Julio

Matthew runs Jesus’ genealogy through Solomon [1:6], whereas Luke through Nathan [3:31]. It is a flagrant contradiction, where Bible commentators tried to justify the text using elaborate explanations. Is there any ancient attempt to “harmonize” the problem?

aa5874

But,what is interesting is that both were unlikely to have been written at the same time. It may be assumed one was written first and then the other later and perhaps the last author of the genealogy saw the first.

Perhaps the last author saw problems with the first, that is, there were probably not enough names in the first genealogy from Joseph, the husband of Mary, to King David as found in gMatthew.

Julio

Yes, plausible.
However, what solid external evidence is available to support either?
None, I guess. Most probably, BOTH genealogies are false and an invention of religious folklore of those “primitive” days.
Internal evidence, meanwhile, would support Luke’s genealogy, simply because, with one stoke of his pen, as it were, he DISCREDITED Matthew’s one, when he wrote that MANY had attempted to put matters right but none like him, who is going to present the story as much accurate as possible.
To me, the first three verses of Luke are exceedingly important in DISCREDITING the entire choreography of the synoptic. I find those three verses most inspired by God to rock the boat out of balance and sink the entire gospel enterprise!

aa5874

There is also internal information in the OT to support part of the genealogy of gMatthew.

andrewcriddle

See Jukius Africanus Epistle to Aristides

Andrew Criddle

Julio

Thanks for the reference. Very interesting.

What do you think about this guy’s elaborate semantics?
I find it funny that the so-called “Inspirer” [the so-called “Holy Spirit” of so-called “God”, of whom the so-called “Holy Bible” is a most perfect & inspired so-called “Word”] was not able to, in a straightforward sentence, explain the simplicity of the object, but later went looking for an ante-Nicene “Epistle-Writer” to attempt to make it clear for the intrusive student!
Such are the gods of this cosmic realm, I tell you!
Personally, I trust no one of them!
You see, I think that no Holy Spirit ever told Aristides to write that nonsense, but he had taken some excessive hashish and there you have it, what the guy could write under the influence!…
Sorry for this special inspiration I just got out of the blue…!
Real inspiration is to discover that the Holy Spirit had the ability to MESS UP the text but later look for a “father” to explain it in detail. Nice Holy Spirit, I tell you!