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Carmela Amato

Matthew 1 vs 1
Yeshua’s origin was not of Joseph it was of Mary (the virgin) There is no genepool from Joseph he was a stepfather to Yeshua. How can this validate his line to David. Mary on the other hand did have a line to David, but that is not mentioned since the Jews always focused on the importance of the male. Here we have something that goes unnoticed by men.

Unless we are implying that as the stepfather he was given a family name through Joseph. But what about what God is doing through a virgin birth and Mary as a descendant of David. What about the fact that the messiah came into creation from the womb of a woman not created like “Adam” What does this imply as to what God is doing in creaton through women.
Genesis 3 vs 15

Can you explain, please?

Skip Moen, Ph.D.

Hi Carmela,

You are correct that Yeshua was born of Mary and carries one side of the genealogy that way. But I think you missed the point about Joseph. According to Matthew’s list, Joseph is the direct line to David. Since Yeshua is not Joseph’s natural son, he must be adopted to fulfill the prophecy about Yeshua coming from the royal line. This adoption occurs when Joseph provides the name and fulfills the ceremony of marriage and the presentation of the child to the priest. In other words, by Jewish custom and law, Yeshua is considered the son of Joseph even though we know that he is not the natural son. This means that Yeshua is in the Davidic line of Joseph.

Luke’s genealogy provides another line, commonly assumed to be that of Mary, but this is not what Luke claims. The issue is always, “How can Yeshua be the Messiah who must come from the royal line of Judah if he is not born from that line?” That question is answered by the process above, a process that every Jew reading Matthew would recognize as legitimate.

The question about a woman not created like Adam doesn’t really help with this problem since Jewish sages still consider Havvah to be human, in the fullest sense. I am not sure you can draw any general conclusions about women from this.

Hope this was helpful. Sorry that I might not have been clear on the lecture.

Rodney

Skip,
Regarding the questions of the genealogy and the apparent differences between Matthew and Luke, can I commend to you this article by Andrew G Roth, “Peshitta Matthew and the Gowra Scenario”, available here, in which Roth draws from his considerable knowledge of Aramaic and the Semitic culture and draws some very interesting conclusions.

I also recommend Nehemia Gordon’s book, the Hebrew Yeshua vs the Greek Jesus. Gordon brings out some valuable insights regarding Yeshua’s statements in Matthew 5 and ties them to later statements in Matthew 23.