Uploaded November 2017 | Updated September 2026, 1 hour ago
The solution to the “42 generations” from Abraham to Jesus problem:
“The learned have also been much tormented by the difference between the two genealogies of Jesus Christ. St. Matthew makes Joseph the son of Jacob, Jacob of Matthan, Matthan of Eleazar [Matt. 1:16-17]. St. Luke, on the contrary, says that Joseph was the son of Heli, Heli of Matthat, Matthat of Levi, Levi of Melchi, etc. [Luke 3:24] They will not reconcile the fifty-six progenitors up to Abraham, given to Jesus by Luke, with the forty-two other forefathers up to the same Abraham, given him by Matthew; and they are quite staggered by Matthew’s giving only forty-one generations, while he speaks of forty-two.”
— Voltaire (1764), Philosophical Dictionary (§Christianity)
eoht.info/page/Jesus+Christ
The solution to the “42 generations” from Abraham to Jesus problem:
“The learned have also been much tormented by the difference between the two genealogies of Jesus Christ. St. Matthew makes Joseph the son of Jacob, Jacob of Matthan, Matthan of Eleazar [Matt. 1:16-17]. St. Luke, on the contrary, says that Joseph was the son of Heli, Heli of Matthat, Matthat of Levi, Levi of Melchi, etc. [Luke 3:24] They will not reconcile the fifty-six progenitors up to Abraham, given to Jesus by Luke, with the forty-two other forefathers up to the same Abraham, given him by Matthew; and they are quite staggered by Matthew’s giving only forty-one generations, while he speaks of forty-two.”
— Voltaire (1764), Philosophical Dictionary (§Christianity)
eoht.info/page/Jesus+Christ
