Genealogy of Jesus

The genealogy of Jesus differs between the Gospels according to Matthew and according to Luke. This is significant because it places a Biblical contradiction at the very heart of Christianity, Jesus Christ — especially because it was prophesied that Jesus would be a descendant of David.
There are two fundamental problems. First, the grandfather mismatch. Second, the genealogy length mismatch.
==Grandfather==
Who is the father of Joseph (or, who is Jesus' grandfather)? Even though this could only be one person, the Bible has two genealogies of Jesus each with a different answer:Who was Jesus' paternal grandfather?, Skeptic's Annotated Bible
Matthew's genealogy has Joseph descended from King David through King Solomon, and from thence to a man named Jacob. On the other hand Luke's has Joseph descended from David along a radically different line, through another son, Nathan, from thence to a man named Eli.
This isn't even to mention, of course, the contradiction with his supposedly being born of a virgin — in that case, surely he would not have a biological father, and listing a genealogy is pointless.
Apologists have responded in various ways.
===Double hypothetical===
The first response is the "Spaceballs" defense.
See also the "First Difficulty" (b) section of the Old Catholic Encyclopedia's entry on the "Genealogy of Christ", which argues that Joseph was the adopted son of either Jacob or Heli.http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/06410a.htm
===Luke used Mary's genealogy===
The second response is to claim that Luke was actually writing about the ancestry of Mary, not Joseph. 
See also the "First Difficulty" (a) section of the Old Catholic Encyclopedia's entry on the "Genealogy of Christ".
===Matthew used Mary's genealogy===
If Luke can't be using Mary's genealogy, could Matthew? Not if Matthew wanted to fulfill his prophecy that Jesus would be a descendant of David.
The prophet Jeremiah recorded God's statement that no ruler would come via a descendant of Jeconiah. (NASU) states:
Shortly after, Jeremiah reconfirms that the Messiah would still come from David. (NASU) states:
But mentions Jeconiah in Jesus' genealogy:
This means that Matthew says that Jesus can't fulfill the very prophecies which Matthew says that Jesus fulfilled. In fact, if we take Matthew's genealogy as solid, then Jesus cannot be the Messiah, because his ancestors included a non-Messianic bloodline.
===Matthew didn't include everybody===
R. P. Nettelhorst offers an explanation:http://www.theology.edu/ap10.htm
This theory, unlike the others, has textual support: Matthew was a fan of editing genealogies to fit semantic purposes, as shown by the removals of other names to fit the 14;14;14 pattern.
Unfortunately, this doesn't leave a Biblical literalist much room to work with, though. Again, it must be accepted that the Bible purposefully excluded information. This leads us to the question: What else did the Bible not include for purely semantic reasons? And, perhaps more importantly: was anything included for purely semantic reasons?
==Length==
Matthew and Luke have vastly different genealogies. This is made even more apparent when looking at the whole genealogy (discrepancies are emboldened):
:	:
Genealogy:
1: God
2: Adam
3: Seth
4: Enos
5: Cainan
6: Maleleel
7: Jared
8: Enoch
9: Mathusala
10: Lamech
11: Noe
12: Shem
13: Arphaxad
14: Cainan
15: Sala
16: Heber
17: Phalec
18: Ragau
19: Saruch
20: Nachor
21: Thara
22: Abraham
23: Isaac
24: Jacob
25: Juda
26: Phares
27: Esrom
28: Aram
29: Aminadab
30: Naasson
31: Salmon
32: Booz
33: Obed
34: Jesse
35: David
36: Nathan
37: Mattatha
38: Menan
39: Melea
40: Eliakim
41: Jonam
42: Joseph
43: Judah
44: Simeon
45: Levi
46: Matthat
47: Jorim
48: Eliezer
49: Jose
50: Er
51: Elmodam
52: Cosam
53: Addi
54: Melchi
55: Neri
56: Salathiel
57: Zorobabel
58: Rhesa
59: Joanna
60: Juda
61: Joseph
62: Semei
63: Mattathias
64: Maath
65: Nagge
66: Esli
67: Naum
68: Amos
69: Mattathias
70: Joseph
71: Janna
72: Melchi
73: Levi
74: Matthat
75: Heli
76: Joseph
77: Jesus	Genealogy:
1: Abraham
2: Isaac
3: Jacob
4: Judas (husband) & Tamar (wife)
5: Phares
6: Esrom
7: Aram
8: Aminadab
9: Naasson
10: Salmon (husband) & Rahab (wife)
11: Booz (husband) & Ruth (wife)
12: Obed
13: Jesse
14: David (husband) & Bathsheba (wife)
15: Solomon (husband) & Naamah (wife)
16: Roboam
17: Abia
18: Asa
19: Josaphat
20: Joram
21: Ozias
22: Joatham
23: Achaz
24: Ezekias
25: Manasses
26: Amon
27: Josias
28: Jechonias
29: Salathiel
30: Zorobabel
31: Abiud
32: Eliakim
33: Azor
34: Sadoc
35: Achim
36: Eliud
37: Eleazar
38: Matthan
39: Jacob
40: Joseph (husband) & Mary (wife)
41: Jesus
This length mismatch can easily be resolved by accepting Nettelhorst's theory that Matthew didn't include everybody in his genealogy — but it has the same (if not worse) problems for biblical literalism.
For reference, if Luke's genealogy is correct, and the world is only about 6000 years old, then each of the 77 generations must have been about 51.95 years (4000/77) apart — meaning, that the average mother in Jesus's heritage got pregnant at about 51 years old. (Alternately, the early generations had lives that lasted hundreds of years, just because.)
==Other interesting ancestors==
Matthew includes among the list Rahab, who is generally identified with the woman who betrayed Jericho to the Israelites and is described using a word that may refer to an innkeeper or a prostitute, or possibly a brothel-keeper (see also and ).Julia M. O’Brien, "Rahab", n.p. [cited 24 Jun 2019]. Bible Odysse
==See also==
*Biblical contradictions
*Resurrection of Jesus
*Biblical longevity
==External links==
*New Testament Contradictions, Internet Infidels
*The Genealogy of Luke examined, jesusneverexisted.com
*The Genealogies of Matthew and Luke, Apologetics Press
==References==
Category:Bible analysis
Category:Jesus