Abiud
Abiud was the son of Zerubbabel and is mentioned in the genealogy of Jesus Christ in the Gospel of Matthew.
Biography
Abiud appears in the genealogy of Jesus Christ recorded in Matthew 1:13, positioned as the son of Zerubbabel and the father of Eliakim. He lived during the period following the Babylonian exile, when the Jewish community was rebuilding its life in the land of Judah under Persian rule. Zerubbabel, Abiud's father, was the renowned governor who led the first return of exiles from Babylon and oversaw the rebuilding of the temple in Jerusalem (Ezra 3; Haggai 1-2). Abiud thus occupied a crucial generational link in the Davidic lineage, connecting the celebrated restoration leader Zerubbabel to the subsequent generations that would eventually lead to the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem.
Significance
Abiud's solitary appearance in Matthew 1:13 carries enormous theological weight. Matthew's genealogy was structured to demonstrate that Jesus of Nazareth was the legitimate heir of David's throne and the fulfillment of God's covenant promise stretching back to Abraham. Each link in the chain mattered, including the obscure post-exilic generations that preserved the Davidic bloodline through centuries of foreign domination and uncertain circumstances. Abiud's quiet faithfulness in begetting the next generation ensured that the messianic promise would not be broken, illustrating how God's redemptive purposes advance even through those whose names are scarcely known.
Verse Appearances (1)
Matthew
References
- Orr, J. (ed.) (1915) The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia. Chicago: Howard-Severance Company. [Public Domain]
- Tyndale House, Cambridge (n.d.) Translators Individualised Proper Names with all References (TIPNR). STEPBible. Available at: https://www.stepbible.org. [CC BY 4.0]
- Church of England (1769) The Holy Bible, Authorized (King James) Version. [Public Domain]