Contradiction Number 5

This previous contradiction flows into the next one, which was already implied (and even stated): Who was Joseph's father? According to Matthew 1:16, it was Jacob, but Luke 3:23 says it was Heli. Obviously, Joseph couldn't have had two biological fathers, so something doesn't add up. This matters more than it first seems because these genealogies are often used to validate Jesus' Messianic credentials—tracing him legally or biologically back to King David.

To explain the discrepancy, some propose that Matthew traces the legal line (as stated previously perhaps via adoption or inheritance laws), while Luke gives the biological line, possibly through Mary (making Heli her father, and Joseph his son-in-law). But the text in Luke doesn't say anything about Mary—it clearly says Joseph was the son of Heli. Others suggest that one genealogy uses levirate marriage logic, where a man legally becomes the child of his mother's second husband if the first died without issue. These workarounds exist—but they rely on speculation rather than textual clarity. For readers who expect clean historical records, this starts to get awkward.