The New Testament provides two accounts of the genealogy of Jesus, one in the Gospel of Matthew and another in the Gospel of Luke.; Matthew starts with Abraham and works forwards, while Luke works back in time from Jesus to Adam. The lists of names are identical between Abraham and David (whose inclusion affirms Jesus' messianic title Son of David), but differ radically in the rest. Matthew has twenty-seven generations from David to Joseph (the legal father of Jesus), whereas Luke has forty-two, with almost no overlap between them or with other known genealogies.⁠ They also disagree on Joseph's father: Matthew names Jacob, while Luke names Heli.;

Early Christian scholars (starting with Africanus and EusebiusEusebius Pamphilius, Church history, Life of Constantine §VII.) accept both lineages and various explanations for their divergence have been offered.R. T. France, The Gospel According to Matthew: An Introduction and Commentary (Eerdmans, 1985) pages 7172. For instance, one (usually Matthew's) may be taken as the lineage of Joseph and the other (usually Luke's) of Mary; or one may be Jesus' customary legal lineage and the other his biological blood lineage. By taking both Joseph and Mary to be David's descendant, these accounts fit with the Gospels affirmation of Jesus' virgin birth of Mary alone, with Joseph considered merely his legal adoptive father. Levirate marriage, through which an individual (such as Joseph) may have two legal fathers, has also been used in such explanations.

Some modern critical scholars, such as Marcus Borg and John Dominic Crossan, have argued that both genealogies are inventions, constructed to bring Jesus' messianic claim into conformity with Jewish criteria.Marcus J. Borg, John Dominic Crossan, The First Christmas (HarperCollins, 2009) page 95.

Matthew's genealogy

Matthew 1:1–17 begins the Gospel with "A record of the origin of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham: Abraham begot Isaac,..." and continues on until "... Jacob begot Joseph, the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ. Thus there were fourteen generations in all from Abraham to David, fourteen from David to the exile to Babylon, and fourteen from the exile to the Christ."

Matthew emphasizes, right from the beginning, Jesus' title Christ—the Greek rendering of the Hebrew title Messiah—meaning anointed, in the sense of an anointed king. Jesus is presented as the long-awaited Messiah, who was expected to be a descendant of King David. Matthew begins by calling Jesus the son of David, indicating his royal origin, and also son of Abraham, indicating that he was an Israelite; both are stock phrases, in which son means descendant, calling to mind the promises God made to David and to Abraham.

Matthew's introductory title (, book of generations) has been interpreted in various ways, but most likely is simply a title for the genealogy that follows, echoing the Septuagint use of the same phrase for genealogies.

+ Patrilineage of Jesus according to Matthew Abraham to David Abraham Isaac Jacob Judah and Tamar Perez Hezron Ram Amminadab Nahshon Salmon and Rahab Boaz and Ruth Obed Jesse David and Bathsheba David to Babylonian Exile David Solomon Rehoboam Abijah Asa Jehoshaphat Jehoram Uzziah Jotham Ahaz Hezekiah Manasseh Amon (sometimes spelled "Amos") Josiah, birth of his son Jeconiah at the time of the Babylonian exile Babylonian Exile to Jesus Jeconiah, died in Babylon Shealtiel Zerubbabel Abiud Eliakim Azor Zadok Achim Eliud Eleazar Matthan Jacob Joseph and Mary Jesus

Matthew's genealogy is considerably more complex than Luke's. It is overtly schematic, organized into three sets of fourteen, each of a distinct character: The first is rich in annotations, including four mothers and mentioning the brothers of Judah and the brother of Perez. The second spans the Davidic royal line, but omits several generations, ending with "Jeconiah and his brothers at the time of the exile to Babylon." The last, which appears to span only thirteen generations, connects Joseph to Zerubbabel through a series of otherwise unknown names, remarkably few for such a long period.

The total of 42 generations is achieved only by omitting several names, so the choice of three sets of fourteen seems deliberate. Various explanations have been suggested: fourteen is twice seven, symbolizing perfection and covenant, and is also the gematria (numerical value) of the name David.

The rendering into Greek of Hebrew names in this genealogy is mostly in accord with the Septuagint, but there are a few peculiarities. The form Asaph seems to identify King Asa with the psalmist Asaph. Likewise, some see the form Amos for King Amon as suggesting the prophet Amos, though the Septuagint does have this form. Both may simply be assimilations to more familiar names. More interesting, though, are the unique forms Boes (Boaz, LXX Boos) and Rachab (Rahab, LXX Raab).

Omissions + Omission of generationsOld Testament.Matthew David Solomon Rehoboam Abijah Asa Jehoshaphat Joram Ahaziah Joash Amaziah Azariah Jotham Ahaz Hezekiah Manasseh Amon Josiah Jehoiakim Jeconiah Pedaiah Zerubbabel David Solomon Roboam Abia Asaph Josaphat Joram — — — Ozias Joatham Achaz Ezekias Manasses Amon Josias — Jechonias Salathiel Zorobabel Three consecutive kings of Judah are omitted: Ahaziah, Jehoash, and Amaziah. These kings are seen as especially wicked, from the cursed line of Ahab through his daughter Athaliah to the third and fourth generation.; cf. , . The author could have omitted them to create a second set of fourteen..

Another omitted king is Jehoiakim, the father of Jeconiah, also known as Jehoiachin. In Greek the names are even more similar, both being sometimes called Joachim. When Matthew says, "Josiah begot Jeconiah and his brothers at the time of the exile," he appears to conflate the two, because Jehoiakim, not Jeconiah, had brothers, but the exile was in the time of Jeconiah. While some see this as a mistake, others argue that the omission was once again deliberate, ensuring that the kings after David spanned exactly fourteen generations.

