# Genealogy of Jesus: Why Do Matthew and Luke Differ? > Matthew 1 names Jacob as Joseph’s father. Luke 3 names Heli. Africanus reads one line as birth, one as law. Others read Luke as Mary’s line. - Canonical: https://apologetics.wiki/christianity/genealogies-of-jesus - Religions: Christianity - Denominations: none - Beliefs: none - Tags: bible, jesus, gospels - Updated: 2026-10-16 Matthew and Luke both trace Jesus through Joseph, and they do not give Joseph the same father. [Matthew 1:16](/bible/matthew/1/16) says Jacob begat Joseph. [Luke 3:23](/bible/luke/3/23) says Joseph was the son of Heli. Julius Africanus, in a letter Eusebius copies, explains the two lines as one birth and one legal line under the law for a brother who died without a child. Luke does not say that Heli was Mary’s father. ## Key Points - [Matthew 1:1–17](/bible/matthew/1) runs from Abraham through David and Solomon to Jacob and Joseph. [Matthew 1:17](/bible/matthew/1) counts three sets of fourteen generations. - [Luke 3:23–38](/bible/luke/3) runs the other direction, from Joseph to Adam, through Nathan rather than Solomon, and it includes Cainan the son of Arphaxad. - [1 Chronicles 3:11–12](/bible/1-chronicles/3) names Ahaziah, Joash, and Amaziah between Joram and Azariah. [Matthew 1:8](/bible/matthew/1) goes from Joram to Ozias and does not name those three. - [Deuteronomy 25:5–6](/bible/deuteronomy/25) is the law Africanus uses: a brother raises up a child for a brother who died childless. - Eusebius, *Church History* 1.7, quotes Africanus: Joseph was Jacob’s son by nature and Eli’s son by law. Africanus says he can urge no testimony beyond the tradition he received. [(3)](#ref-3) - [Luke 1:1–3](/bible/luke/1) says the Gospel rests on what eyewitnesses delivered. It does not say Luke met Mary. [Colossians 4:10–14](/bible/colossians/4) names Luke after the men of the circumcision and does not state his ancestry. ## What the Two Lists Actually Say [Matthew 1:16](/bible/matthew/1/16), King James Version: “And Jacob begat Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ.” The “of whom” is Mary. Joseph is called her husband. The line Matthew has just counted is Joseph’s, through Jacob. [Luke 3:23](/bible/luke/3/23): “And Jesus himself began to be about thirty years of age, being (as was supposed) the son of Joseph, which was the son of Heli.” The parenthesis is Luke’s. He marks “son of Joseph” as what was supposed, and the next name is still Heli, not Mary. The list then goes back through Nathan, “the son of David” ([Luke 3:31](/bible/luke/3/31)), and through “Cainan, which was the son of Arphaxad” ([Luke 3:36](/bible/luke/3/36)), to “Adam, which was the son of God” ([Luke 3:38](/bible/luke/3)). Matthew’s line from David goes through Solomon. [Matthew 1:6](/bible/matthew/1) says David begat Solomon of the wife of Urias. Luke’s line from David goes through Nathan. The two lists share Abraham, David, and Joseph, and they part between David and Joseph. [Does the Bible Contradict Itself?](/christianity/does-the-bible-contradict-itself) is the wider question of parallel accounts. This page stays with these two chapters. Matthew also shortens a stretch the chronicle spells out. [Matthew 1:8](/bible/matthew/1): “Joram begat Ozias.” [1 Chronicles 3:11–12](/bible/1-chronicles/3) reads “Joram his son, Ahaziah his son, Joash his son, Amaziah his son, Azariah his son.” Ozias is Azariah. Three kings sit in Chronicles between the two names Matthew joins with “begat.” Matthew’s word, in that verse, is not a claim that no one lived between Joram and Ozias. [Genesis 5 and 11: Masoretic and Septuagint Ages, and the Gap View](/christianity/genesis-5-and-11-genealogies) is where that observation is pressed into the ages of Genesis. Matthew 1 does not itself say Genesis omitted names. [Matthew 1:17](/bible/matthew/1) states the shape he wants the reader to see: fourteen generations from Abraham to David, fourteen from David to the carrying away into Babylon, and fourteen from that carrying away unto Christ. The scheme is his. The names in the first chapter are the names he counts inside it. ## Africanus on Nature and Law Eusebius says many readers suppose the two Gospels are at variance, and he copies the account in Julius Africanus’s letter to Aristides. Africanus says he is giving the tradition