King James Bible
"And Jesus himself began to be about thirty years of age, being (as was supposed) the son of Joseph, which was the son of Heli,"
Luke marks Jesus' entry into public ministry at approximately thirty, the age when Levitical priests began their service and David became king. This timing signals Jesus' readiness for his messianic mission and aligns with Jewish expectations of spiritual maturity. Luke carefully notes the common assumption of Joseph's paternity while subtly reminding readers of the virgin birth he described earlier. The parenthetical phrase preserves both social convention and theological truth about Jesus' divine conception. This begins Luke's genealogy tracing Jesus through Mary's line, with Heli likely being Mary's father and Joseph's father-in-law. Unlike Matthew's royal lineage through Joseph, Luke emphasizes Jesus' full humanity by tracing his ancestry back to Adam.