Amminadab

The Greek verb ἐγέννησεν ("begot," "became the father of") is repeated with every link in the chain, but rendering it each time in English produces a heavy, stumbling line. Since the verb is understood from verse 2, the translation uses the compact "X the father of Y" pattern, which keeps the list moving at the steady, chant-like pace suited to reading aloud. The connecting particle δέ ("and," "now") is likewise left untranslated, since English marks the sequence by rhythm and commas. The personal names are given in the familiar English forms drawn from the Hebrew Scriptures (Amminadab, Nahshon, Salmon) rather than transliterated directly from the Greek (Aminadab, Naasson, Salmon), so that readers hear the same men they meet in the earlier books.

ἐγέννησεν is aorist active of γεννάω. The active voice is normally used of the father's role ("begot"), while the passive ("was born") is used of the mother's; the same verb reappears in the passive at the climax of the genealogy in verse 16, quietly breaking the pattern. The Hebrew names behind the Greek carry their own meanings: Amminadab is roughly "my kinsman is generous/noble," Nahshon is related to a root associated with serpents or divination, and Salmon suggests "clothing" or "garment."

These three names span Israel's time in Egypt and the wilderness. Nahshon son of Amminadab is named as the chief of the tribe of Judah during the wilderness census and the first to present his offering at the dedication of the altar; his sister Elisheba married Aaron, linking the royal line of Judah to the priestly line of Levi. Salmon belongs to the generation that entered Canaan under Joshua, which fits the mention of Rahab of Jericho in the next verse. The list matches the genealogies preserved in the Hebrew Scriptures, where the same succession from Ram to Jesse appears.

The Greek manuscripts vary in the spelling of the last name here and at the start of the next verse, with forms such as Σαλμών, Σαλά, and Σαλμάν appearing in different witnesses; the variation is orthographic and does not affect the identity of the person or the sense of the line.

The generations named here belong to the years of slavery and wandering, when the promise to Abraham seemed suspended. By listing them without comment, the genealogy affirms that God's purpose continued unbroken through obscurity and exile as surely as through the reigns of kings. The link through Nahshon also joins the coming Messiah to both the leadership of Judah and, by marriage, to the priesthood of Aaron.