he had received, after setting aside other explanations as forced. [(3)](#ref-3) The letter’s picture is a second marriage and then a childless death. Matthan, descended from Solomon, and Melchi, descended from Nathan, married the same woman in succession. By her, Matthan had Jacob. After Matthan died, Melchi had Eli. Jacob and Eli were brothers by the same mother. Eli died without a child. Jacob took Eli’s wife and fathered Joseph. Joseph was Jacob’s son by birth. By the law, he was also Eli’s son, because Jacob raised up a child for his brother. Eusebius quotes Africanus’s summary: > Matthan, who was descended from Solomon, begot Jacob. And when Matthan was dead, Melchi, who was descended from Nathan begot Eli by the same woman. Eli and Jacob were thus uterine brothers. Eli having died childless, Jacob raised up seed to him, begetting Joseph, his own son by nature, but by law the son of Eli. Thus Joseph was the son of both. The King James prints Heli. New Advent’s English of Africanus prints Eli. They are the same name in the two translations. [Deuteronomy 25:5](/bible/deuteronomy/25) is the law the letter is using: if brothers dwell together and one dies without a child, the surviving brother takes the widow and raises up seed to the brother who died. Africanus adds a limit. He says that whether the case stands thus or not, no one could find a clearer explanation in his opinion, and that although he can urge no testimony in its support, he has nothing better or truer to offer. The Gospels, he says, state the truth. The letter is a received explanation. It is not a verse in Matthew or Luke. Eusebius then says that once Joseph’s line is traced, Mary is virtually shown to be of the same tribe, because the law of Moses did not permit intermarriage that would move an inheritance from tribe to tribe. That sentence is about tribe, not about a second genealogy. It does not say Luke’s list is Mary’s father’s list. ## Is Luke’s List Mary’s? Many Christians read it that way. The *Catholic Encyclopedia* sets out the case. On one punctuation of the Greek, the parenthesis runs “being the son (as it was supposed, of Joseph, but really) of Heli,” so Jesus is Heli’s grandson through Mary. A tradition names Mary’s father Joachim, which the article calls a variant form of Eliakim, shortened to Eli, a variant of Heli. [(7)](#ref-7) The same article gives the case against. The Greek text preferred by textual critics reads “being the son, as it was supposed, of Joseph, son of Heli,” which makes that parenthesis less likely. It reports that the Mary reading was first advocated toward the end of the fifteenth century by Annius of Viterbo, that Hilary mentions it and rejects it, and that “patristic tradition does not regard St. Luke’s list as representing the genealogy of the Blessed Virgin.” [(7)](#ref-7) [Luke 3:23](/bible/luke/3/23) does not name Mary’s father. It names Joseph, then Heli. The Mary reading supplies that identification from punctuation and tradition, not from a word in the verse. Africanus, as Eusebius copies him, treats both lists as Joseph’s: Matthew for the birth, Luke for the legal line, and he points to the phrase “as was supposed” as Luke’s way of marking the legal generation. [What Do Christians Believe About Mary?](/christianity/what-do-christians-believe-about-mary) stays with the birth narratives. [Who Wrote the Gospels?](/christianity/who-wrote-the-gospels) is the question of authorship. [Did Jesus Really Exist?](/christianity/did-jesus-exist) is the historical question those chapters sit inside. ## Which Gospels Give a Genealogy? Matthew 1 and Luke 3 are the two lists. Mark and John do not give one. John opens with the Word who was God ([John 1:1](/bible/john/1/1)), which is a different kind of opening. [Is Jesus God?](/christianity/is-jesus-god) reads that prologue. The genealogy pages are answering a family line, not that claim. Luke’s Cainan, the son of Arphaxad, is also a text question. The King James of [Genesis 11:12](/bible/genesis/11) has Arphaxad beget Salah and does not name Cainan. Brenton’s 1851 English of the Greek Genesis names Cainan between them. That comparison is on [Genesis 5 and 11](/christianity/genesis-5-and-11-genealogies). ## Was Luke a Gentile, and Did He Meet Mary? [Colossians 4:10–14](/bible/colossians/4) greets