The Double Paternity of Jesus - The BAS Library
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The Double Paternity of Jesus

Dual fatherhood, human and divine, was not uncommon in ancient times. Kingship was transmitted through the human husband of the mother.

By Cyrus H. Gordon

The two variant genealogies of Jesus in Matthew 1:1–16 and Luke 3:23–38 agree on the essential point that he was descended from King David through Joseph, the husband of Mary. To be the legitimate King of the Jews, Jesus had to stem from David through his human, patriarchal family tree. The question that puzzles the modern reader is: If Mary conceived Jesus of the Holy Spirit, without having had any carnal union with Joseph or any other man, how can Jesus the Son of God be descended from David or anyone else through Joseph? Matthew and Luke assume that […]

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Endnotes

1.

Sir Alan Gardiner, Egypt of the Pharaohs, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1961 (paperback edition, 1964), pp. 181–186.

2.

An illustrated biographical sketch of Hatshepsut is provided by Pierre Montet, Lives of the Pharaohs, London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson, pp. 80–92.