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 Kinsman Redeemer
60-1002 §80
Now in closing, we might say this, in closing. He did that. Then he took Ruth, and he married her. And she brought forth a son called Obed. Obed was the father of Jesse. Jesse was the father of David, who was a father of Christ (Amen), father of the Lord Jesus. Don't you see? Through that righteousness, through that clear-cut decision! He become our Kinsman Redeemer. God became kinfolks to us, to come down and be made like us, a human being, suffer hunger, suffer thirst. "I thirst, give me a drink"; and they put vi...
Trying to do God a service without it being His will
65-0718M §91
Now read the next few chapters of Chronicles there, and you'll find out when David sat in the house and said, "Is it right (Nathanael was sitting with him) that I should live in the cedar and the ark of God under the tents out here." And Nathanael found from the Lord what to tell him to do. And he'd done done wrong, so God said, "Tell My servant David, I love him. I made him a name like great men in the earth, but I can't let him do it (see); he's done failed me (see). I can't let him do it. I'll bring a man along:...
Why little Bethlehem?
63-1214 §33
Look at this coming up now. From Rahab the harlot, her son, founding it. From that come Boaz, which brought in another Gentile. And then from Boaz come Jesse. And here Jesse, to Jesse was born David. And David, right here at this same little Bethlehem, was anointed by the prophet of God, to be the king of Israel. All these spiritual things hid from the eyes of the world, was happening here in this little city of Bethlehem. See, that's the way God does.
From the beginning it wasn't so
59-1125 §44
As soon as His ministry started, Andrew went and found Simon Peter. His name wasn't Peter yet, he was Simon. He came to the Lord Jesus. And as soon as Jesus saw him, He said, "Your name is Simon, and you're the son of Jonas." And at that, he believed on the Lord Jesus, and Jesus made him a head of the church at Jerusalem. Immediately after that, Nathanael seen what a great thing was being done, so he took off and found ... Philip, rather, and found Nathanael under a tree praying. Brought him back to Jesus, telling...
God's Wrapped Gift
60-1225 §18
And through this general she brought to the world a son, the son of ... I can't think of the general's name just now. I was trying to. I thought I had his name down here, but I don't. I have her son's name, but it was Rahab's son to this general. His name was Salmon. Not the Solomon that built the temple, the son of David, but another Salmon. And this Salmon brought forth a son whose name was Boaz. And Boaz, oh, we are all acquainted with that wonderful story of Boaz and Ruth.