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 mark of the beast
56-0715 §18
Look at David, the Son of David. Christ was the Son of David. Christ in David, hated, despised, rejected of his own people, dethroned, went up over the mountain, looking back weeping because his own, even beloved children had turned him down and dethroned him. And he wept over Jerusalem as He went up. Perfect type of Christ. The Son of David, sitting on Mt. Olives, rejected by His Own beloved. And sat up there weeping over Jerusalem. Said, "How oft would I have hovered you as a hen does her brood, but you would not...
A Greater than Solomon is here
62-0628 §41
Now, they was condemning Him. He had showed them that He was the Messiah. That little prostitute woman, she said, "Sir [in so many words that we would understand], that's the sign that the Messiah's going to do." And they disbelieved it, see. Now He said there'd be an adulterous generation that will seek after a sign, and they'll get it. And it will be the sign of Jonas. As he was in the belly of the whale, and rose again out of the belly of the whale after three days, the Son of man will rise again. Of course, any...
Dedication
62-1111M §16
And Nathan, the prophet, knowing that God was with David, he said, "David, do all that's in your heart, for God is with you." Otherwise, when God gives you revelation, carry it out. But that was all working. And that night the Lord came to this seer, the prophet Nathan, and said, "Go tell my servant, David ..." I like that. Oh, in other words, "I admire his courage, and his thoughts of me to build me a place." But He said, "I haven't dwelt in a house, I haven't had a place to stay. When I come down to earth to look...
A greater than Solomon is here
63-0628E §46
Now we find that Solomon... The news spread so great till it went all the way down into Sheba. And they had a queen down there. She must have been a nice little lady. She would govern over her people. And you know, they began to tell her that there was a great God up in Israel, and He'd anointed a human being with a gift of discernment that was superhuman---that no man could have wisdom like that. It had to come from a God. And you know, faith cometh by hearing, hearing the Word. And it struck her heart, like it di...
There is a man here that can turn on the light
63-1229M §21
If you notice how Bethlehem was formed? Don't want to get on that subject. But how Bethlehem... Actually, Rahab, the harlot, her son was the one who founded Bethlehem. It was a wheat center, and a lot of fine water there. And he founded the little city. And it was the smallest of all the cities, 'cause the prophet said, "Bethlehem of Judea, aren't thou the least amongst all the princes of the cities of Jerusalem ... or Judea, but out of thee shall come the Governor that'll rule my people." Out of the little one. Da...