How was Jesus the Seed of David if Jesus is God who created Man (Adam), and David is the seed of Adam?

Question

How is Jesus the Messiah, the seed of David, if Jesus is God, and God created Man (Adam), and David is the seed of Adam? This is a never-ending circle, and can't physically be possible. We are told in the Old Testament that the Messiah will be the seed of David. This prophecy is fulfilled in the Messiah, Jesus Christ. Joseph was not the father of Jesus; God was. So if Jesus is God, he is his own Father?

This is very confusing to me.

How has this apparent contradiction—between Jesus being the seed of David and Jesus being God—been resolved by Christian theologians and denominations that affirm the Incarnation: that Jesus is fully human and fully God?

Answer 1

"How is Jesus the Messiah, the seed of David"? Simple: Jesus is the human aspect of the offspring of David. Before that, Jesus was spirit.

Jesus created all things, including humanity, as one of the persons of the Godhead before He was flesh and blood. It was only after Mary gave birth to Him that Jesus became flesh and blood. So this is not a circle.

To clarify your points:

1. As the Son of God in spirit form, Jesus created all things (John 1:1-3).
2. The Messianic prophecies foretold of Jesus the Son of God as coming in the flesh, as the offspring of a woman. So Jesus, the Word, became flesh (John 1:14).

Answer 2

Table of Contents

1. Jesus is the seed of David
2. The Meaning of "Seed"
3. How Jesus is the Seed of David
4. The Incarnation (ἡ ἐνσάρκωσις)
5. Greek Text (NA28)

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1. Jesus is the seed of David

The Lord Jesus Christ is the Messiah, "the seed of David" (τὸ σπέρμα Δαβίδ), as the New Testament confirms (Rom. 1:3; 2 Tim. 2:8 cp. John 7:42).

2. Meaning of "Seed"

How is Jesus the Messiah, the seed of David, if Jesus is God, and God created man (Adam), and David is the seed of Adam?

The Greek word σπέρμα (sperma) and Hebrew word זרע (zera) refer to the progeny of a living, created being (a creature), in this case, a human. Being a living creature, a human consists of flesh and bones (Luke 24:39), among other things. On the other hand, God is spirit (John 4:24), that is, incorporal and increate. That which is born or begotten of flesh is flesh (John 3:6).

3. How Jesus is the Seed of David

While God created Adam, Adam is not God's seed. On the other hand, David is the seed (or progeny) of Adam, and from David came Mary, and from Mary came Jesus. Hence, Jesus is of the seed of David through his mother Mary, who herself was descended from David. To be certain, not only men are described as having "seed" in scripture, as the prophecy relates how "her seed" (i.e., Eve's; Gen. 3:15) would crush the serpent's head. This came to fruition by the virgin birth when Mary bore Jesus.

Also, we should realize that every paternal ancestor of Mary may be reckoned as Jesus' father. Thus, Mary's father, who is Jesus' maternal grandfather, is reckoned as Jesus' father, and so on, all the way until Adam, who may also be reckoned as Jesus' father. The Jews had a saying, "The sons of sons (i.e., grandchildren) are as sons" (בני בנים כבנים).¹ Thus, commencing with Luke 3:23, Heli is Jesus' father (although he is literally Mary's father), and proceeding to Luke 3:38, where Enos, Seth, and Adam are all Jesus' fathers (also, it is Jesus, not Adam, who is "the son of God" in Luke 3:38 cp. Luke 1:32, 1:35, 3:22).

Various Christian commentators concur with my assertion, including:

• John Gill

Which was the son of Eli; meaning, not that Joseph was the son of Eli; for he was the son of Jacob, according to Mt 1:16, but Jesus was the son of Eli; and which must be understood, and carried through the whole genealogy, as thus; Jesus the son of Matthat, Jesus the son of Levi, Jesus the son of Melchi, &c. till you come to Jesus the son of Adam, and Jesus the Son of God; though it is true indeed that Joseph was the son of Eli, having married his daughter; Mary was the daughter of Eli...

