Nathan

n the New Testament, the genealogy of Jesus according to the Gospel of Luke traces Jesus' lineage back to King David through the line of Nathan,^[4] which the Gospel of Matthew traces it through Solomon, the line of Joseph, his legal father.^[5] Specifically, in Luke 3:31 the genealogy of Jesus according to Luke, Jesus' lineage connects to Nathan through the biblical figure Heli, the son of Matthat.^[4] Meanwhile, the Gospel of Matthew makes no mention of Nathan. Rather, in Matthew 1:16 Jesus' lineage is connected to Jacob which eventually relates Jesus to Solomon rather than Nathan.^[6]

One conventional explanation for these differences, from as early as John of Damascus, is that Nathan is the ancestor of the Virgin Mary, while Solomon is the ancestor of Mary's husband Joseph. The blood curse on the line of Jeconiah who was a descendant in the line of Solomon, so the genealogy in Matthew is tainted with a blood curse from Jeconiah all the way to Joseph. No descendant of Jeconiah would qualify as King of Israel.^[7]

Another explanation for these differences is yibbum, as offered by St. John Damascene: "One ought also to observe this, that the law was that when a man died without seed, this man's brother should take to wife the wife of the dead man and raise up seed to his brother."^[8] From this he proposes it is possible that "on the death of Mathan, Melchi, of the tribe of Nathan, the son of Levi and brother of Panther, married the wife of Mathan, Jacob's mother, of whom he begat Heli. Therefore Jacob and Heli became brothers on tile mother's side, Jacob being of the tribe of Solomon and Heli of the tribe of Nathan. Then Heli of the tribe of Nathan died without any children, and Jacob his brother, of the tribe of Solomon, took his wife and raised up seed to his brother and begat Joseph. Joseph, therefore, is by nature the son of Jacob, of the line of Solomon, but by law he is the son of Heli of the line of Nathan."^[9]

One other explanation frequently proposed by modern scholars is that biblical genealogy is often based on theology rather than factual history. For example, the title "Son of God" is used frequently. However, this title would not have been used in the earliest Gospel writings. This explains the differences in genealogies, as Matthew and Luke wrote for different audiences.^[10]