51. Eliakim

1. Name and Meaning
• Name: Eliakim (Greek: Ἐλιακείμ, Eliakeim; Hebrew: אֶלְיָקִים, ʾElyāqîm)
• Meaning: “God will raise up” or “God establishes,” expressing divine appointment or restoration

2. Genealogical Placement and Lineage Role
• Position: Fifty-first generation from Adam; forty-first generation after the flood in the Messianic line
• Father: Abiud – post-exilic descendant of Zerubbabel
• Son: Azor – continued the Davidic succession toward the time of Christ
• Lineage Role: Middle figure in the post-exilic genealogical line; preserved the legal descent toward Jesus in the Gospel of Matthew

3. Life Summary and Historical Setting
• Not personally described in any biblical narrative; known solely through Matthew’s genealogy (Matthew 1:13)
• Likely lived during the later Persian or early Hellenistic period—a time of foreign rule, prophetic silence, and national expectation
• Name suggests he or his generation may have been perceived as divinely upheld during a spiritually and politically obscure era

4. Theological and Christological Significance
• Part of the legal Davidic line that leads to Christ’s earthly father, Joseph
• Though unnamed in Scripture beyond the genealogy, his inclusion demonstrates God’s continued faithfulness across hidden generations
• His name’s meaning (“God will raise up”) prophetically aligns with the Messianic hope fulfilled in Jesus, the true One raised by God to reign eternally

5. Legacy and Interpretive Reflections
• Symbolises the quiet endurance of covenant promises in generations with no recorded prophecy or kingship
• Affirms that divine purpose is often preserved through uncelebrated, faithful lineage
• His place in the genealogy of Jesus reinforces the sacred continuity of the Davidic line across time and obscurity
• Not mentioned outside Matthew’s Gospel

6. Summary Insight
• Eliakim, though silent in history, stands as a testimony to God’s ongoing establishment of the Messianic line—his name itself echoes the promise that would be fully realised in Christ.

7. Biblical References
• Matthew 1:13