Matthew 1 · a question people ask

Luke gives a list of Jesus' ancestors too. Why is it different?

In the text

The two lists are set side by side here, each in its own words. Matthew begins with Abraham and comes down to Joseph: "Jacob became the father of Joseph" (1:16). Luke begins with Jesus and goes back: "being the son (as was supposed) of Joseph, the son of Heli" (Luke 3:23), all the way to "the son of Adam, the son of God" (Luke 3:38). From Abraham to David the two lists give the same fathers. The WEB spells one of them two ways, Ram in Matthew (1:3-4) and "the son of Aram" in Luke (Luke 3:33); the Greek has the same name in both verses. After David they part. Matthew goes on through "Solomon" (1:6); Luke has "the son of Nathan, the son of David" (Luke 3:31). Both name a Shealtiel and a Zerubbabel: Matthew, "Shealtiel became the father of Zerubbabel" (1:12); Luke, "the son of Zerubbabel, the son of Shealtiel, the son of Neri" (Luke 3:27). Neither Gospel says why the lists differ, and these notes don't explain the difference or fit the two together. 1 Chronicles 3's honest question on Zerubbabel's father sets Luke 3:27 and 3:31 beside its own verses too.

The verses

“Jesus himself, when he began to teach, was about thirty years old, being the son (as was supposed) of Joseph, the son of Heli,”
Luke 3:23 · World English Bible
“the son of Joanan, the son of Rhesa, the son of Zerubbabel, the son of Shealtiel, the son of Neri,”
Luke 3:27 · World English Bible
“the son of Melea, the son of Menan, the son of Mattatha, the son of Nathan, the son of David, the son of Jesse, the son of Obed, the son of Boaz, the son of Salmon, the son of Nahshon, the son of Amminadab, the son of Aram, the son of Hezron, the son of Perez, the son of Judah, the son of Jacob, the son of Isaac, the son of Abraham, the son of Terah, the son of Nahor,”
Luke 3:31-34 · World English Bible
“the son of Enos, the son of Seth, the son of Adam, the son of God.”
Luke 3:38 · World English Bible

From Favor's study of Matthew 1

Matthew 1: Son of David, son of Abraham

Matthew's list runs "Abraham became the father of Isaac" (1:2), father after father, down to Joseph. Then the words change: "Joseph, the husband of Mary, from whom was born Jesus" (1:16). And 1:18 tells how: Mary "was found pregnant by the Holy Spirit" (1:18).

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