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The following is an excerpt from the book Does the Bible Have Contradictions? by Matthew Elton, copyright 2009 Matthew Elton.

Question:

Which son of Zerubbabel was an ancestor of Jesus Christ, Abiud (Matthew 1:13) or Rhesa (Luke 3:27), and what about Zerubbabel in (1 Chronicles 3:19-20)?

Answer:

Matthew gives the genealogy of Joseph and Luke gives that of Mary. In Mary’s genealogy, Mary is referred through her husband Joseph, because it was Hebrew tradition to list only males in genealogical records. Both Mary and Joseph had an ancestor named Zerubbabel. These were two different people named Zerubbabel, so they had different sons. The son of Zerubbabel on Mary’s side was a direct ancestor of Jesus. The son of Zerubbabel was an ancestor of Jesus through Mary’s marriage to Joseph. As for 1 Chronicles 3:19-20, as far as I can tell, the Zerubbabel listed there is just a third Zerubbabel.