Aristarchus, Marcus, and Jesus called Justus, “who are of the circumcision,” and says, “These only are my fellowworkers unto the kingdom of God, which have been a comfort unto me.” The next names are Epaphras and then “Luke, the beloved physician, and Demas.” Luke is named after that group. The paragraph does not say “Luke was a Gentile,” and it does not give his parents or his city. [Luke 1:2–3](/bible/luke/1) says the things were delivered “even as they delivered them unto us, which from the beginning were eyewitnesses, and ministers of the word,” and that it seemed good to him, having had perfect understanding of all things from the very first, to write in order. The preface names eyewitnesses. It does not name Mary, and it does not say he interviewed her. [What Religion Was Jesus?](/christianity/what-religion-was-jesus) is his own setting, which was Jewish. ## Why the Nativity Scenes Differ [Matthew 2:1](/bible/matthew/2) says that when Jesus was born in Bethlehem in the days of Herod, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem. [Luke 2:8](/bible/luke/2) says shepherds in that country were keeping watch over their flock by night. One chapter has magi and Herod. The other has shepherds and a manger. They are different scenes in the birth stories. They are not the two genealogies. The genealogies are Matthew 1 and Luke 3. ## Frequently Asked Questions ### Why Are the Genealogies of Jesus Different? Matthew names Jacob as the father who begat Joseph, through Solomon. Luke names Heli, through Nathan, and marks “son of Joseph” with “as was supposed.” Africanus’s letter, copied by Eusebius, says Jacob was the father by nature and Eli by the levirate law. Luke does not say Heli was Mary’s father. ### Which Gospels Show the Lineage of Jesus? Matthew and Luke. Mark and John do not print a genealogy. ### Did Luke Meet Mary? [Luke 1:1–3](/bible/luke/1) says he wrote from what eyewitnesses delivered. It does not say he met Mary. ## Keep Reading [Matthew 1](/bible/matthew/1) and [Luke 3](/bible/luke/3) are the chapters. [Genesis 5 and 11](/christianity/genesis-5-and-11-genealogies) is the age lists, including Cainan. [Does the Bible Contradict Itself?](/christianity/does-the-bible-contradict-itself), [Who Wrote the Gospels?](/christianity/who-wrote-the-gospels), and [Did Jesus Really Exist?](/christianity/did-jesus-exist) are the neighboring questions. ## Passages Quoted on This Page ### Luke 3:23 King James Version. > And Jesus himself began to be about thirty years of age, being (as was supposed) the son of Joseph, which was the son of Heli, ### Matthew 1:1–17 King James Version. > [1:1] The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham. [1:2] Abraham begat Isaac; and Isaac begat Jacob; and Jacob begat Judas and his brethren; [1:3] And Judas begat Phares and Zara of Thamar; and Phares begat Esrom; and Esrom begat Aram; [1:4] And Aram begat Aminadab; and Aminadab begat Naasson; and Naasson begat Salmon; [1:5] And Salmon begat Booz of Rachab; and Booz begat Obed of Ruth; and Obed begat Jesse; [1:6] And Jesse begat David the king; and David the king begat Solomon of her that had been the wife of Urias; [1:7] And Solomon begat Roboam; and Roboam begat Abia; and Abia begat Asa; [1:8] And Asa begat Josaphat; and Josaphat begat Joram; and Joram begat Ozias; [1:9] And Ozias begat Joatham; and Joatham begat Achaz; and Achaz begat Ezekias; [1:10] And Ezekias begat Manasses; and Manasses begat Amon; and Amon begat Josias; [1:11] And Josias begat Jechonias and his brethren, about the time they were carried away to Babylon: [1:12] And after they were brought to Babylon, Jechonias begat Salathiel; and Salathiel begat Zorobabel; [1:13] And Zorobabel begat Abiud; and Abiud begat Eliakim; and Eliakim begat Azor; [1:14] And Azor begat Sadoc; and Sadoc begat Achim; and Achim begat Eliud; [1:15] And Eliud begat Eleazar; and Eleazar begat Matthan; and Matthan begat Jacob; [1:16] And Jacob begat Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ. [1:17] So all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations; and from David until the carrying away into Babylon are fourteen generations; and from the carrying away into Babylon unto Christ are fourteen generations. ### Matthew 1:17 King James Version. > So