Limitless Word
And Josias begat Jechonias and his brethren, about the time they were carried away to Babylon:
Matthew 1:11 · King James Version
Parallel translations
  • WEB Josiah became the father of Jechoniah and his brothers, at the time of the exile to Babylon.
  • BSB and Josiah the father of Jeconiah and his brothers at the time of the exile to Babylon.
  • NKJV Josiah begot Jeconiah and his brothers about the time they were carried away to Babylon.
  • NASB Josiah fathered Jeconiah and his brothers, at the time of the deportation to Babylon.
  • NLT Josiah was the father of Jehoiachin and his brothers (born at the time of the exile to Babylon).

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org

Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Quick answer

The line reaches Jechoniah at the time of the Babylonian exile, the lowest point of the monarchy. The promise survives even national catastrophe.

Overview

The deportation to Babylon was Judah's great judgment, and Jechoniah was cursed so that no descendant would prosper on David's throne (Jeremiah 22:30). That the Messiah comes through this line, yet legally rather than as a direct ruling heir, shows God working around the curse. The exile sets the stage for the hope of restoration that Jesus fulfills.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 12

  • Jer 27:20Which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon took not, when he carried away captive Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim king of Judah from Jerusalem to Babylon, and all the nobles of Judah and Jerusalem;
  • Jer 52:28–30This is the people whom Nebuchadrezzar carried away captive: in the seventh year three thousand Jews and three and twenty:
  • Dan 1:2And the Lord gave Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand, with part of the vessels of the house of God: which he carried into the land of Shinar to the house of his god; and he brought the vessels into the treasure house of his god.
  • Jer 52:11–15Then he put out the eyes of Zedekiah; and the king of Babylon bound him in chains, and carried him to Babylon, and put him in prison till the day of his death.
  • 2 Kgs 25:11Now the rest of the people that were left in the city, and the fugitives that fell away to the king of Babylon, with the remnant of the multitude, did Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard carry away.
  • 2 Chr 36:10And when the year was expired, king Nebuchadnezzar sent, and brought him to Babylon, with the goodly vessels of the house of the LORD, and made Zedekiah his brother king over Judah and Jerusalem.
  • 2 Kgs 23:31Jehoahaz was twenty and three years old when he began to reign; and he reigned three months in Jerusalem. And his mother’s name was Hamutal, the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah.
  • 1 Chr 3:15–17And the sons of Josiah were, the firstborn Johanan, the second Jehoiakim, the third Zedekiah, the fourth Shallum.
  • 2 Chr 36:20And them that had escaped from the sword carried he away to Babylon; where they were servants to him and his sons until the reign of the kingdom of Persia:
  • Jer 2:10–28For pass over the isles of Chittim, and see; and send unto Kedar, and consider diligently, and see if there be such a thing.
  • Jer 39:9Then Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard carried away captive into Babylon the remnant of the people that remained in the city, and those that fell away, that fell to him, with the rest of the people that remained.
  • 2 Chr 36:1–8Then the people of the land took Jehoahaz the son of Josiah, and made him king in his father’s stead in Jerusalem.

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (5)

Resources, by level

Pastoral

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Matthew videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Matthew 1:11YouTube · Lay · Free

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  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on MatthewMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.

Christ at the center

Matthew presents Jesus as the promised King — son of David, son of Abraham — the new Moses and true Israel in whom every prophecy reaches 'that it might be fulfilled.'

How Matthew 1:11 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.

Original language

Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.