• John Lightfoot

Joseph is not here called the son of Heli, but Jesus is so: for the word Jesus must be understood, and must be always added in the reader's mind to every race in this genealogy, after this manner: "Jesus (as was supposed) the son of Joseph, and so the son of Heli, and of Matthat, yea and, at length, the son of Adam, and the Son of God." For it was very little the business of the evangelist either to draw Joseph's pedigree from Adam, or, indeed, to shew that Adam was the son of God: which not only sounds something harshly, but in this place very enormously, I may almost add, blasphemously too. For when St. Luke, verse 22, had made a voice from heaven, declaring that Jesus was the Son of God, do we think the same evangelist would, in the same breath, pronounce Adam 'the son of God' too? So that this very thing teacheth us what the evangelist propounded to himself in the framing of this genealogy; which was to shew that this Jesus, who had newly received that great testimony from heaven, "This is my Son," was the very same that had been promised to Adam by the seed of the woman. And for this reason hath he drawn his pedigree on the mother's side, who was the daughter of Heli, and this too as high as Adam, to whom this Jesus was promised. In the close of the genealogy, he teacheth in what sense the former part of it should be taken; viz. that Jesus, not Joseph, should be called the son of Heli, and consequently, that the same Jesus, not Adam, should be called the Son of God. Indeed, in every link of this chain this still should be understood, "Jesus the son of Matthat, Jesus the son of Levi, Jesus the son of Melchi"; and so of the rest...

4. The Incarnation (ἡ ἐνσάρκωσις)

Of course, it is by the incarnation that the Word, who was God (John 1:1), and thus spirit in nature, became human, and thus flesh or corporal in nature (John 1:14). Because of the incarnation, Jesus, who is the Word of God who was with God the Father in the beginning, may also be the seed of David, through his mother Mary who bore him. The apostle Paul wrote,

who, originally existing (ὑπάρχων) in the form of God, did not consider being equal to God robbery, but rather, he emptied himself when he took the form of a servant, when he was made in the likeness of men, (Phil. 2:6-7)

5. The Greek Text (NA28)

The Greek text according to the Nestle-Aland 28th edition states,

καὶ αὐτὸς ἦν Ἰησοῦς ἀρχόμενος ὡσεὶ ἐτῶν τριάκοντα ὢν υἱός ὡς ἐνομίζετο Ἰωσὴφ τοῦ Ἠλὶ

which may be translated as,

And Jesus himself was thirty years-old when he began [to preach],² being the son (as was suppposed of Joseph) of Heli,

In other words, Jesus was supposed (or reckoned) the son of Joseph, although he had no biological descent from Joseph, since Joseph was his adoptive father. On the other hand, Jesus was biologically descended from Heli, for Heli was Mary's father, and thus, Jesus' maternal grandfather. Likewise, Jesus was also descended from every ancestor of Mary all the way until Adam, but even more importantly, Jesus was also descended from God [the Father].

(Both John Gill and John Lightfoot had an exceptional grasp of biblical (Koine) Greek.)

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Footnotes

¹ Radak, Commentary on 1 Chr. 3:19; Babylonian Talmud, Seder Nashim, Tractate Yevamot, Chapter 6, Folio 62b

² See Winer, George Benedikt. A Grammar of the Idiom of the New Testament. 7th ed. Andover: Draper, 1883. (349). Also, see Thayer, Joseph Henry. A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament: Being Grimm Wilke’s Clavis Novi Testamenti. New York: American Book, 1889. (78, ἄρχω, 2. e.)

Answer 3

This answer is based on the theology of Emanuel Swedenborg (1688-1772), and represents the views of the "Swedenborgian" or "New Church" denominations that accept his theology.

Note that this theology is outside the mainstream of traditional Christian theology in that Swedenborg rejected the doctrine of the Trinity of Persons, holding instead that the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit form a Trinity within a single Person of God. So this answer specifically does not offer the viewpoint of traditional Catholic, Protestant, or Orthodox Christianity.

Swedenborg did teach that Jesus Christ is fully God and fully human. As explained in another of my answers here on Christianity.SE linked near the end of this answer, this happened through a process that is at the heart of the current question.

The Biblical Background

First, let's look at some of the Bible passages that are at the heart of this question.

Does the Bible say that the Messiah is the seed of David?

The Messiah in the Old Testament

It is important to know that the Hebrew word translated "Messiah" in a few instances in traditional translations of the Old Testament (such as in Daniel 9:25-26 in the KJV) is מָשִׁיחַ (mashiyach), meaning "anointed"—which is how it is almost always translated. This word refers to the practice of anointing with oil a new king (or priest) as a sign of that person's kingship (or priesthood).

So the Old Testament passages quoted to show that the Messiah would be the seed of David don't really use the term "Messiah" as we think of it today. Rather, they were prophecies of a future king, or line of kings, who would come from the lineage of David.

Here are some of the relevant passages.

