Christ Came Through Solomon and Bathsheba. How did David's Son Nathan Come in to It? Reconcile the Genealogies in Matthew 1 and Luke 3?
1) Direct answer
There is no contradiction. Matthew gives the royal, legal line to Joseph through David’s son Solomon. Luke gives the natural, blood line to Mary through David’s son Nathan. Joseph is named in Luke “as was supposed” because he was the husband, the legal head; but the descent there runs through Mary, whose father was Heli. So Jesus has the legal right to David’s throne through Joseph (Solomon’s line) and the blood of David through Mary (Nathan’s line), all without being Joseph’s physical son.
2) Scriptural explanation
- Matthew’s record: “The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham” (Matthew 1:1), traces from Abraham down to “Jacob begat Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus” (Matthew 1:16). Notice it never says Joseph begat Jesus. It’s the royal succession through Solomon (Matthew 1:6-7).
- Luke’s record: “Jesus… being (as was supposed) the son of Joseph, which was the son of Heli” (Luke 3:23), then traces back through Nathan, not Solomon (Luke 3:31). “As was supposed” marks that men thought Joseph was the father, but he was not.
- The virgin birth: “A virgin shall conceive” (Isaiah 7:14). “The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee… that holy thing… shall be called the Son of God” (Luke 1:35). So Jesus is not Joseph’s seed.
- Yet He must be David’s seed: “Made of the seed of David according to the flesh” (Romans 1:3). Mary is of David (Luke 1:27), and the Lord gives Him “the throne of His father David” (Luke 1:32).
- The Jeconiah barrier: God said of Coniah/Jeconiah, “no man of his seed shall prosper, sitting upon the throne of David” (Jeremiah 22:30). Matthew’s legal line runs through Jeconiah (Matthew 1:11-12). If Jesus were Joseph’s physical son, He would be under that judgment. But He wasn’t Joseph’s seed; He was born of a virgin. Thus:
- Legal right comes by Joseph’s line through Solomon (Matthew).
- Blood descent comes by Mary’s line through Nathan (Luke), bypassing Jeconiah.
3) Simple clarifying logic
- Two sons of David cannot both be Joseph’s fathers. So one record is Joseph’s legal line (Matthew), and the other is Mary’s natural line (Luke), with Joseph named as “son” of Heli by marriage (a son-in-law). That fits the wording “as was supposed.”
- Matthew is about the throne—kingship—so it follows Solomon. Luke is about true humanity all the way to Adam, so it follows Mary’s bloodline through Nathan.
- God guarded the promise perfectly: Jesus is truly David’s Son by Mary, yet not under Jeconiah’s curse; and He holds the legal title through Joseph.
4) Reinforcing statement
You see, the Bible fits like a glove. The virgin birth, Davidic promises, and the two branches—Solomon and Nathan—come together in Christ without a single break in the Scripture.
Ask a Follow-up Question
What did the Laodicean Church Age (our age) Angel (- messenger) Say about this?
Ranked passages from the local William Branham sermon and Church Age Book database. Relevance is relative, not a statement of doctrinal certainty.
The great warrior David
55-0118 §53
Little old Philip went out there and he'd just got saved and he was having the best time; the kingdom of God was in his heart, he was rejoicing. He went to find his buddy, he looked all around, he went over to the country where he come from. He said, "Say..." He found Nathanael out there under a tree praying, under the fig tree a praying, out behind his house maybe, somewhere. Perhaps Mrs. Nathanael said, when he went up, said... Philip said, "Where is Nathanael?" Said, "He walked out to the fig orchard a while ago...
A Greater than Solomon is here
58-0625 §22
And Jesus had went about, just as fundamental as those Pharisees claimed to be, and when He done His works, they was expecting it to be something else, but because He could discern the thoughts of their hearts... Like when Peter came, He said, "Your name is Simon, and your father's name is Jonas." When Philip went and found Nathanael, and told him who he had found, why, he couldn't understand it, that the Messiah would come out of Nazareth, out of that kind of a denomination ... or, no denomination at all. He could...
The Serpent's Seed
58-0928E §10
...(See?), vice versa. See, it's to break the power of the other. But what is it? The Bible claims the whole thing's a prostitute. Now, what are you going to do? That's right. And how the sins of the people would be visited... We went back in Deuteronomy and showed that a illegitimate child, bastard child, could not even enter the congregation of the Lord for fourteen generations. [Deuteronomy 23:2-3 says to their "tenth generation". It mentions the Moabite. Ruth was a Moabitess. From Ruth 4:18-22 and Matthew 1:17 we...
Christ is identified the same in all generations
64-0415 §58
Then we find there was one standing there, by the name of another young fellow, that by the name of Philip. And he had a friend; they been studying the Scriptures together. You ever been in Palestine, look where they were preaching. And he went around the hill, about fifteen miles. And he found Nathaniel under a--a tree, 'cause Nathaniel owned a--a--a olive orchard. And so, going out there, he found him under a tree praying. He said, "Come, see Who we found, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph." Said, "Come. Come,...
A Greater than Solomon is here
61-0515 §51
Now today the people has got it to a place till they are looking to the church for salvation. The church doesn't bring salvation. Salvation is of Christ, see. The church doesn't have salvation; Christ has salvation. Now, I would like to say this---that they looked to the church for salvation, and what did they get? Creeds and organizations and so forth, and that's the same thing today. So they were satisfied to believe that that was God's perfect will, for them to have ... and those creeds and so forth, and to do t...