all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations; and from David until the carrying away into Babylon are fourteen generations; and from the carrying away into Babylon unto Christ are fourteen generations. ### Luke 3:23–38 King James Version. > [3:23] And Jesus himself began to be about thirty years of age, being (as was supposed) the son of Joseph, which was the son of Heli, [3:24] Which was the son of Matthat, which was the son of Levi, which was the son of Melchi, which was the son of Janna, which was the son of Joseph, [3:25] Which was the son of Mattathias, which was the son of Amos, which was the son of Naum, which was the son of Esli, which was the son of Nagge, [3:26] Which was the son of Maath, which was the son of Mattathias, which was the son of Semei, which was the son of Joseph, which was the son of Juda, [3:27] Which was the son of Joanna, which was the son of Rhesa, which was the son of Zorobabel, which was the son of Salathiel, which was the son of Neri, [3:28] Which was the son of Melchi, which was the son of Addi, which was the son of Cosam, which was the son of Elmodam, which was the son of Er, [3:29] Which was the son of Jose, which was the son of Eliezer, which was the son of Jorim, which was the son of Matthat, which was the son of Levi, [3:30] Which was the son of Simeon, which was the son of Juda, which was the son of Joseph, which was the son of Jonan, which was the son of Eliakim, [3:31] Which was the son of Melea, which was the son of Menan, which was the son of Mattatha, which was the son of Nathan, which was the son of David, [3:32] Which was the son of Jesse, which was the son of Obed, which was the son of Booz, which was the son of Salmon, which was the son of Naasson, [3:33] Which was the son of Aminadab, which was the son of Aram, which was the son of Esrom, which was the son of Phares, which was the son of Juda, [3:34] Which was the son of Jacob, which was the son of Isaac, which was the son of Abraham, which was the son of Thara, which was the son of Nachor, [3:35] Which was the son of Saruch, which was the son of Ragau, which was the son of Phalec, which was the son of Heber, which was the son of Sala, [3:36] Which was the son of Cainan, which was the son of Arphaxad, which was the son of Sem, which was the son of Noe, which was the son of Lamech, [3:37] Which was the son of Mathusala, which was the son of Enoch, which was the son of Jared, which was the son of Maleleel, which was the son of Cainan, [3:38] Which was the son of Enos, which was the son of Seth, which was the son of Adam, which was the son of God. ### 1 Chronicles 3:11–12 King James Version. > [3:11] Joram his son, Ahaziah his son, Joash his son, [3:12] Amaziah his son, Azariah his son, Jotham his son, ### Matthew 1:8 King James Version. > And Asa begat Josaphat; and Josaphat begat Joram; and Joram begat Ozias; ### Deuteronomy 25:5–6 King James Version. > [25:5] If brethren dwell together, and one of them die, and have no child, the wife of the dead shall not marry without unto a stranger: her husband’s brother shall go in unto her, and take her to him to wife, and perform the duty of an husband’s brother unto her. [25:6] And it shall be, that the firstborn which she beareth shall succeed in the name of his brother which is dead, that his name be not put out of Israel. ### Luke 1:1–3 King James Version. > [1:1] Forasmuch as many have taken in hand to set forth in order a declaration of those things which are most surely believed among us, [1:2] Even as they delivered them unto us, which from the beginning were eyewitnesses, and ministers of the word; [1:3] It seemed good to me also, having had perfect understanding of all things from the very first, to write unto thee in order, most excellent Theophilus, ### Colossians 4:10–14 King James Version. > [4:10] Aristarchus my fellowprisoner saluteth you, and Marcus, sister’s son to Barnabas, (touching whom ye received commandments: if he come unto you, receive him;) [4:11] And Jesus, which is called Justus, who are of the circumcision. These only are my fellowworkers unto the kingdom of God, which have been a comfort unto me. [4:12] Epaphras, who is one of you, a servant of Christ, saluteth you, always labouring fervently for you in prayers, that ye may stand perfect and complete in all the will of God. [4:13] For I bear