The final group also contains fourteen generations. If Josiah's son was intended as Jehoiakim, then Jeconiah could be counted separately after the exile. Some authors proposed that Matthew's original text had one Joseph as the of Mary, who then married another man of the same name..

Fourteen generations span the time from Jeconiah, born , to Jesus, born . The average generation gap would be around forty-four years. However, in the Old Testament, there are even wider gaps between generations.For example, Ezra's genealogy in (cf. ). Also, we do not see any instances of papponymic naming patterns, where children are named after their grandparents, which was a common custom throughout this period. This may indicate that Matthew has telescoped this segment by collapsing such repetitions..

Luke's genealogy

In the Gospel of Luke, the genealogy appears at the beginning of the public life of Jesus. This version is in ascending order from Joseph to Adam.Maas, Anthony. "Genealogy of Christ" The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 6. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1909. 9 October 2013 After telling of the baptism of Jesus, Luke 3:23–38 states, "Jesus himself began to be about thirty years of age, being (as was supposed) the son of Joseph, which was [the son] of Heli, ..." (3:23) and continues on until "Adam, which was [the son] of God." (3:38) The Greek text of Luke's Gospel does not use the word "son" in the genealogy after "son of Joseph". Robertson notes that, in the Greek, "Luke has the article tou repeating uiou (Son) except before Joseph".

+ Patrilineage of Jesus according to Luke God Adam Seth Enos Cainan Mahalaleel Jared Enoch Methuselah Lamech Noah Shem Arphaxad Cainan Shelah Eber Peleg Reu Serug Nahor Terah Abraham Isaac Jacob Judah Perez Hezron Arni Amminadab Nahshon Salmon Boaz Obed Jesse David Nathan Mattatha Menna Melea Eliakim Jonam Joseph Judah Simeon Levi Matthat Jorim Eliezer Joshua Er Elmodam Cosam Addi Melchi Neri Shealtiel Zerubbabel Rhesa Joannan Joda Josech Semei Mattathias Maath Nagge Esli Naum Amos Mattathias Joseph Jannai Melchi Levi Matthat Heli Joseph Jesus

This genealogy descends from the Davidic line through Nathan, who is an otherwise little-known son of David, mentioned briefly in the Old Testament.; but also see .

In the ancestry of David, Luke agrees completely with the Old Testament. Cainan is included between Arphaxad and Shelah, following the Septuagint text (though not included in the Masoretic Text followed by most modern Bibles).

Augustine notes that the count of generations in the Book of Luke is 77, a number symbolizing the forgiveness of all sins.; cf. . This count also agrees with the seventy generations from Enoch1 Enoch 10:11–12. set forth in the Book of Enoch, which Luke probably knew. Though Luke never counts the generations as Matthew does, it appears he also followed hebdomadic principle of working in sevens. However, Irenaeus counts only 72 generations from Adam.

The reading "son of Aminadab, son of Aram", from the Old Testament is well attested. The Nestle-Aland critical edition, considered the best authority by most modern scholars, accepts the variant "son of Aminadab, son of Admin, son of Arni",. Willker details the textual evidence underlying the NA27 reading. counting the 76 generations from Adam rather than God."Faced with a bewildering variety of readings, the Committee adopted what seems to be the least unsatisfactory form of text, a reading that was current in the Alexandrian church at an early period," explains

Luke's qualification "as was supposed" () avoids stating that Jesus was actually a son of Joseph, since his virgin birth is affirmed in the same gospel. Some view that "as was supposed of Joseph" regards Luke as calling Jesus a son of Eli—meaning that Heli (, Heli) was the maternal grandfather of Jesus, with Luke tracing the ancestry of Jesus through Mary, his nearest blood relative, while listing Heli's son-in-law Joseph rather than Mary in order to maintain the patriarchal structure of the genealogy. D. A. Carson calls this reading "painfully artificial" and would not likely be deduced by readers. Likewise R. P. Nettelhorst calls this reading "unnatural and forced". There are other interpretations of how this qualification relates to the rest of the genealogy. Some see the remainder as the true genealogy of Joseph, despite the different genealogy given in Matthew.

Comparison of the two genealogies The following table is a side-by-side comparison of Matthew's and Luke's genealogies. Converging sections are shown with a green background, and diverging sections shown with a yellow background.

+ Comparison of Matthew's and Luke's genealogiesLuke(Non-Selective)Matthew(Selective & Dynastic)God, Adam, Seth, Enos, Cainan, Mahalalel, Jared, Enoch, Methuselah, Lamech, Noah, Shem, Arphaxad, Cainan, Shelah, Eber, Peleg, Reu, Serug, Nahor, TerahAbraham, Isaac, Jacob, Juda, Perez, Hezron, Arni, Amminadab, Nahshon, Salmon, Boaz, Obed, Jesse, DavidAbraham, Isaac, Jacob, Juda, Perez, Hezron, Arni, Amminadab, Nahshon, Salmon, Boaz, Obed, Jesse, DavidNathan, Mattatha, Menna, Melea, Eliakim, Jonam, Joseph, Judah, Simeon, Levi, Maththat, Jorim, Eliezer, Joshua, Er, Elmodam, Cosam, Addi, Melchi, NeriSolomon, Rehoboam, Abijam, Asa, Jehoshaphat, Joram, Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, Hezekiah, Manasseh, Amon, Josiah, JeconiahShealtiel, ZerubbabelShealtiel, ZerubbabelRhesa, Joannan, Joda, Josech, Semein, Mattathias, Maath, Nagge, Esli, Naum, Amos, Mattathias, Joseph, Jannai, Melchi, Levi Matthat, HeliAbiud, Eliakim, Azor, Zadok, Achim, Eliud, Eleazar, Matthan, JacobJoseph, JesusJoseph, Mary, Jesus

Explanations for divergence