One of the arguments Christian scholars use to claim the genealogy in Matthew couldn’t be Jesus’s, or that this genealogy would be the one through which Jesus would inherit the throne of David, is that God cursed Jeconiah, and therefore the claim to the throne of David could have only come through the genealogy in Luke. However, Jeconiah had several sons:
And the sons of Jeconiah: Assir, Salatheil his son, Malchiram also, and Pedaiah, and Shenazar, Jecamiah, Hoshama, and Nedabiah. (1 Chron 3:17-18)
The curse is this:
Thus saith the Lord, write this man [Jeconiah] childless….No man of his seed shall prosper, sitting upon the throne of David, and ruling any more in Judah. (Jer 22:28-30)
Since Jeconiah actually did end up having sons, and thus continuing the lineage of David to Jesus through him, so evidently it seems as though he repented and God forgave him and rescinded the curse. I think what the prophecy is actually saying, though, is that none of Jeconiah’s sons would be a king, though they were in the royal lineage of kings — not that the royal lineage would be broken there.
The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ …Jeconiah begat Shealtiel …And Jacob begat Joseph the husband of Mary,of whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ. (Mat 1:1-16) So you see, the royal lineage was NOT broken, according to Matthew’s genealogy.
Therefore, for Christian apologists the problem remains. The royal genealogy in Matthew is Jesus’s lineage; Jesus qualified through the genealogy in Matthew to inherit the throne of David and be the Messiah; which would make Joseph the biological father of Jesus; and finally Mary wasn’t a virgin when she had Jesus.
Problems this creates for Christian apologists:
- The royal genealogy in Matthew is Jesus’s lineage
- Jesus qualified through the genealogy in Matthew to inherit the throne of David
- Jesus wasn’t born of a virgin,
- he wasn’t God incarnate and
- the whole virgin birth story was a forgery.
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