Bible Question: 1) If it is true that Jewish genealogy traces the Mothers side, then why is the focus on Joseph rather than Mary in the Matthew and Luke genealogies? 2) Where do you find evidence that Mary was a decendant of David? |
Bible Answer: "...the royal line is passed through Jesus' legal father, and His physical descent from David is established by Mary's lineage." Joseph is the descendant of David. Mary is also the descendant of David. "Luke's entire section [of genealogy] from Joseph to David differs starkly from that given by Matthew. The two genealogies are easily reconciled if Luke's is seen as Mary's genealogy, and Matthew's version represents Joseph's. "Thus the royal line is passed through Jesus' legal father, and His physical descent from David is established by Mary's lineage... "Joseph was "the son of Heli" by marriage (Heli having no sons of his own), and thus is named in Luke 3:23 as the representative of Mary's generation. Moses himself established precedent for this sort of substitution in Numbers 27:1-11; 36:1-12" (pp. 1518-1519, MacArthur Study Bible, 1997, Word). |