Named only once in scripture, as the link between Elazar and Yaakov: 'Elazar begat Mattan; and Mattan begat Yaakov' (Matthew 1:15–16) — the last of the eight 'silent generation' names before the genealogy reaches Yosef of Nazareth's own father and grandfather
“'Elazar begat Mattan; and Mattan begat Yaakov' (Matthew 1:15–16) — the last of eight names scripture gives us only as links in a chain, before the chain reaches Yosef of Nazareth's own household”
Traditional note: See the general note on the 'silent generation' (Matthew 1:13–15) in 'aviud'. With Mattan, the eight-generation 'silent' span ends; the next entry, 'yaakov-avi-yosef', brings the genealogy to the immediate family of Yosef of Nazareth and reopens the Matthew/Luke divergence discussed in 'zerubavel' and 'shealtiel', since Luke 3:24 names Yosef's father as 'Eli' (Heli), not Yaakov.
