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Jesus had no biological father and we know that, according to the Pentateuch, the tribal lineage is passed through the father and the mother's genealogy is irrelevant. The argument of Zelophehad's daughters is not valid that tribal heritage can be passed through the mother, and non-Judaism does not accept children adoptees as holders of tribal heritage.

we also have the added problem of Jehoiakim lineage being cursed - Jeremiah 36:30 Therefore this is what the LORD says about Jehoiakim king of Judah: He will have no one to sit on the throne of David; his body will be thrown out and exposed to the heat by day and the frost by night.

How do you resolve this contradiction when Jesus has no male lineage and Judah lineage was cursed?

another theory
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Matheus Sales
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  • Welcome to Biblical Hermeneutics.SE and thank you for your contribution. When you get a chance, please take the [tour] to understand how the site works and how it is different than others. It would also be helpful to review the Help Center's article "How do I ask a good question?". – agarza Mar 27 '23 at 03:45
  • Well, that general principle does not rule out exceptions. Caleb, the son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite, was a prince of the tribe of Judah. And together with Joshua ben Nun (Jesus son of Fish) they foreshadowed the Christ. – ארקדיוס Mar 27 '23 at 20:56
  • You may want to ask this Q on Christianity site if it doesn't re-open. There is a similar problem with Jesus being the 'seed' of Abraham when he has no father - https://hermeneutics.stackexchange.com/q/75203/33268 - https://hermeneutics.stackexchange.com/q/56016/33268 – another theory Mar 28 '23 at 09:13

1 Answers1

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There's no need to fret! That Jesus came from the line of Judah is very clear. Both the genealogy for Joseph (Mary's husband) and the genealogy for Mary are presented in the Bible, in Matthew 1 and in Luke 3 respectively, and both of these lead back to Judah.

The question most people ask, in fact, is how Jesus could also have been a descendant of Levi--the priestly order. This is where a little more ingenuity comes in with respect to tracing the lineage, and this is discovered via Elisabeth, who is said to be Mary's cousin (see Luke 1:36). She was "of the daughters of Aaron" we are told (see Luke 1:5). (We might infer, therefore, that Mary's mother or grandmother had been a descendant of the tribe of Levi.)

Here are snippets of the two genealogies, for Joseph, and for Mary:

1The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham. 2Abraham begat Isaac; and Isaac begat Jacob; and Jacob begat Judas and his brethren; 3And Judas begat Phares and Zara of Thamar; and Phares begat Esrom; and Esrom begat Aram; (Matthew 1:1-3, KJV)

23And Jesus himself began to be about thirty years of age, being (as was supposed) the son of Joseph, which was the son of Heli, ... 31Which was the son of Melea, which was the son of Menan, which was the son of Mattatha, which was the son of Nathan, which was the son of David, 32Which was the son of Jesse, which was the son of Obed, which was the son of Booz, which was the son of Salmon, which was the son of Naasson, 33Which was the son of Aminadab, which was the son of Aram, which was the son of Esrom, which was the son of Phares, which was the son of Juda,... (Luke 3:23-33, KJV)

NOTE: The spelling difference between "Judas" and "Juda" may simply be because in Greek a word has a different spelling when used as a subject as compared to when it is an object (or, as here, in the genitive case). These are the same "Judah" we see in the Old Testament.

In case we may still have had any doubts, Paul confirms Jesus' lineage.

For it is evident that our Lord sprang out of Juda; of which tribe Moses spake nothing concerning priesthood. (Hebrews 7:14, KJV)

Conclusion

Jesus is very clearly a descendant of the tribe of Judah, as both his mother and Joseph had ancestry of that tribe.

Biblasia
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    Why bring in Levi? The whole point of Hebrews ch7 (see vv13-14 especially) is to deny descent from Levi. – Stephen Disraeli Mar 27 '23 at 06:04
  • Please don't answer off-topic questions. – curiousdannii Mar 27 '23 at 21:39
  • Regarding Levi, both Mary and Zechariah were his descendants... and the angel directed Mary to Zechariah's house when she asked how she was to bear a son. Some suggest that if Jesus had a physical father, Zech. is a likely candidate. – Dan Fefferman May 21 '23 at 18:50
  • @DanFefferman Why do you post blasphemous suggestions here? Error is never harmless. You should remove that comment, posthaste. – Biblasia May 22 '23 at 01:39