(Luke 3:35-38)
“Peleg, the son of Heber, the son of Shelah, 36 the son of Cainan, the son of Arphaxad, the son of Shem, the son of Noah, the son of Lamech, 37 the son of Methuselah, the son of Enoch, the son of Jared, the son of Mahalaleel, the son of Cainan, 38 the son of Enosh, the son of Seth, the son of Adam, the son of God.”
Many Bible critics often attempt to call attention to apparent contradictions of genealogies in the Gospels. But of course, they only call attention to their ignorance as to how the ancient authors shared genealogies. In most cases, the critics fail to recognize that the listed genealogies are not closed, exact, and without gaps. Genealogies do not record every single person; rather, they mention the main characters from generations. In addition, the critics fail to recognize that people often had more than one name associated with them. And their final fatal flaw is their failure to recognize from whom the genealogy stems.
The basis for the “closed” genealogy belief is found within Genesis 5,10-11 where names are listed along with age. The problem with the belief of a closed genealogy is the overwhelming evidence of an open genealogy. For example, Luke 3:36 lists “Cainan” between Arphaxad and Shelah, but the name Cainan does not appear in the Genesis record. But as Genesis 11:13 makes clear, Arphaxad was not only the father of Shelah, but Scripture says, “and he had other sons and daughters.” That means there were multiple males and females not listed in the genealogy record. Why not? Because they weren’t major characters of generations, they were minor characters. It is better to view Genesis 5,10-11 as adequate genealogies, not complete chronologies.
Also, the genealogy of Christ has at least one serious known gap. The perceived problem is that Matthew 1:8 says that Joram was the father of Uzziah; however, 1Chronicles 3:11 states that Joram’s son was Ahaziah. So, which record is correct? Well, Ahaziah was apparently the immediate son of Joram, and Uzziah was a distant “son” (descendant). Just as the word “son” in the Bible also means grandson, even so the term “begot” can be used of a father or a grandfather. In other words, “begot” means “became the ancestor of,” and the one “begotten” is the “descendant of.” Therefore, Matthew is not giving a complete chronology, but an adequate or abbreviated genealogy of Christ’s ancestry. A comparison of Matthew 1:8 and 1Chronicles 3:11-12 reveals a simple yet overlooked truth: even though the text reads that Joram (Jehoram) was the father of Uzziah (Azariah), Scripture reveals that three missing generations exist between Joram and Uzziah. Therefore, Matthew presented a compressed summary.
MATTHEW 1:8 1CHRONICLES 3:11-12
Joram Joram
……… Ahaziah
……… Joash
……… Amaziah
Uzziah Uzziah (also called Azariah)
Speaking of Uzziah, another perceived problem can be seen in that 2Kings 15:1-7 mentions the father of Jotham as Azariah, yet in 2Kings 15:32,34, Jotham’s father is named Uzziah. Some critics have concluded that the Bible contains a mistake by listing two different people as the father of Jotham. However, the simple solution is that these are two different names for the same person. For example, Gideon was also called Jerubbaal (Judges 6:32; 7:1). Jehoiakim’s son, Jehoiachin, was also known as Jeconiah (2Kings 24:6; 1Chronicles 3:16). Daniel was renamed to Belteshazzar, Hananiah to Shadrach, Mishael to Meshach, and Azariah to Abed-nego (Daniel 1:7). Paul was also known as Saul at one point (Acts 13:9). Matthew had been known as Levi (Matthew 9:9; Luke 5:27). Peter was known as Cephas and Simon (John 1:42). Therefore, being known by different names was not uncommon in that ancient time period. Even in our modern day, we give each other nicknames, right?
