Mary, the mother of Jesus: Both her father’s and husband's names were Joseph
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Translation error of the Greek word “aner”
The word husband in Matthew 1:16 was translated from the Greek word “aner”. The Greek word “aner” is defined as “any male”. Therefore the translators were at liberty to use their own discretion when translating “aner”. In this case it was their discretion to translate “aner” husband however the translation should have been father. By making the translation husband causes a number of discrepancies. First it creates a conflict between the genealogy in Matthew 1:2-16 with the genealogy in Luke 3:23-38. It appears that Joseph has two different fathers. In Matthew 1:15 his father appears to be Jacob while in Luke 3:23 his father is Heli.
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The fourteen generations from the carrying away into Babylon to Christ (less one generation resulting from translation error)
In Matthew 1:17 it tells us “from the carrying away into Babylon unto Christ are fourteen generations”. However when you count from the generation of Salathiel (Matthew 1:12) to Christ (Matthew 1:16) with the assumption that this Joseph is Mary’s husband instead of her father there are only thirteen generations.
1. Generation of Salathiel (Matthew 1:12)
2. Generation of Zorobabel (Matthew 1:12)
3. Generation of Abiud (Matthew 1:13)
4. Generation of Eliakim (Matthew 1:13)
5. Generation of Azor (Matthew 1:13)
6. Generation of Sadoc (Matthew 1:14)
7. Generation of Achim (Matthew 1:14)
8. Generation of Eliud (Matthew 1:14)
9. Generation of Eleazar (Matthew 1:15)
10. Generation of Matthan (Matthew 1:15)
11. Generation of Jacob (Matthew 1:15)
12. Generation of Joseph (Matthew 1:16)
13. Christ’s generation (Matthew 1:16)
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The fourteen generations from the carrying away into Babylon to Christ (with translation error corrected)
However when you correct the translation of “aner ” making it father instead of husband the discrepancies go away and you discover that Mary’s father’s name was the same as her husband’s. Isn’t that ironic? Now let us recount the generations from the carrying away into Babylon unto Christ with Joseph in Matthew 1:16 now accurately being translated Mary’s father.
1. Generation of Salathiel (Matthew 1:12)
2. Generation of Zorobabel (Matthew 1:12)
3. Generation of Abiud (Matthew 1:13)
4. Generation of Eliakim (Matthew 1:13)
5. Generation of Azor (Matthew 1:13)
6. Generation of Sadoc (Matthew 1:14)
7. Generation of Achim (Matthew 1:14)
8. Generation of Eliud (Matthew 1:14)
9. Generation of Eleazar (Matthew 1:15)
10. Generation of Matthan (Matthew 1:15)
11. Generation of Jacob (Matthew 1:15)
12. Generation of Joseph (Matthew 1:16)
13. Mary’s generation (Matthew 1:16)
14. Christ’s generation (Matthew 1:16)
This is an excellent example to remind us that our bibles are translations and there are errors in the translations. The original God inspired word was perfect and whenever there appears to be contradictions it is either in our understanding (i.e. interpretation) or there’s a bad translation.
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I appreciate your input and I'll admit I'm no Greek Scholar. However if the translation is correct then there is a discrepancy between the genealogies in Matthew and Luke. Not to mention, you cannot get 14 generations between the carrying away into Babylon unto Christ if the translation is Joseph the husband. Is there any light you can offer on this?
I do, but I am not sure if you will like it. I happen to agree with Bart Ehrman, Ph.D, professor of religious studies at Universtity of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, who proposed the idea that most of the New Testament books were written in different locations by different authors who each had a distinct understanding of Christian beliefs and so the stories are slanted to reflect the authors beliefs.
It is common knowledge among scholars that no one knows who really wrote the books of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John but it was not the disciples as these books were written 40-70 years after the death of Jesus and were written in Greek, when the disciples were illiterates who only spoke Aramaic.
Most likely the original stories were oral, and like all oral stories changed with the retelling, until a point came when a few decided to write down these stories, and each one had a different slant and story to tell.
This is why the gospels differ so greatly in what they are trying to teach - each book was written as a stand-alone text reflecting the belief of the author.
TY, I appreciate you sharing. I am not a closed minded person...so it's not a matter of whether I like what a person is saying or not. Once you close down, you're closed to learning. Besides I am prone to believe alot of what you are saying in your comment. I am quite aware that the gospels were not written by any of the apostles and the authors are unknown. Which can make one question their credibility. However it's the best we have and I guess all we can do is try to make the best out of that information as Christians. Thanks again.
You are right ^^* I realized the fact through the contexts not the translations in the bible.
I mean you are right that Mary is 13th generation. Fourteenth is Jesus.
AKA Winston Level 5 Commenter 5 months ago
Your supposition has no basis in facts.
Bauer-Arndt-Gingrich-Danker Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1979).
aner:
"man: 1. In contrast to woman ... Especially husband. 2. man in contrast to boy... 3. used with a word indicating national or local origin ... 4. Used with adjective to emphasize the dominant characteristic of a man ... 5. man with special emphasis on manliness ... 6. Equivalent to tis, someone ... 7. A figure of a man of heavenly beings who resemble men ... 8. Of Jesus as the judge of the world" (BAGD, pp. 66-67).
The problem is that "aner" may be translatged as "husband" but the Greek have a completely separate word for father (pateras), so aner is either husband or simply a generic male person.
It certainly is not father.