The genealogy of Jesus is described in two passages of the Gospels: Luke 3:23–38 and Matthew 1:1–17. Matthew's genealogy commences with Abraham and then from King David's son Solomon follows the legal line of the kings through Jeconiah, the king whose descendants were cursed, to Joseph, legal father of Jesus. Luke gives a different genealogy going back to Adam, through a minor son of David, Nathan and apparently again to Joseph.
Both gospels state that Jesus was begotten not by Joseph, but by God, being born to Mary through a virgin birth. These lists are identical between Abraham and David, but they differ radically from that point onward.
The Catholic Encyclopedia (1913) states that, aside from a general implication of her Davidic origin, there is no explicit Biblical record of Mary's genealogy. But a number of extra-biblical sources, some relatively early, claim to provide her immediate ancestry, as well as an explanation for the divergence between Matthew and Luke. The apparent contradiction of the two gospel genealogies has aroused controversy since ancient times, although some modern scholars tend to view the genealogies as theological craftsmanship rather than historical fact.
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“Theologians should not be ashamed to admit that they cannot enter a contest with such antagonists [the sceptics], and that they do not want to expose the Gospel truths to such an attack. The ship of Jesus Christ is not made for sailing on this stormy sea, but for taking shelter from this tempest in the haven of faith.”
—Pierre Bayle (1647–1706)