Esli

Esli appears once in scripture, named in the Lukan genealogy that traces Jesus' descent backward through Joseph.

An Ancestor of Jesus

Luke's list works from son to father across many generations. Esli stands among the names between Nahum and Naggai: "the [son] of Mattathias, the [son] of Amos, the [son] of Nahum, the [son] of Esli, the [son] of Naggai," (Lu 3:25). The bracketed [son] marks an editorial supplement where the Greek implies but does not state the relationship; Esli's only attested role is this link in the chain leading from Joseph back through David and Adam.