King James Bible
"Which was the son of Melea, which was the son of Menan, which was the son of Mattatha, which was the son of Nathan, which was the son of David,"
These three names continue Luke's genealogy of Jesus, representing lesser-known ancestors in the Davidic line. Unlike Matthew's genealogy which follows the royal succession through Solomon, Luke traces a different branch of David's descendants, possibly through Mary's lineage. Nathan was David's third son with Bathsheba, establishing Jesus' legal claim to David's throne through a non-royal line. This connection fulfills the messianic promise that the Christ would come from David's seed while avoiding the cursed line of Jeconiah mentioned in Jeremiah 22:30.