Another perceived problem arises when Luke 3:23 lists the grandfather of Jesus as Eli when Matthew 1:6 lists the grandfather as Jacob. So, which one is correct? Both. This should be expected, since they are two different lines of ancestors, one traced through Jesus’s legal father, Joseph, and the other through His actual mother, Mary. Matthew gives the official line, since he addresses Christ’s genealogy to Jewish concerns for the Jewish Messiah’s credentials, which required that the Messiah come from the seed of Abraham and the line of David (Matthew 1:1). Luke, with a broader Greek audience in mind, addresses himself to their interest in Jesus as the Perfect Man (which was the quest of Greek thought). Thus, he traces Jesus back to the first man, Adam (Luke 3:38).
That Matthew gives Jesus’s paternal genealogy and Luke gives His maternal genealogy is supported by several scriptural facts. First of all, while both lines trace Christ to David, each is through a different son of David. Matthew, writing to a Jewish audience, traces Jesus through Joseph (His legal father) to David’s son, Solomon the king, by whom Christ rightfully inherited the throne of David (2Samuel 7:12-13). However, Luke’s purpose for his gentile audience, is to showcase Christ’s humanity; therefore, he traces Christ to David’s son, Nathan, through His actual mother, Mary, through whom He can rightfully claim to be fully human, the Redeemer of humanity (Philippians 2:5-11; Colossians 2:9; Hebrews 4:15).
Further, Luke does not say that he is giving Jesus’s genealogy through Joseph; rather, he notes that Jesus was “as was supposed, the son of Joseph” (Luke 3:23) while He was actually the son of Mary. It is for this reason that Hebrews 5-7 reveals that Christ Jesus is the forever High Priest without genealogy according to the likeness of Melchizedek, which was prophesied by David in Psalm 110:4. And the forever High Priest was also prophesied in Zechariah 3:8; 6:12-13 as the One being called the Branch, who was prophesied in Isaiah 4:2; 11:1-5; 53:2; Jeremiah 23:5-6; 33:15. And who is the Branch? The Branch is the Vine and the Vine is divine; Jesus is the true Vine (John 15:1-11). But I digress. That Luke would record Mary’s genealogy fits with his interest as a doctor in mothers and birth and with his emphasis on women in his Gospel, which has sometimes been called, “the Gospel for Women.”
Finally, the fact that the two genealogies have some names in common (such as Shealtiel and Zerubbabel, Matthew 1:12; Luke 3:27) does not prove they are the same genealogy for two reasons. One, these were not uncommon names for that time period. Further, even the same genealogy (Luke’s) has a repeat of the names Joseph and Judah (3:26,30). And so the two different genealogies can be summarized as follows:
MATTHEW LUKE
David David
| |
Solomon Nathan
| |
Rehoboam Mattathah
| |
Abijah Menan
| |
Asa Melea
| |
Jehoshaphat Eliakim
| |
…… ……
| |
Jacob Eli ————–
| |
Joseph-Mary-legal wife Joseph-Mary-actual mother
(legal father) (legal husband)
| |—————-
Jesus Jesus
Now, exactly how many gaps there are in biblical genealogies and the length of time between those gaps are unknown. But gaps most certainly do exist; consequently, complete chronologies cannot be constructed. Since there are known gaps in the genealogies, the genealogies cannot be considered “closed” even from a strictly biblical point of view.
Other evidence throughout the Bible supports an open genealogy. Consider the following:
- Scholars have noted that the symmetrical arrangement of Genesis 5,11 into groups of ten argues for their compression. Noah is the tenth name from Adam and Terah the tenth from Noah. Each ends with a father who had three sons. Compression certainly seems to be the case in Matthew 1, where there are three series of fourteen (with three generations missing). In addition, “other sons and daughters” are found written in the genealogies, implying gaps and suggesting compression.
- Scriptures calls Jesus the “son of David,” though at least 31 generations separated David from the Christ.
