What does the genealogy of Jesus indicate?

Answer 1

A:There are two very different genealogies of Jesus in the New Testament, both going back through Joseph, his father (as it was supposed) to the great Zorobabel, son of Salathiel, to King David. This, more than anything, proves that the authors of Matthewand Luke did not really know anything about the lineage of Jesus. They not only disagreed on the name of Joseph's father, with Matthew saying he was called Jacob and Luke saying he was called Heli, but they even disagreed on the name of the paternal grandfather of Zorobabel. While a great deal of effort has gone into attempting to explain the discrepancy between the names of Joseph's father, I have yet to see a serious attempt to explain the equally disconcerting discrepancy between the two different names of Zorobabel's grandfather.

It also proves they felt it necessary, in order to establish Jesus as the Messiah to show his descent from David, and both added the elaboration that he was descended from Zorobabel.

As we see in Matthew 1:17, the author believed that numerology would prove that Jesus was destined for greatness, with great men occurring in each fourteenth generation. Luke used a slightly different technique, showing that great men occurred in his genealogy each seven generations. In order to achieve this, each had to falsify in some way the Old Testament genealogies. This indicates more about the two authors than it tells us about Jesus.

Another Answer:

In Jewish society (and all of Israel prior to the split), genealogy was essential in order to receive the proper 'credit' of being a member therein. As such, there are two genealogies for Jesus - paternal (Matthew) and maternal (Luke).

As noted, Luke 3 contains the maternal genealogy of Jesus. Proper genealogical documentation was a requirement for all Jews in order to remain part of the people and be in line for the 'right' to own land. These records were of the utmost importance, therefore they were kept in the Temple for all to see in the event of a challenge to nationality or birthright. In the case of Jesus way before the destruction of the Temple in 70 A.D., no challenges were presented.

Luke differs from that of Matthew's (legal lineage from David through Joseph) in that he provides the 'physical' lineage (only Mary biological parent) from David to Jesus. However, he goes all the way back to Adam to show Jesus' significance for all peoples.

AnswerThe genealogies of Jesus, as shown in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke, show that the ancient Jews held great store by the art of numerology. By the use of numerology, both genealogies purport to show that Jesus was destined for greatness.

Matthew demonstrated that there were 14 generations: from Abraham to David; from David to Josiah; from Josiah to Jesus. To do this, he had to ignore 3 kings in the Old Testament and have David in the preceding (as 14) and following (as 1) groups, but not so Josiah.

Luke had great men occur in multiples of 7 generations starting from Adam, with: Enoch at 7; Abraham at 21; David at 35; Jesus at 77. He also had: Joseph at 42 and 70; Jesus (Jose) at 49. To do this, he had to insert his own fictitious people into the Old Testament list: Kainan at 13; Admin at 28.