The Seventh Seven
What does a bird’s eye view of Matthew’s genealogy look like?
You may have heard some of this before, but there’s an additional layer here you might not have noticed.
Matthew structures Jesus’s genealogy into three sets of 14 generations:
From Abraham to David, 14 generations.
From David to the Babylonian Exile, 14 generations.
From the Exile to Jesus Christ, 14 generations.
Why this neat, deliberate pattern?
In Hebrew, the number 14 signifies hand, deliverance, and release, as well as the name “David.”
This reinforces one of Matthew’s key points:
Jesus is the Son of David, the promised Anointed One.
But what else is happening here?
Matthew isn’t just playing with 14s.
There’s also a pattern of sevens, a number deeply tied to wholeness and perfection in Hebrew thought.
If you break down the genealogy into groups of seven, you get six complete sets of seven generations from Abraham to Jesus.
And that begs the question:
What about the time after Jesus’s birth?
In Hebrew tradition, seven represents fulfillment, divine perfection, and completeness.
Think of Jesus’ words: “Forgive seventy times seven.” In other words: forgive completely.
So what’s the point?
If six sevens lead up to Christ, then Jesus Himself is the Seventh Seven.
The fulfillment.
The completion.
The one who ushers in a new era of salvation.
What does this mean for us?
Matthew’s genealogy isn’t just an ancient record. It’s a beautifully woven story of:
Hope: beginning with Abraham, the father of faith
Brokenness: through generations of flawed, sinful people
Restoration: in Jesus, who brings wholeness and perfection
He is the Seventh Seven.
He is the one who straightens the crooked lines in your life.
Whatever brokenness, sin, or struggle you carry, Christ is the fulfillment, the one who brings completion, peace, and restoration through salvation.
Onward & Upward,
Ted
Here’s what I’m reading this week
In The Lost World of Genesis One, Dr. John Walton invites readers to leave modern assumptions behind and step into the “lost world” of the Bible’s original audience, where existence is defined by purpose & functionality, not physicality. Walton argues that the ancient Hebrew creation account is primarily a temple text, framing the cosmos as God’s sacred dwelling through a functional, not material, ordering.
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