Amminadab

Biblical Record

Scripture records no specific deeds of Amminadab. He appears chiefly as a name within genealogies and family relationships.

• Genealogy: Ruth 4:19-20 and 1 Chronicles 2:10 present him as the son of Ram and the grandson of Hezron of the tribe of Judah. His son was Nahshon, and Nahshon's son was Salmon. This line continues through Boaz to David.
• His daughter Elisheba: According to Exodus 6:23, Aaron took to wife "Elisheba, daughter of Amminadab, sister of Naashon." Elisheba bore Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar. Amminadab was therefore Aaron's father-in-law.
• His son Nahshon: In Numbers, Amminadab is consistently mentioned in the phrase "Nahshon the son of Amminadab." Nahshon represented the tribe of Judah at the census (Numbers 1:7) and was the leader of the camp of Judah on the east side when the tribes encamped (Numbers 2:3). At the dedication of the tabernacle he presented the offering on the first day (Numbers 7:12, 17), and on the march he led the host of Judah (Numbers 10:14). First Chronicles 2:10 calls Nahshon "prince of the children of Judah."

The Korean Revised Version also mentions other men of the same name. The Kohathite Amminadab of 1 Chronicles 6:22 and the Amminadab of the descendants of Uzziel, who was summoned in David's time to help bring up the ark of the covenant (1 Chronicles 15:10-11), were both Levites. They are distinct from the subject of this article.

Significance Within Scripture

Amminadab's family stands at the meeting point of two major lines in Scripture. His daughter became the wife of the high priest Aaron and the ancestress of the priestly line. From the descendants of his son Nahshon came the royal house of David. For this reason, commentators commonly describe his family as a point of connection between the priestly line and the royal line.

In the New Testament his name appears in the genealogies of Jesus Christ in Matthew 1:4 and Luke 3:33. The New Korean Revised Version renders the name in the New Testament as "Aminadab" (아미나답). In Luke 3:33, the name in the generation preceding his is transmitted differently in different manuscripts.

Interpretation and Debated Questions

• Meaning of the name: The name is commonly interpreted as "my people (kinsman) is noble" or "my people is generous." Scholars, however, differ somewhat on its precise meaning.
• Number of generations in the genealogy: The line from Perez to David contains relatively few generations, and some have noted that this is difficult to reconcile with the length of the sojourn in Egypt. A widely held view is that biblical genealogies omit intervening generations and record only representative names, but interpretations vary among scholars.
• His life: The text does not say whether he was alive at the time of the Exodus or what role he played in the wilderness. Any accounts addressing these matters should be recognized as speculation beyond the biblical text.

In the Korean Church

Sermons devoted solely to Amminadab are rare. Church members generally encounter his name when reading the genealogy in Matthew 1, when the lineage of Jesus is discussed around Christmas, or during reading through the Bible. Because Korean Bibles spell the name 암미나답 (Amminadab) in the Old Testament and 아미나답 (Aminadab) in the New Testament, readers sometimes ask whether these are the same person. The two spellings refer to the same individual.