Jacob, father of Joseph

Life and work

This Jacob appears exactly once in Scripture, named as the son of Matthan and the father of 'Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus who is called Christ' (Matthew 1:15-16). No narrative episode involving him is recorded anywhere in the Bible, and he is entirely distinct from the patriarch Jacob (also called Israel), son of Isaac and father of the twelve tribes, who belongs to a much earlier period of biblical history. Luke's genealogy names Joseph's father as Heli rather than Jacob (Luke 3:23), part of the same broader divergence between the two Gospel genealogies discussed under Matthan; proposed explanations include one Gospel tracing a legal/royal succession and the other a biological line, though the question remains genuinely open among scholars.

Extra-biblical evidence

No extra-biblical source or narrative episode exists for this Jacob; he is attested only in Matthew's genealogy.

Scripture references

• Matthew 1:15-16 — Named as the father of Joseph, husband of Mary, in Jesus's genealogy
• Luke 3:23 — Luke's parallel genealogy names Joseph's father as Heli instead