Jeconiah: The Cursed King

The apostle Matthew began his Gospel by detailing Jesus’ Messianic credentials as “the Son of David, the Son of Abraham” (Mt. 1:1). But as he listed Jesus’ genealogy, Matthew did some odd things. First, he included the names of women, Gentiles, and others considered undesirable, unlike other genealogies of the time. He also left out more than a few important names. Finally, he concluded the record with Joseph, who wasn’t Jesus’ biological father, seemingly invalidating the whole project. What exactly was Matthew doing with this twisted family tree?

In his genealogical record, Matthew highlighted 42 generations, divided into groups of 14, to point explicitly to King David.¹ Drawing together the long history of the Jewish people in a meticulously curated list, Matthew showed that Jesus is not only the Messiah who will fulfill the Davidic Covenant but that He’s also the Savior who fulfills the hope of all humanity.

At first glance, the addition of Jeconiah (also called Jehoiachin or Coniah) in this list seems to weaken Jesus’ Messianic claims (v. 11). Jeconiah was an evil man (2 Ki. 24:8–9; 2 Chr. 36:9), the second-to-last king in the Davidic line to rule in Jerusalem before the Babylonians destroyed the city and the Temple and took Israel into captivity. Jeconiah was only 18 then, having ruled for merely three months before surrendering the city. During his reign, the prophet Jeremiah indicted Jeconiah’s family for its injustice, violence, and oppression. He condemned it for shedding innocent blood, breaking God’s covenant, and worshiping idols (Jer. 22). God specifically cursed Jeconiah:

“As I live,” says the LORD, “though Coniah . . . were the signet on My right hand, yet I would pluck you off; and I will give you into the hand of . . . the Chaldeans. So I will cast you out . . . into another country where you were not born; and there you shall die. . . . ‘Write this man down as childless, a man who shall not prosper in his days; for none of his descendants shall prosper, sitting on the throne of David, and ruling anymore in Judah’” (vv. 24–26, 30).

Did God’s curse break the Davidic Covenant and end His plans to bring the Messiah? Certainly not! As God also said of David in Psalm 89, “I will establish his descendants forever, and his throne as the days of heaven. . . . Once I have sworn by My holiness; I will not lie to David” (vv. 29, 35, NASB).

So, why did Matthew confidently place this cursed king into the genealogy designed to bolster Jesus’ legal claim? How could it be that the curse on Jeconiah doesn’t invalidate Jesus’ claim to be the Messianic King of the Davidic Covenant?

Some theologians teach that Jesus could not have descended biologically from Jeconiah, as Mary’s lineage runs through David’s son Nathan, rather than Solomon (from whom Jeconiah came).² Other scholars posit that the curse was limited in scope, possibly only referring to Jeconiah’s immediate children or applied during the king’s lifetime. Still others note that God later chose Zerubbabel, Jeconiah’s legal descendant, as His anointed servant, using the same imagery as the curse in Jeremiah: “I will take you, Zerubbabel, . . . and will make you like a signet ring; for I have chosen you” (Hag. 2:23).

The result of each view is the same: Scripture clearly asserts that God fixed the problem of the curse for Jesus’ claim to the throne. God fulfilled the legalities and presented to the world His chosen, anointed One, His true signet ring: Jesus, the Son of David, heir to the Davidic Covenant.

In Jesus’ time, kings normally wiped their family trees clean of any scandal to protect their reputations. Instead, Matthew recorded in the lineage an ancestor so evil that he was cursed by God. Jeconiah’s inclusion highlights God’s amazing grace.

Jesus’ lineage is riddled with sinners transformed by God’s benevolence—sinners like you and me. Each of us once languished under the curse of sin as enemies of God, doomed to an eternity cut off from Him. Without the grace of God, our judgment would sound much like Jeconiah’s. Jesus is the perfect descendant of David whom God chose to restore, redeem, and reconcile us to Himself. He is the King Israel deserves and the Savior who allows us to receive God’s blessings. He is God’s gracious gift in whom we find freedom from the curse.

ENDNOTES

1. 1. 1. Using gematria, the Jewish system that assigns numerical values to the letters of the Hebrew alphabet, the letters in David’s name total 14.
      2. Tom Simcox, “The Curse,” Israel My Glory, vol. 80, no. 5, 32.