In 2 Samuel 7:12-16, as part of a longer speech, God says to King David:

When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your ancestors, I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come forth from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. I will be a father to him, and he shall be a son to me. When he commits iniquity, I will punish him with a rod such as mortals use, with blows inflicted by human beings. But I will not take my steadfast love from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I put away from before you. Your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me; your throne shall be established forever.

Psalm 89 is also read as a prophecy of the Messiah. Here is the most relevant part (Psalm 89:35-37):

Once and for all I have sworn by my holiness;
    I will not lie to David.
His line shall continue forever,
    and his throne endure before me like the sun.
It shall be established forever like the moon,
    an enduring witness in the skies.

And from Jeremiah (Jeremiah 23:5-6):

The days are surely coming, says the Lord, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. In his days Judah will be saved and Israel will live in safety. And this is the name by which he will be called: "The Lord is our righteousness."

There are more, but these are fairly representative passages from which the tradition grew that there would be a future Messiah who would be "the seed of David," meaning in David's biological lineage.

As you can see, it's not nearly as cut-and-dried as many Christians believe. There is no single passage in the Old Testament that says, "There will be a Messiah from the seed of David." There are, rather, various prophecies of an enduring Davidic dynasty, and of a future righteous king in the line of David. These have been woven together to form a prophecy of a great "Messiah" who was to come at some future time and re-establish the kingdom of Israel.

The Messiah in the New Testament

By the time of Christ, that tradition and expectation had been firmly established in Jewish culture. This is reflected, for example, in John 7:40-44:

On hearing his words, some of the people said, "Surely this man is the Prophet."

Others said, "He is the Messiah."

Still others asked, "How can the Messiah come from Galilee? Does not Scripture say that the Messiah will come from David's descendants and from Bethlehem, the town where David lived?" Thus the people were divided because of Jesus. Some wanted to seize him, but no one laid a hand on him.

Based on the prophecy and belief in a future great Messiah who would be from the seed of David, the genealogies of Jesus Christ in Matthew 1:1-17 and Luke 3:23-38, though they differ radically from each other from David to Jesus, both trace Jesus' lineage through David.

However, both of these lineages are presented as the lineage of Joseph, not Mary. So although they establish a quasi-patrilineal genealogy from King David for Jesus through his adoptive father Joseph, they do not establish a genetic lineage. Joseph is definitively stated not to be Jesus' biological father in Matthew 1:18-21 and Luke 1:26-38.

To solve this perceived problem, it has become traditional in some parts of Christianity to state that the genealogy in Luke is actually Mary's genealogy, not Joseph's, and that Mary is also a descendant of David.

However, this is nowhere stated in Scripture itself. Both genealogies are presented in the Bible as the genealogy of Joseph, not Mary (see Matthew 1:16; Luke 3:23).

Mary herself was more likely to have been from the tribe of Levi, not the tribe of Judah (David's tribe), since she was a relative of Elizabeth (see Luke 1:36), who was a descendant of Aaron, a Levite and the first High Priest (Luke 1:5):

In the time of Herod king of Judea there was a priest named Zechariah, who belonged to the priestly division of Abijah; his wife Elizabeth was also a descendant of Aaron.

This means there is no firm Biblical basis for the traditional Christian belief that Jesus was genetically descended from David. The Bible establishes only that his adoptive father Joseph was a descendant of David.

Jesus denied that the Messiah was the son of David

Further, Jesus himself rejected the idea that the Messiah was a son of David in this somewhat cryptic passage (Matthew 22:41-46):

While the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them, "What do you think about the Messiah? Whose son is he?"

"The son of David," they replied.

He said to them, "How is it then that David, speaking by the Spirit, calls him 'Lord'? For he says, 'The Lord said to my Lord: "Sit at my right hand until I put your enemies under your feet."' If then David calls him 'Lord,' how can he be his son?" No one could say a word in reply, and from that day on no one dared to ask him any more questions.

Jesus is here quoting from Psalm 110:1. See also the parallel passages in Mark 12:35-37 and Luke 20:41-44.

Though the force of Jesus' argument based on the first stanza of Psalm 110 is somewhat obscure, the clear message is that Jesus—shockingly to the ultra-orthodox Pharisees with whom he had this conversation—denied that the Messiah was the son of David.

In short, not only is there no clear Biblical basis for the idea that Jesus is physically a descendant of David, but Jesus himself rejects that idea.

Yes, Jesus was hailed by the people as the Messiah, who was the promised king in the line of David. But according to the Gospels' own account, this can only be a symbolic lineage, because the Gospels never speak of Jesus being literally, physically descended from King David. In fact Jesus himself denies that he is the son of David.