him record, that he hath a great zeal for you, and them that are in Laodicea, and them in Hierapolis. [4:14] Luke, the beloved physician, and Demas, greet you. ### Luke 3:31 King James Version. > Which was the son of Melea, which was the son of Menan, which was the son of Mattatha, which was the son of Nathan, which was the son of David, ### Luke 3:36 King James Version. > Which was the son of Cainan, which was the son of Arphaxad, which was the son of Sem, which was the son of Noe, which was the son of Lamech, ### Luke 3:38 King James Version. > Which was the son of Enos, which was the son of Seth, which was the son of Adam, which was the son of God. ### Matthew 1:6 King James Version. > And Jesse begat David the king; and David the king begat Solomon of her that had been the wife of Urias; ### Deuteronomy 25:5 King James Version. > If brethren dwell together, and one of them die, and have no child, the wife of the dead shall not marry without unto a stranger: her husband’s brother shall go in unto her, and take her to him to wife, and perform the duty of an husband’s brother unto her. ### John 1:1 King James Version. > In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. ### Genesis 11:12 King James Version. > And Arphaxad lived five and thirty years, and begat Salah: ### Luke 1:2–3 King James Version. > [1:2] Even as they delivered them unto us, which from the beginning were eyewitnesses, and ministers of the word; [1:3] It seemed good to me also, having had perfect understanding of all things from the very first, to write unto thee in order, most excellent Theophilus, ### Matthew 2:1 King James Version. > Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem, ### Luke 2:8 King James Version. > And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. ## Sources Numbered to match the HTML References list. Item 1 is `#ref-1` under `#references`. Scripture links to the King James Version on this site. 1. [Gospel of Matthew, 1:1–17; 1:16; 2:1](https://apologetics.wiki/bible/matthew/1). King James Version 2. [Gospel of Luke, 3:23–38; 1:1–3; 2:8](https://apologetics.wiki/bible/luke/3). King James Version 3. [Eusebius, Church History, Book 1, chapter 7](https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/250101.htm) (Eusebius quotes Julius Africanus’s letter to Aristides on the two genealogies. New Advent’s English.) 4. [First Book of Chronicles, 3:11–12](https://apologetics.wiki/bible/1-chronicles/3). King James Version 5. [Deuteronomy, 25:5–6](https://apologetics.wiki/bible/deuteronomy/25). King James Version 6. [Letter to the Colossians, 4:10–14](https://apologetics.wiki/bible/colossians/4). King James Version 7. [Catholic Encyclopedia, “Genealogy of Christ”, The two explanations of the difference](https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/06410a.htm) (Anthony Maas, 1909. New Advent’s text.) ## See Also - [What Is Bible Prophecy?](https://apologetics.wiki/christianity/what-is-bible-prophecy) — Bible prophecy is God speaking beforehand. Deuteronomy 18:22 says a word that does not come to pass is not from the LORD. Ezekiel, Daniel, Micah, and the Gospels are the texts this page opens. - [When Were the Gospels Written?](https://apologetics.wiki/christianity/when-were-the-gospels-written) — Irenaeus places Matthew in the lifetime of Peter and Paul at Rome, Mark after their departure, Luke with Paul, and John later at Ephesus. He gives no year. A copy of John was already in the second century. - [Who Was Mary Magdalene in the Bible?](https://apologetics.wiki/christianity/mary-magdalene-in-the-bible) — Mary Magdalene was a disciple Jesus healed of seven devils. She stood at the cross and was the first person he appeared to after he rose. The Gospels do not call her his wife. - [Who Wrote Matthew, Mark, and Luke?](https://apologetics.wiki/christianity/who-wrote-the-gospels) — Papias and Irenaeus name Mark as Peter’s interpreter, Matthew as the writer of a Gospel in Hebrew, and Luke as Paul’s companion. The books themselves do not open with those names. - [Matthew 15:24: Was Jesus Sent Only to the Lost Sheep of Israel?](https://apologetics.wiki/islam/was-jesus-sent-only-to-israel) — Matthew 15:24 says Jesus was sent to Israel’s lost sheep. Matthew 28 sends the disciples to all nations. The Qur’an also addresses him to Israel.