Does Luke Give Jesus' Genealogy Through Mary?
Many Believe This is the Best Way to Harmonize the Two Ancestries
Aug 23, 2009
The gospel of Luke [3:22-37] says Jesus was descended from David’s son Nathan, and that Heli was his grandfather, the father of Joseph. The gospel of Matthew [1:2-16] says Jesus was descended from David’s son Solomon, and that Jacob was his grandfather, the father of Jacob.
This gets many religious individuals wondering, "How can both of these family trees for Jesus be correct?"
Luke Focuses on Mary's Lineage
A number of theories have been proposed over the years as to why these two lineages are different. As stated in another article, some theories explain how Joseph had both a biological father and a legal father, possibly due to a Levirate marriage. This is possible, but cannot be proved by reading the text alone.
An alternate theory is that one of the gospel writers gives Jesus’ genealogy through Joseph and one through Mary. Everyone has a paternal lineage and a maternal lineage, so it would make sense for the two gospel writers to give both, especially if one knew the other’s work and sought completion rather than duplication.
In this theory, which writer gives which lineage? Proponents of each way can be found, but most Protestants, and certainly most evangelicals, who have the opinion that one genealogy is Mary’s believe Luke gives Mary’s and Matthew gives Joseph’s. several reasons contribute to this decision.
- In the birth narrative, Luke tells Mary’s story while Matthew tells Joseph’s. thus it would be natural for Luke to give Jesus’ ancestry through his mother.
- Matthew lists twenty-seven generations from David to Jesus, while Luke lists forty-two. Since men tended to be older than women when they married (true in the Jewish culture of Jesus’ time as well as until recently in many cultures), more generations should be found in Mary’s line.
- The phrasing in Luke at Joseph and his “father” is questionable. The NIV renders this: “He [Jesus] was the son, so it was thought, of Joseph, the son of Heli,….” [3:23] Since the original Greek does not include punctuation, this could just as easily be set as: “He [Jesus] was, the so it was thought of Joseph, of Heli,….” The assumption is then that Heli was Mary’s father (and thus Jesus’ closest biological male ancestor) and Mary simply is not listed.
Objections to the Theory That Luke Gives Mary’s Ancestry
As with the case of the Levirate marriage being assumed based on common sense rather than explicit proof in the Bible, so it is with the Joseph-Mary dual ancestry theories. On the topic of Luke giving Mary’s ancestry, the faculty at the Quartz Hill School of Theology suggest, “…this explanation is nothing but wishful thinking, as any reading of the texts involved can demonstrate. …The Greek is nearly stretched beyond what is possible. …the reading is very unnatural and forced. …It is clear from the text that both genealogies claim to be…of Christ through Joseph.”
The other main objection is that, in the culture in which Luke and Matthew wrote, genealogies of maternal lines were simply not given. Those lines did not carry any legal standing. Property and title was inherited from the male line, not the female line.
The Bible text does not indicate the reason why Matthew and Luke provide different genealogies for Jesus. Common sense and conjecture are used instead to develop theories as to why this might be. The theory that Luke gives Mary's genealogy is widely held, and is a reasonable explanation for the two genealogies.
Source:
- A Harmony of the Gospels for Students of the Life of Christ, by Dr. A.T. Robertson, 1922 (1950 reprint used).
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