The lineage of Jesus
A family tree from Adam to Jesus — and why Matthew and Luke tell it differently.
Awaiting theological review
The main figures. Tap a name to open their card.
Before Abraham, only Luke's genealogy continues — back to Adam.
From David, Matthew and Luke follow different lines
Matthew's genealogy
From Abraham down to Jesus, through Solomon
Luke's genealogy
From Jesus up to Adam, through Nathan (shown here from David down)
The women in Jesus' genealogy
Matthew names five women — each with a surprising story.
Why are the genealogies different?
Matthew goes down from Abraham to Jesus, in three groups of fourteen generations, through David's son Solomon and the kings of Judah, and names five women.
Matthew 1:1–17Luke goes up from Jesus to Adam and to God, through David's son Nathan, and places the list right after Jesus' baptism.
Luke 3:21–38Between David and Joseph almost every name differs. Matthew calls Joseph's father Jacob; Luke calls him Heli. Both lists include a Shealtiel and a Zerubbabel.
Matthew 1:16 · Luke 3:23 · Matthew 1:12 · Luke 3:27Matthew's list leaves out names known from the Old Testament — for example three kings between Joram and Uzziah — so it is not meant as a complete register.
Matthew 1:8 · 1 Chronicles 3:11–12Around AD 220 Julius Africanus proposed an explanation from levirate marriage: Jacob and Heli were half-brothers, so one was Joseph's natural father and the other his legal father. Eusebius preserved this letter (Church History I.7).
Some later interpreters proposed that Luke's list traces Mary's family. Luke's text itself names Joseph, writing that Jesus was the son of Joseph, as was supposed.
Many see different purposes: Matthew presents Jesus as the royal son of David and son of Abraham; Luke shows him as the son of Adam, belonging to all humanity.
The Church has not defined how the two lists fit together. Both are received as inspired witnesses that Jesus is the son of David.
Ancient genealogies usually named only fathers. Matthew names five women: Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, the wife of Uriah, and Mary.
Matthew 1:3 · Matthew 1:5 · Matthew 1:6 · Matthew 1:16Several of these stories involve unexpected or irregular circumstances; many interpreters think Matthew prepares the reader for the unique way Jesus is born.
Rahab and Ruth were foreigners, and Bathsheba was married to a Hittite: some read this as an early sign that the Messiah is for all nations.