Nathan (son of David)
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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].
[edit] Father of the Messiah
According to the Zohar (Shlach 173b), Moshiach (the Jewish Messiah) will descend from Nathan. Since Joash was the only descendant left from the house of David (Kings 2:11), if this were the case, it would follow that he must have been descended from Nathan. This is also the opinion of Philo as quoted in Seder Hadoros[citation needed]. 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, 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 (despite the stipulation in 1 Chronicles 22:10 and 2 Chronicles 7:18 that the Messiah will be a descendant of King Solomon). 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.
Alternatively, it could be explained that Moshiach is a direct paternal descendant of King David, whilst King Solomon might only be his maternal ancestor.[citation needed] This Christian interpretation is used to explain Jesus's genealogy as given in the Gospel of Luke.
Finally, it should be pointed out that in reality it does not matter whether or not one must trace Moshiach back to King Solomon.[citation needed] Since Joash was the only remaining descendant of King David, the ability to trace an individual back to King David is, by default, sufficient.[citation needed]
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,"). It must be said, however that 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,....").
Many have argued that he has not fulfilled the required personality traits listed in Maimonides (end of Sefer HaYad), where the author transmits the requirements for Messiahship.
