What does Luke 3:31 mean?

Other than Zerubbabel (Luke 3:27), the recognizable names in Luke's genealogy are mostly repetitions of earlier, more famous figures. The men called Levi, Joseph, Judah, and so forth are named after those celebrated persons. The other names are almost totally obscure, with no information at all given other than their inclusion in this genealogy of Jesus (Luke 3:23).

Here, Luke's record of Jesus' earthly lineage reaches a critical point. The line of fathers and sons reaches back to Nathan, a son of David (2 Samuel 5:14). This establishes that Jesus is part of the line of David, from which Messiah was promised to come (2 Samuel 7:12–16).

This also marks a change in the visibility of the people mentioned for the rest of the genealogy. While the men mentioned thus far are mostly unknown, many of the names seen in the rest of the list (Luke 3:32–38) are well-established in Old Testament stories.