Salathiel
1 Chronicles 3:17
3:17 Salathiel. Salathiel is said to be the father of Zerubbabel in Matthew 1:12 and Luke 3:27, whereas his brother Pedaiah is listed as Zerubbabel’s father in I Chronicles 3:19. Zerubbabel is called “the son of Shealtiel (another form of Salathiel)” in Ezra 3:2. Possibly Salathiel adopted Zerubbabel as his son, or else Pedaiah “raised up seed unto his brother” (Matthew 22:24) by Levirate marriage, making Zerubbabel Salathiel’s legal son even though he was the physical son of Pedaiah. Zerubbabel was the governor when the exiles returned from Babylon to Jerusalem after the captivity (Ezra 2:2). In either case, Zerubbabel was ancestor to both Joseph and Mary, and thus to Jesus, assuming that Matthew and Luke have preserved both Joseph’s and Mary’s genealogy, respectively (see notes on these passages, Matthew 1:1-16; Luke 3:23-38). However, both this passage and Matthew 1:12 give Jechoniah as father of Salathiel, while Luke says Neri was father of Salathiel. A possible resolution is to assume Jechoniah adopted Salathiel after Neri’s death. In any case, none of Jechoniah’s seed could have inherited David’s throne, according to the prophecy of Jeremiah 22:28-30, and this was fully assured by the fact that the physical body of Jesus was specially created in Mary’s womb.
