The Two Genealogies of Jesus

Old Testament prophecy fulfilled by Jesus:

Jesus would come from the tribe of Judah, and from the line of David.

Last week, I wrote about God’s promise (covenant) that all nations would be blessed by Abraham’s descendant-Jesus, the Messiah. That promised passed to Isaac, then to Jacob.

Jacob had twelve sons who became the twelve tribes of Israel. One of Jacob’s sons was Judah. Judah was not the oldest of Jacob’s sons. Nor was Judah a son of Jacob’s dearly loved wife, Rachel. Judah was the fourth son of Jacob’s first wife, Leah (the sister Jacob was tricked into marrying).

Yet, God chose the line of Judah as the tribe from whom the Messiah would descend.

Shortly before Jacob’s death, God gave him prophecies for each of his son’s tribe of descendants. This is where we learn that God would send His son through the tribe of Judah.

“The scepter shall not depart from Judah, Nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, until Shiloh comes, and to him shall be the obedience of the peoples.” Genesis 49:10

Shiloh in this verse is commonly understood to mean the Messiah. Jesus, the Messiah, from the tribe of Judah, would have an everlasting kingdom.

The genealogies of Jesus in the Word establish that He was from the line of Judah and the line of David. There are two lists.

The genealogy of Jesus found in Matthew 1:1-16 lists His family from Abraham to Jesus.

The genealogy of Jesus found in Luke 3:23-38 lists His family from Adam to Jesus.

If you study and compare these two lines of names carefully, you will see they have some differences. You might also think

Where is Mary in this line?

Wait a minute, Joseph was not the father of Jesus.

We know that Jesus was the son of God, not the biological child of Mary’s husband Joseph. But in the Jewish culture, inheritance was determined by the father of a child. I believe it is likely that Mary also descended from the line of Judah. But in that day and time, the inheritance of Jesus would be considered through Joseph.

When comparing these two lists of genealogies, there is another place that is confusing. Matthew says Joseph’s father was Jacob. Luke says Joseph’s father was Heli.

Some Bible scholars suggest that one of the genealogies is of Joseph’s family, and the other is of Mary’s family. But neither Matthew, nor Luke say this is the genealogy of Mary-although they mention her by name in other places in the their gospels. Both of their genealogies say Jospeh-not Mary.

Many Bible scholars suggests the difference in these two genealogies reflect the practice of Levirate marriage (see Deuteronomy 25:5-6). A Levirate marriage was when a man died childless, then his brother would marry the widow and have a child. That child would be considered the offspring of the deceased.  

In the genealogy of Jesus, a Levirate marriage may explain the differences between the lists in Matthew and Luke. If this view is accurate, Jacob (listed as Joseph’s father in Matthew) died childless. And his brother, Heli, (same mother but different father) fulfilled his duty of Levirate marriage to have a child that would be considered the child of his deceased brother. This would mean that Heli would have been Joseph’s biological father. But Jacob would have been considered his father in the line of inheritance.

Both of the gospel genealogies deal with the line of Joseph, Mary’s husband, because the line of inheritance goes through fathers. The gospel writers well understood that Joseph was not Jesus’s biological father. It was necessary to show the line of inheritance of fathers to prove that Jesus was from the line of Judah and of David—as was prophesied in the Old Testament.

The complexity of this issue is handled beautifully by both Matthew and Luke. At the end of the line of (Joseph’s) fathers in each of these gospels, the Holy Spirit inspired Matthew and Luke what to write.  

“And to Jacob was born Joseph the husband of Mary, by whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ.” Matthew 1:16

“And when He began His ministry, Jesus Himself was about thirty years of age, being supposedly the son of Joseph, the son of Eli.” Luke 3:23

Matthew doesn’t say Jesus was born to Joseph, as he had said about the others in the list. Matthew says Joseph was the husband of Mary by whom was born Jesus.  

Luke doesn’t say Jesus was the son of Joseph, as he said about the others in the list. Luke says Jesus was supposedly the son of Joseph.

Jesus is the Lion of Judah, the Root of David. Revelation 5:5

Carla Killough McClafferty