Luke 3:31

Greek (Tischendorf 8th ed.)

English Translation

the son of Melea, the son of Menan, the son of Mattatha, the son of Nathan, the son of David,

World English Bible · Public Domain

Highlights

4 hapax legomena — only here in the Greek New Testament
4 first appearances in the Greek New Testament

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Word by word

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Μελεὰ

Meleâs

G3190

“Melchi”

Noun, Proper, indeclinable

Appears 1× in the Greek New Testament
First appears here

Full Thayer's Definition

Origin: of uncertain origin

TDNT: None

Melea = "my dear friend: object of care" 1. the son of Joseph in the genealogy of Christ

About this verse

These counts appear in no published source. They are computed here, from the morphology-tagged text and Lemma’s own curated glosses. What Lemma adds →

10: words
6: distinct lemmas
Gospels: section

Notable vocabulary

4 hapax legomena — words that appear only here in the entire Greek New Testament:

Μελεὰ Melchi G3190
Μεννὰ Maath G3104
Ματταθὰ Mattatha G3160
Ναθὰμ Nathan G3481

First appearance in Scripture

These words make their first canonical appearance in the Greek New Testament here:

Μελεὰ Melchi G3190
Μεννὰ Maath G3104
Ματταθὰ Mattatha G3160
Ναθὰμ Nathan G3481

Shared distinctive vocabulary

Δαυεὶδ David G1138 occurs in 54 verses of the Greek New Testament. Also found in:

Repetition

A word recurs within this verse:

τοῦ the G3588 ×5

Cross-references

Topical passages linked to Luke 3:31 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge — connected by theme and wording, ordered by reader-vote popularity; previews shown in the World English Bible.

2 Samuel 5:14 These are the names of those who were born to him in Jerusalem: Shammua, and Shobab, and Nathan, and Solomon,
1 Chronicles 3:5 and these were born to him in Jerusalem: Shimea, and Shobab, and Nathan, and Solomon, four, of Bathshua the daughter of Ammiel;
1 Chronicles 14:4 These are the names of the children whom he had in Jerusalem: Shammua, and Shobab, Nathan, and Solomon,
Zechariah 12:12 The land will mourn, every family apart; the family of the house of David apart, and their wives apart; the family of the house of Nathan apart, and their wives apart;

Cross-references courtesy of OpenBible.info (CC BY 4.0).

Commentary

Notes on Luke 3:31 from classic Christian and Jewish commentators (each source and its license shown beneath its notes). The classic Christian expositions comment on the surrounding passage and are grouped to its opening verse, so a note may address several verses; the Jewish commentaries on the Tanakh (Rashi and others) are per-verse, so they appear only where the commentator wrote on this verse.

Lemma curates 59 commentaries, every one of them public domain or Creative Commons licensed, each selected and text-cleaned for this edition rather than reprinted as found. About our sources →

Tyndale Open Study Notes

Tyndale Open Resources

3:31 Nathan was David’s third son, born to him in Jerusalem (2 Sam 5:14); he is not to be confused with Nathan the prophet (2 Sam 7:2).

Bengel's Gnomon

Johann Albrecht Bengel

Luk 3:31. Τοῦ Ναθὰν, Nathan) [Luke substitutes him for Solomon, who is put down by Matthew here in this series, because that Mary drew her descent from Nathan, or else because Joseph derived his genealogy alike from Solomon and from Nathan; for it was a common practice of the Jews to adopt some one of their nearest relatives in the place of a son.—Harm., p. 148] This Nathan, the son of David, is a man very memorable. Zec 12:12 [where in the future repentance of the Jews, “the families of the house of David,” and those of the “house of Nathan mourn apart”]. Sohar Num. on Isa 40:8, Cheph Zibah wife of Nathan son of David is mother of the Messiah. Schœttgen on this passage.

Bengel's Gnomon of the New Testament — English translation (T&T Clark, Edinburgh, 1860) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Trapp's Complete Commentary

John Trapp

31 Which was the son of Melea, which was the son of Menan, which was the son of Mattatha, which was the son of Nathan, which was the son of David,

32 Which was the son of Jesse, which was the son of Obed, which was the son of Booz, which was the son of Salmon, which was the son of Naasson,

33 Which was the son of Aminadab, which was the son of Aram, which was the son of Esrom, which was the son of Phares, which was the son of Juda,

34 Which was the son of Jacob, which was the son of Isaac, which was the son of Abraham, which was the son of Thara, which was the son of Nachor,

Ver. 34. Which was the son of Thara] So there are reckoned ten generations from Abraham to Noah. And again, ten from Noah to Adam.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Alford’s Greek Testament

Henry Alford

31. Ναθάν] See 2Sa 5:14: Chron. 3:5: Zec 12:12.

Henry Alford, The Greek Testament (1849–1861) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Lesson kit

Teaching starters — assembled from the data on this page, not authored interpretation. Every prompt links to the verse data it draws on. Edit before teaching.

Luke, in the Gospels, opens this verse with 10 words (6 distinct Greek lemmas). Its most distinctive word is Meleâs (“Melchi”). A historical commentator’s framing appears above. Read the whole chapter for the surrounding context.

Discussion questions

The word Meleâs carries the sense “Melchi.” How does it shape the verse?
This verse holds 4 words here found nowhere else in the Greek New Testament. What might the rare words draw attention to?
4 words here appear for the first time in Scripture. What is being introduced at this debut?
Matthew 1:1 shares the word «David» with this verse. How do the two illuminate each other?
“the” occurs 5× in this one verse. What is the effect of the repetition?
These translations render this verse differently. What is at stake in choosing one wording over another?
Reading how Tyndale Open Study Notes and Bengel's Gnomon read this verse, where do the two commentators agree and where do they part?

Things to notice

4 words in this verse appear nowhere else in the Greek New Testament.
4 words make their first canonical appearance in Scripture here.
These translations choose different wording for 4 words in this verse.
“the” occurs 5× in this single verse.
6 distinct Greek lemmas span 10 words in this verse.