The New Testament provides two accounts of the genealogy of Jesus, one in the Gospel of Matthew and another in the Gospel of Luke. Matthew starts with Abraham and works forwards, while Luke works back in time from Jesus to Adam. The lists of names are identical between Abraham and David, but differ radically from that point. Matthew has twenty-seven generations from David to Joseph, whereas Luke has forty-two, with almost no overlap between them or with other known genealogies. They also disagree on who Joseph's father was: Matthew says he was Jacob, while Luke says he was Heli.
Ancestors of Christ by Armenian manuscript illuminator Toros Roslin
South dome of inner narthex at Chora Church, Istanbul, depicting the ancestors of Christ from Adam onwards
Patrilineage in Matthew was traditionally illustrated by a Tree of Jesse showing the descent of Jesus from Jesse, father of King David.
Tree of Jesse illustration based on the Hortus deliciarum of Herrad of Landsberg (12th century)
Abraham is the common Hebrew patriarch of the Abrahamic religions, including Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. In Judaism, he is the founding father of the special relationship between the Jews and God; in Christianity, he is the spiritual progenitor of all believers, whether Jewish or non-Jewish; and in Islam, he is a link in the chain of Islamic prophets that begins with Adam and culminates in Muhammad.
Abraham Casting out Hagar and Ishmael (1657) by Giovanni Francesco Barbieri
Abraham and the Angels, by Aert de Gelder, c. 1680–85 (Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, Rotterdam)
Abraham's Counsel to Sarai, watercolor by James Tissot, c. 1900 (Jewish Museum, New York)
Meeting of Abraham and Melchizedek, canvas by Dieric Bouts the Elder, c. 1464–1467
