Nathan was the son of King David and Bathsheba, the older brother of Solomon. He was David's third son born in Jerusalem [1 Chronicles 3:5].

Father of the Messiah

According to the Zohar (Shlach 173b), Moshiach (the Jewish Messiah) will descend from the wife of Nathan. Since Joash was the only descendant left from the house of David (), if this were the case, it would seem to follow that he must descend from Nathan. This is also the opinion of Philo as quoted in Seder Hadoros. The view of the Talmud (Horayot 11b), however, is that Joash came from Ahaziah of Judah, who was a descendant of King Solomon.

In Maimonides' first writings (Epistle to Yemen, Chapter 3 and Sefer Hamitzvos Loi Sa'asei, #362), he stated that the Messiah would descend from King Solomon. In Mishneh Torah (Laws of Kings 11,4), however, Maimonides only mentions King David as Moshiach's prerequisite ancestor; King Solomon is not mentioned, which some take to imply that Nathan could very well be the ancestor of the Messiah. From this the leap is made to assert that Maimonides' final ruling accords with this interpretation of the Zohar, the most important work of Kabbalah and Jewish mysticism.

This conclusion is however completely baseless since the Zohar never indicates that Nathan is the father of Messiah. It merely prophesies that the Messiah will emanate from the wife of Nathan. See Nitzutzei Hazohar by R' Reuven Margolios (ibid) who asserts that Solomon married Nathan's wife and begot the (ancestor of the) Messiah. It should be further noted that the "implication" made from the wording (or lack thereof) of Maimonides in Mishneh Torah (Laws of Kings 11,4) is contradicted by his explicit teaching in Laws of Kings 1,7 (ibid) that David's Kingdom will be transmitted via his sons. Therefore, the argument that Maimonides believed at some stage that Moshiach is a direct paternal descendant of King David whilst only a maternal descendant of King Solomon is erroneous. (The necessity for Moshiach to be a direct paternal descendant of King David is further stipulated in and as well as in .)

The above interpretation contradicts Jesus's genealogy as given in the Gospel of Luke. Additionally, many inconsistencies are found in the new testament which are merely patched up with newer, additional inconsistencies. For example, in the Christian Tradition, the lineage of Jesus (considered by the Christians as the Messiah) is counted through Nathan (Luke 3:31 states "...the son of Melea, the son of Menna, the son of Mattatha, the son of Nathan, the son of David,") while the gospel of Matthew records Jesus as having descended from Solomon son of David, not Nathan (Matthew 1:6 "...and Jesse the father of King David. David was the father of Solomon, whose mother had been Uriah's wife,...."). The various explanations given to consolidate the many inconsistencies are rarely accepted by non-believers.

[It should be pointed out though that in reality it does not matter whether or not one must trace Moshiach back to King Solomon. Since Joash was the only remaining descendant of King David, the ability to trace an individual back to King David is, by default, sufficient.]

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