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“Forked Family Tree”
Categories: NEW TESTAMENTI was wondering why the genealogies in Matthew and Luke are not completely the same. Its been explained to me before but I have forgotten. Thanks!Sincerely,
Tree Tracker
Dear Tree Tracker,
They are different because they follow the bloodline of different parents. Matthew starts the genealogy at Abraham, and Luke starts the genealogy all the way back at Adam. The genealogies really begin to differ once you hit the generation after David. Matthew traces the history from David’s son Solomon (Matt 1:6), while Luke follows David’s son Nathan (Lk 3:31).
The most likely explanation for this is that each book is tracing a different side of Jesus’ family tree. Matthew is tracing the legal family tree through Jesus’ foster father, Joseph. Luke is tracing the maternal side through Jesus’ mother, Mary. We often forget, but Jesus (like all humans) has two lineages – his mother’s and his father’s. Both Mary and Joseph were of the tribe of Judah and the lineage of David… just slightly different sections of that bloodline.