Is Jesus the Son of David, or the Son of God?

All of this sets the stage for the solution, according to Swedenborg's theology, to the apparent contradiction between Jesus being the son of David and Jesus being the Son of God, or God himself.

Here is the short version:

• Jesus is the son of David only symbolically, not literally and physically.
• Jesus is not only the Son of God, but is God himself in human form.

Was Jesus a king in the line of David?

As you can see from Jesus' own words quoted above, Jesus himself denied that he, the Messiah, was the son (meaning a descendant) of David.

Further, when asked point blank by Pilate whether he was the King of the Jews, Jesus denied that his kingdom was a worldly kingdom, like that of David (John 18:33-38):

Pilate then went back inside the palace, summoned Jesus and asked him, "Are you the king of the Jews?"

"Is that your own idea," Jesus asked, "or did others talk to you about me?"

"Am I a Jew?" Pilate replied. "Your own people and chief priests handed you over to me. What is it you have done?"

Jesus said, "My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jewish leaders. But now my kingdom is from another place."

"You are a king, then!" said Pilate.

Jesus answered, "You say that I am a king. In fact, the reason I was born and came into the world is to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me."

"What is truth?" retorted Pilate. With this he went out again to the Jews gathered there and said, "I find no basis for a charge against him."

Traditional Christian theology generally holds that at his Second Coming, Christ will come and establish his rule over this world. But here Jesus specifically says, "My kingdom is not of this world." Instead, he says that his kingship is the kingship of truth.

Pilate clearly understood that Jesus was not claiming to be a worldly king, and thus was not a claimant to the Jewish kingship, which would have been in conflict with Roman law. That's why, after this conversation, Pilate went out to the people and said, "I find no basis for a charge against him."

So once again, there is no Biblical warrant for the idea that Jesus is, or ever will be, a worldly king in the line of David. That idea is based on Christian traditions, and on traditional Christian methods of interpreting the Bible, not on the statements of Jesus Christ himself, or of the Bible generally.

By Jesus' own statements, then, and according to the relevant passages in the Bible, Jesus Christ is not physically the son of David.

Instead, Jesus Christ is a spiritual king who was represented in symbolic form by King David.

King David is not the father of Jesus. Rather, to borrow a phrase from Hebrews 10:1, David was "only a shadow of the good things to come and not the true form" of that reality. David was only a human being who served for a time as the Israelites' greatest king. Jesus Christ is the true, divine king, because he is God himself come to earth to establish the true, spiritual government of divine truth.

Jesus was the Son of God, and was God himself in human form

According to Swedenborg's theology, God was not only Jesus' Father, but by the time of Jesus' resurrection and ascension to the Father, Jesus Christ was fully God, and was one with the Father, just as he says in John 10:30.

However, detailing this would double or triple the length of this already long answer. Instead, please see the explanation contained in my answer to this question: How does the Swedenborgian Church explain passages where Jesus talks/prays to the Father? There you will find it explained how Jesus could be physically the son of Mary, yet also be the Son of God, and God himself in human form.

For a more general explanation of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and Jesus' mission of redemption on earth, please see my article: Who is God? Who is Jesus Christ? What about that Holy Spirit?

Answer 4

There is a simple answer as to how Jesus is in fact of the seed of David and therefore fulfills qualifying prophecy. Luke and Matthew, according to Jewish tradition attempt to trace Jesus' lineage through Joseph although he had no DNA to impart due to divine conception. It is assumed that Mary, like her cousin Elizabeth was of the house of Levi because scripture is quiet on Mary' lineage. But she must of necessity be of the house of David for her son to be of David. Back in Numbers 27 we read of Zelophedad's 5 daughters petitioning Moses on inheritance rights and thus keeping their fathers name intact. God actually agrees with their petition and instructs Moses to put into the law that a woman may indeed legally carry the " right of seed" when no qualifying male is present but stipulated the woman must marry within clan and tribe. Thus can Mary confer to her son Jesus the " seed of David" that was needed to fulfill prophecy. Yet as we see Jesus and Isaiah were both correct in charging Is real with the error of nullifying the Word of God by instituting their own tradition, even the tradition that man can only assume inheritance right and carry the seed even if scripture says otherwise. Jesus fulfilled being seed of David apart from the need of Joseph imparting the DNA required.

Answer 5

‎‎The answer lies in scripture without added commentary being necessary, unless of course you are forcing references other than scripture.

