Few family trees stretch as far or matter to as many people as the one recorded in the Bible. It follows a single thread across thousands of years and dozens of generations, from the first man to figures still named every day. Whether you're studying scripture, teaching a class, or building a chart to print and hang, it helps to see that lineage as one connected tree rather than a scatter of names across many chapters. This page gives a respectful, non-denominational overview of the biblical family tree and shows how to assemble your own.
A line that runs through the whole Bible
The biblical genealogies aren't gathered in one place — they're threaded through the narrative, each picking up the line where the last left off. Read in order, they form a continuous chain:
- Adam to Noah. Genesis 5 lists the ten generations from Adam through Seth to Noah and his three sons, Shem, Ham and Japheth.
- Noah to Abraham. Genesis 10 (the "Table of Nations") and Genesis 11 carry the line through Shem down to Abram, later named Abraham.
- The patriarchs. Abraham, his son Isaac, and Isaac's son Jacob (renamed Israel) anchor the next stretch. Jacob's twelve sons become the twelve tribes of Israel — a point where the single line branches widely.
- The line to David. The Book of Ruth closes with a short genealogy from Perez to King David, and 1 Chronicles 1–9 gathers many of these lines into one extended record.
- David to Jesus. The New Testament opens the line again: the Gospels of Matthew and Luke each trace a genealogy of Jesus, connecting him back through David to the earlier patriarchs.
Laid end to end, these passages describe one family tree spanning the entire biblical story — which is exactly why it's so useful to chart.
Why the two genealogies of Jesus differ
One detail surprises many first-time readers: the New Testament contains two genealogies of Jesus, and they don't match. Matthew 1 begins with Abraham and works forward, organizing the descent into three groups of fourteen generations. Luke 3 runs the other direction, from Jesus all the way back past Abraham to Adam.
The two lines agree from Abraham to David, then diverge. Different traditions explain this in different ways — one common reading takes Matthew as the legal royal line through Joseph and Luke as a distinct line — and this page doesn't aim to settle that question. The practical point for chart-making is simple: when the sources differ, it's clearest to chart both lines so a reader can compare them side by side rather than choosing one silently.
Building your own biblical family tree
A biblical family tree is a genealogy chart like any other — the people are just famous and the timespan is long. A few habits keep a large scriptural chart clear:
- Pick a clear root. Decide where your chart begins — Adam, Noah, Abraham, or David — and how far it runs. A focused span (say, Abraham to David) reads far better than trying to fit everyone onto one sheet.
- Cite the passage. Note the chapter and verse beside each link (e.g. "Genesis 5:6"), so your chart doubles as a study reference and anyone can check it.
- Mark uncertain or branching points. Where the genealogies diverge or where interpretations differ, label it plainly rather than implying a single settled answer.
- Choose the right layout. A long, narrow descent (Adam to Abraham) reads naturally as a left-to-right pedigree chart; a wide, deep tree converging on one figure often looks best as a fan chart.
Make and print a biblical lineage chart
You can build all of this in the free Kindred editor. Add each figure and the relationship that links them, drop in chapter-and-verse notes, and lay the result out as a clean pedigree chart or a radial fan chart — switch between the two freely, since both draw from the same data. It's ideal for a Sunday-school wall, a study handout, or a framed gift.
Previewing on screen is completely free and needs no account, and your chart stays private in your own browser as you work. The only cost is a one-time $29 export unlock — never a subscription — which removes the watermark and opens premium themes and large poster sizes for a print-quality chart.
Start mapping the biblical family tree and watch a single line emerge from across the whole story.