Matthan was a prince of the house of David who lived during the late intertestamental period—the centuries of prophetic silence leading up to the birth of Christ. He was the son of Eleazar and the father of Jacob.
Living in an era when the visible throne of David had been cast down, Israel was subject to the iron rule of the Roman Empire, and the corrupt line of Herod occupied the palace in Jerusalem. To the casual observer of history, the royal line of David appeared to have vanished into obscurity. Yet, behind the scenes, the providential hand of God was quietly preserving the legal seed royal in the private homes of everyday Judean citizens.
Matthan was the paternal grandfather of Joseph, the legal husband of Mary, making him the legal great-grandfather of the Lord Jesus Christ according to the flesh. Through Matthan’s direct line, the undisputed legal right to the Davidic crown was safely transmitted through the dark centuries of displacement down to the very generation of the Messiah’s birth.
The Holy Ghost has eternally secured Matthan’s identity and ancestral position within the grand royal registry that opens the New Testament in the Gospel of Matthew:
“And Eliud begat Eleazar; and Eleazar begat Matthan; and Matthan begat Jacob; And Jacob begat Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ.” (Matthew 1:15-16)
(Note: While Matthan occupies the exact same historical position as the grandfather of Joseph, his name is spelled distinctively with a double ‘h’—Matthan—in the New Testament text, separating this exact spelling from Old Testament variants like Mattan).
Through Matthan, the Scripture demonstrates that the promises of God do not depend on earthly visibility or political power. While the world paid no heed to this quiet family in Judah, the Lord was meticulously keeping the ledger of the kings, ensuring that the ultimate Gift to all mankind would arrive exactly on time, legally qualified to claim the everlasting throne of His father David.