Colossians 1: 12 Giving thanks to God the Father, who hath made us worthy to be partakers of the lot of the saints in light: ‎‎13 Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness and hath translated us into the kingdom of the Son of his love, 14 In whom we have redemption through his blood, the remission of sins: 15 Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature: ‎‎16 For in him were all things created in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones, or dominations, or principalities, or powers. All things were created by him and in him. 17 And he is before all: and by him all things consist. ‎‎18 And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things he may hold the primacy: ‎‎

John 1: 1 IN the beginning was the Word: and the Word was with God: and the Word was God. 2 The same was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made by him: and without him was made nothing that was made.
14 And the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us (and we saw his glory, the glory as it were of the only begotten of the Father), full of grace and truth. ‎‎17 For the law was given by Moses: grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. 18 No man hath seen God at any time: the only begotten Son who is in the Bosom of the Father, he hath declared him.

Hebrews 1: ‎‎1 GOD, who, at sundry times and in divers manners, spoke in times past to the fathers by the prophets, last of all, 2 In these days, hath spoken to us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the world. 3 Who being the brightness of his glory and the figure of his substance and upholding all things by the word of his power, making purgation of sins, sitteth on the right hand of the majesty on high: 4 Being made so much better than the angels as he hath inherited a more excellent name than they. ‎‎5 For to which of the angels hath he said at any time: Thou art my Son, to-day have I begotten thee? And again: I will be to him a Father, and he shall be to me a Son? 6 And again, when he bringeth in the first begotten into the world, he saith: And let all the angels of God adore him. ‎‎7 And to the angels indeed he saith: He that maketh his angels spirits and his ministers a flame of fire. 8 But to the Son: Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: a sceptre of justice is the sceptre of thy kingdom. 10 And: Thou in the beginning, O Lord, didst found the earth: and the works of thy hands are the heavens. 13 But to which of the angels said he at any time: Sit on my right hand, until I make thy enemies thy footstool?

Hebrews 2: ‎‎6 But one in a certain place hath testified, saying: What is man, that thou art mindful of him? Or the son of man, that thou visitest him? ‎‎7 Thou hast made him a little lower than the angels: thou hast crowned him with glory and honour and hast set him over the works of thy hands. ‎‎8 Thou hast subjected all things under his feet. For in that he hath subjected all things to him he left nothing not subject to him. But now we see not as yet all things subject to him. 9 But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour: that, through the grace of God he might taste death for all. 10 For it became him for whom are all things and by whom are all things, who had brought many children into glory, to perfect the author of their salvation, by his passion. ‎‎>16 For nowhere doth he take hold of the angels: but of the seed of Abraham he taketh hold. 17 Wherefore, it behoved him in all things to be made like unto his brethren, that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest before God, that he might be a propitiation for the sins of the people. 18 For in that wherein he himself hath suffered and been tempted he is able to succour them also that are tempted.

Hebrews 3: ‎‎4 For every house is built by some man: but he that created all things is God. 5 And Moses indeed was faithful in all his house as a servant, for a testimony of those things which were to be said: 6 But Christ, as the Son in his own house: which house are we, if we hold fast the confidence and glory of hope unto the end. 7 Wherefore, as the Holy Ghost saith: To-day if you shall hear his voice, ‎‎8 Harden not your hearts, as in the provocation, in the day of temptation in the desert, ‎‎9 Where your fathers tempted me, proved and saw my works,

2 Corinthians 3: 17 Now the Lord is a Spirit. And where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.

Concerning the only begotten Son and the Father there appears to be a power beyond creation, beyond this universe, that will destroy this creation on judgment day:

Revelation 20: 11 And I saw a great white throne and one sitting upon it, from whose face the earth and heaven fled away: and there was no place found for them

Revelation 21: 1 I saw a new heaven and a new earth. For the first heaven and the first earth was gone: and the sea is now no more.

Since God is Spirit this appears to be possible if you see the Father as the complete Spirit with the only begotten Son the fullness of the Spirit that is within creation (as apparently some portion exists outside of creation). This last comes from reconciling the scripture provided along with studying the Bible from the view that all of it is inspired by the Holy Ghost/Spirit thus cannot contradict itself and must be logical.

Regarding Jesus being the seed of David, this was symbolic due to Joseph being of the line of David (the purpose of the lineage given in Luke 3:23-38):

Luke 1: 27 To a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David: and the virgin’s name was Mary.

Also, regarding your last comment on the original post, there are different spellings of some of the names depending on what Bible version you are sourcing but the lineage is intact, with one possible addition that I can see (Cainan between Arphaxad/Arpachshad and Sale/Shelah).