- The Ten Commandments provided a summary of GOD’s complete and perfect Law. The Ten Commandments were the minimum requirements, the basics. It is unreasonable to assume that GOD’s perfect Law would only consist of ten commandments when the law in our own finite and imperfect society requires a multitude of books to explain the laws by which we are governed. It is reasonable to assert that there are gaps in the Ten Commandments due to compression of the list. In fact, in Matthew 22:37-39, Jesus compressed the Ten Commandments into two: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind’ and “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Certainly, if gaps exist between the ten, then two commandments have a large gap between them that could contain exhaustive information.
- There was a large gap of time (over 400 years) between the end period of the Old Testament and the beginning stages of the New Testament (intertestamental period) that seem to be shrouded in mystery. It seems as if nothing biblical happened in that time frame; however, it is unreasonable to assume that nothing happened in that span of time. A gap obviously exists in documented biblical history; however, the gap doesn’t mean that actual biblical events didn’t happen – they simply weren’t documented.
- In Hebrews 11, the “Hall of Faith” lists only a few people as great people of faith; however, it is unreasonable to assume that there were not others who were full of faith. In fact, Hebrews 11:32-40 admits that other faithful people do exist but that time and space would not permit the writing of them all. Clearly, gaps exist in the list of the faithful due to compression. We can know this for certain because David’s three mighty men (see: 2Samuel 23:15-17) are not listed in this Hall of Faith when they most certainly should be.
- John 21:25 states, “And there are also many other things which Jesus did, which if they were written in detail, I suppose that even the world itself would not contain the books that would be written.”
At what length would the Bible need to be if it included all exhaustive information without omissions and summarization? How can an infinite GOD be captured in a book without the need for summarizing Truth into categories of major and minor? Thus, the evidence supports the view that the Bible does not give us a closed or complete chronology but an outlined or summarized genealogy. This being the case, there is no real conflict on this matter between the Bible and science nor between the Bible and itself. In summary, gaps exist because summaries exist. Therefore, it is still possible for the Bible to be relevant in an old-aged universe.
But perhaps this is why Paul told Timothy in 1Timothy 1:3-4 that he might need to instruct certain men not to “pay attention to myths and endless genealogies, which give rise to mere speculation rather than furthering the administration of God which is by faith.” And again, Paul instructs Titus in Titus 3:9, “avoid foolish controversies and genealogies and strife and disputes about the Law, for they are unprofitable and worthless.” Now, Paul wasn’t saying that studying and having discussions is bad, nor was he saying that genealogies are in and of themselves unprofitable and worthless. Rather, the endless arguments themselves are unfruitful – especially if they are exaggerated expansions of genealogy, such as the false prophet Muhammad claimed, even though he didn’t have a genuine claim to his name six centuries after the fact. As Paul told Timothy in 2Timothy 2:14-15, “Remind them of these things, and solemnly charge them in the presence of God not to wrangle about words, which is useless and leads to the ruin of the hearers. Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth.”
Both Matthew and Luke accurately handled the Word of Truth and provided sufficient evidence of Christ Jesus being the Messiah, King, forever High Priest, and the fullness of deity dwelling in bodily form. I, too, have also provided sufficient evidence by explaining their sufficient evidence. But like the Pharisees who rejected Jesus (Matthew 3:9; 12:24) – even though He came directly from the Father in Heaven (John 1:14; 8:42; 10:30) and proved it by His works (John 10:37-38) – critics who do not have eyes to see, ears to hear, or hearts to receive will reject all the sufficient evidence that has been provided for them. There is a time for those who need understanding to be gently instructed (2Timothy 2:25), but then there’s a time when the obstinate are beyond the aid of dialogue and instruction. So, let’s not waste our time in endless arguments with those who have hardened hearts and depraved minds (Matthew 7:6). Preach the Truth and let them be on their way (Revelation 22:11). We merely sow seeds and/or water seeds, but it is GOD who provides growth (1Corinthians 3:5-9). We merely share the Truth, and then the Holy Spirit will be the One to convict people of sins and righteousness (John 16:8-11).
In conclusion, though the Bible contains many apparent contradictions, there are no actual contradictions. Jesus is Lord and Savior; Jesus is GOD.