Jesus and Lineage?

Question

If lineage is determined by father in Judaism, and pretty much every other culture out there, how can Jesus even claim to be of Davids descent when he didnt have an earthly father?

Note: Thank you to Mark S for pointing out the information of lineage in Judaism.

but Mary wasnt from Davids lineage was she?

okay supposing she is...that still doesnt count.

Lets not be rash in answering here. God does not have semen. Therefore God cannot have children.

Answer 1

Because he was created miraculously by only woman without any male intervention it would be fair to consider his lineage from Mary/

Answer 2

In Jewish custom, the adopted father is considered the real father, and the son would be entitled to all the rewards of being the son. Joseph was such. If you notice in the lineage, the father of Joseph is different in Mattew and Luke. Matthew defined the adopted father, and Luke described the "real" (albeit dead) father.

Joseph was legally and legitatmatley Jesus earthly father. Mary's lineage is not as important as Joseph's, but if you research you will notice that Joseph came from Soloman and Mary came from Nathan, both sons of David. Jesus fullfilled every prophecy about him. All 600+.

Answer 3

In Orthodox Judaism you are Jewish if your mother is Jewish. However, it was Joseph who was descended from David not Mary and the Old Testament clearly states that the Messiah will be born from the line of David through his son, Solomon.

Therefore, if Joseph was not the father then Jesus wasn't the Messiah. That is one of the reasons why Jews have never accepted Jesus as the Messiah alongside the fact that he doesn't fulfill a large number of the prophecies.

Answer 4

Lineage is from both.... you are considered Jewish if your mother is coz there is no question on paternity........
However Jesus is linked to Mary and Joseph by Solomon and Nathan, both sons and princes of the line of David. As it may be that Mary's dad did not have a son Joseph inherits the lineage and so carries on Heli's name too... that's the Luke lineage, through Nathan, while Joseph agreed to call Jesus his own he then given him the Solomon line!.

Answer 5

The royal line is only passed through the father, never the mother. Even if the lineage mentioned in Luke is Mary’s lineage - that presents a problem in of itself. True, one’s Jewishness is passed through the mother, yet one’s tribal inheritance passes through the father. Christians argue that the Book of Numbers shows a case where a father had no sons, and his estate of land went to his daughters, who it is presumed could pass it on to their children. The Jewish position, however, is that this may apply to property, but not to one’s rights to the throne. Yet, even if we were to assume that the lineage could pass through the mother, and we assume that Luke’s lineage did in fact belong to Mary, was Mary’s lineage a legitimate one?

Answer 6

Either way or linage you use for Jesus, he can be considered to be a descendant of David but not of the line of David. Neither linage would confer the royal succession i.e. at his time there would have been many that had a stronger blood claim to the throne.

This is if he existed, and the reported linages are verifiable.

Answer 7

The LINE comes through the father. That was to encourage Jewish women to marry Jewish men so they would belong to a Jewish family. Such as Cohen.

The JEWISHNESS comes through the mother. That was to encourage Jewish men to marry Jewish women so their kids would be Jewish.

IF God was the real father of Jesus, then Jesus could not have been of the LINE of David. (Unless you believe God himself is a descendant of David?) Therefore Jesus was not the Messiah prophesied as he was not in the line of David.

HOWEVER, if Joseph was in fact the real father of Jesus, then he was in the line of David and could have been the Messiah but not the son of God.

You can not have it BOTH ways.

Answer 8

Since he supposedly had no father, he has no lineage that would be of any importance except to his own curious interests which would be only his mothers side.

Answer 9

The mother's lineage is more important in Judaism, particularly in ancient times.

Answer 10

In judaism lineage is determined by MOTHER

Answer 11

there are 2 lineages in the bible one for Mary and one for Joseph. they both trace to David

Genesis said that her seed (when the seed comes from a man) will bruise his heel.

God is smarter and will make his word stand