah the father of Jeconiah^[c] and his brothers at the time of the exile to Babylon.

¹² After the exile to Babylon:

Jeconiah was the father of Shealtiel,

Shealtiel the father of Zerubbabel,

¹³ Zerubbabel the father of Abihud,

Abihud the father of Eliakim,

Eliakim the father of Azor,

¹⁴ Azor the father of Zadok,

Zadok the father of Akim,

Akim the father of Elihud,

¹⁵ Elihud the father of Eleazar,

Eleazar the father of Matthan,

Matthan the father of Jacob,

¹⁶ and Jacob the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary, and Mary was the mother of Jesus who is called the Messiah.

There are those who believe that the Bible can’t be true because they think it is full of contradictions. One of these discrepancies is in the number of generations listed in Matthew chapter 1. This is the genealogy of Jesus beginning with Abraham. Matthew 1:17 states “Thus there were fourteen generations in all from Abraham to David, fourteen from David to the exile to Babylon, and fourteen from the exile to the Messiah.” It is easy to conclude that there should be 42 generations from Abraham to the Messiah since fourteen multiplied by 3 is 42. However, a careful count of all the generations listed in Matthew 1: 1 – 16 will only show 41 generations. The purpose of this hub is to show that a careful reading of the text will eliminate the claim of a contradiction.

Heritage was very important to the Jews and many of them had the important genealogies memorized. Separating them into sections made them easier to remember and helped to avoid forgetting anyone. It was not uncommon to use important events and people as dividing points. Matthew breaks Christ’s lineage into three segments using King David and the Babylonian exile as dividers.

This leads to the question, did Matthew make a mistake? Or are we missing something? Look closer. The first thing you may notice is that Matthew 17 doesn’t say there are 42 generations. This is something we assume because that is how the math adds up. But that is not what the verse actually says. If we read carefully, it starts out saying that there are 14 generations from Abraham to David. If we including Abraham and David, this adds up.

1. Abraham
2. Isaac
3. Jacob
4. Judah
5. Perez
6. Hezron
7. Ram
8. Amminadab
9. Nahshon
10. Salmon
11. Boaz
12. Obed
13. Jesse
14. King David

Next the verse goes on to say that there are 14 generations between King David and the exile to Babylon. Since David is included in this section also, we have to count him again.

⁶ and Jesse the father of King David.

David was the father of Solomon, whose mother had been Uriah’s wife,

⁷ Solomon the father of Rehoboam,...

So now from King David to the exile we have:

1. King David
2. Solomon
3. Rehoboam
4. Abijah
5. Asa
6. Jehoshaphat
7. Jehoram
8. Uzziah
9. Jotham
10. Ahaz
11. Hezekiah
12. Manasseh
13. Amon
14. Josiah

Since Josiah is the king at the time of the exile, he ends the section from David to the exile. This makes the number of generations in the second part 14 once again.

Finally we have the last 14 generations from the time of the exile through to the Messiah, just as the text says.

1. Jeconiah
2. Shealtiel
3. Zerubbabel
4. Abihud
5. Eliakim
6. Azor
7. Zadok
8. Akim
9. Elihud
10. Eleazar
11. Matthan
12. Jacob
13. Joseph
14. Jesus

So as you can see, there are 41 generations between Jesus and Abraham. But the way they divided the list to make it easier to remember counts King David twice. Which is why the math of verse 17 doesn't match the reality of verses 1 - 16.