Genealogy of Jesus Both Matthew and Luke provide genealogies of Jesus (Matt 1:1-17; Luke 3:23-38). The two genealogies differ for the generations following King David. Matthew follows the line of David’s son Solomon, while Luke follows the line of David’s son Nathan. One possible explanation is that Matthew records Joseph’s genealogy while Luke records Mary’s (in which case Joseph would have been Heli’s son-in-law). Genealogies were kept quite accurately in Judaism, as Josephus confirms (Josephus, Life 1). Genealogies were important in the Old Testament and in Judaism generally because land rights were apportioned to families in Israel and because certain offices, such as priest and king, were inherited from father to son. Genealogies sometimes ran a record from the past to the present to illustrate religious themes, family descent, or political ties, as well as simple chronology (1 Chr 1–9). Most such lists were representative rather than a complete list of every individual. The purpose of Matthew’s genealogy, unlike Luke’s, is to show Jesus’ heritage as running from Abraham through David. Jesus’ genealogy confirms him as a legitimate heir to the throne of David. So Jesus...