Dear Rev. There seems to be discrepancies in the New Testament that would lead one to believe they are not divine. In Matthew and Luke there is a different genealogy given for Jesus. For example, one says Joseph’s father was Heli and the other book says Joseph’s father was Jacob. It must be that at least one of these genealogies is mistaken. If it is mistaken, then it can’t be the “word of God”. Which book is not the word of God?
Both books are the inspired “word of God”, but must be studied for an explanation concerning the two genealogies. The two genealogies of Jesus are exactly that – two different genealogies. One belongs to Joseph and the other to Mary. The cause for the misunderstanding comes in translation. Here are the two genealogies:
Matthew – “Jacob the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ” – Matthew 1:16.
Luke – “Now Jesus himself was about thirty years old when he began his ministry. He was the son, so it was thought, of Joseph, the son of Heli” – Luke 3:23.
In translation from the original Greek to English, the translators often added a few words to give clarification to the sentence. These words are italicized in our Bibles. In Luke 3:23, the original Greek would read “Joseph, of Heli”, however, the English translators added the words – “the son”. In this case they shouldn’t have taken this liberty. The original Greek reads “of Heli” which can mean the son of Heli or the son in law of Heli. Since this genealogy belongs to Mary, Heli is Mary’s father and Joseph is the son in law. The translators never added any words to the verse in Matthew so there’s no problem there. Jacob was the “father” of Joseph. So why two genealogies?
According to prophecy, Jesus had to be born of the lineage of Judah and David. Both genealogies have this because both Mary and Joseph were born of this line. However, Matthew thought Joseph’s genealogy was important because it traced Jesus back to Solomon according to the word of God concerning Solomon – “and I will establish the throne of his kingdom over Israel forever” – II Chronicles 22:10. Luke considered that the genealogy of Mary was important because Joseph wasn’t the biological father of Jesus. This is evident in the words of Luke – “And Jesus himself began to be about thirty years of age, being (as was supposed) the son of Joseph”. Nevertheless, both genealogies are important in fulfilling the legal and blood requirements of the Messiah. The gospel writers had the freedom to emphasis whatever they wanted and that’s why we have four gospels.
