Jesus' Lineage and Kingship
Matthew's gospel starts off with tracing Jesus' family tree to "prove" He came from Abraham and David.
All those listed above include fourteen generations from Abraham to David, fourteen from David to the Babylonian exile, and fourteen from the Babylonian exile to the Messiah.
- Matt 1:17
Add it up, 42 generations.
Forty two generations! To put in perspective, there are 31 generations from William the Conqueror (1066) to Queen Elizabeth II (today) a period of time covering 941 years (and counting); we're still 11 generations short. The difference in this comparison is that in England all they had to do was follow the crown. With Jesus' line they didn't know where (or when) the crown would pop up, so they must have had to follow all children from everyone. I would have no idea how many names must be on that tree. Think about it... Rehoboam alone had 88 children! If the line was a "straight" one through kings from Abraham to Jesus then I could see how it would be easier, it wasn't. For example, Jesus' line doesn't go through David's first wife Michal, King Saul's daughter and queen in her own right, but through Bathsheeba.
However, according to Matthew most of Jesus' ancestors were kings or tribal leaders until you get to Jehoiachin where things break down and the Davidic line starts to fade from the Old Testament.
Who does Matthew say are Jesus' ancestors?
Abraham: Made a covenant with God.
Isaac: Abraham's only Jewish son. Abraham almost sacrificed Isaac out of faith and obedience to God.
Jacob: Bought Esau's birthright for some lentil soup.
Judah: A father of one of the 12 tribes, namesake for southern half of Israel after the split on Rehoboam's watch.
Pharez: AKA Pérez, mother is Tamar, who was his father's daughter-in-law.
Hezron: Among the youngest generation of the 70 Israelites to move to Egypt with Jacob.
Ram: AKA Aram, possibly the first generation born during the exile in Egypt.
Amminadab: Not much known.
Nahshon: Tribal leader who at the dedication of the Tabernacle he was the first to bring his dedicatory offering.
Salmon: Was younger than 20 when he crossed the Jordon; mother was Rahab.
Boaz: Landowner who married Ruth.
Obed: Not much known.
Jesse: From Bethlehem.
David: Became king, major player in the Old Testament; 9 sons and 1 daughter are documented.
Solomon: Wize king, wealthy, built the temple.
Rehoboam: King who's poor leadership caused the split of Israel into the kingdoms of Israel and Judah (north wanted tax relief and he raised).
Abijah: King of Judah who tried unsuccessfully to reunite Israel. Ruled three years and had 36 children.
Asa: Good king of Judah who purged the land of pagans and their idols, temples, etc.
Jehoshaphat: Good king, Judah was saved from the Moabites by God.
Jehoram: Judah king, tried to ally with Israel by marrying king Ahab's daughter, abandoned God.
Uzziah: Judah king, pride was his undoing, tried to burn incense and was struck with leprosy. 2 Kings 8, 11, and 12 has the line going Jehoram -> Ahaziah -> Joash -> Amaziah -> Uzziah
Jotham: Judah king, contemporary with the prophets Isaiah, Hosea, Amos, and Micah, by whose advice he benefited. Built the Upper Gate of the Temple of Jerusalem.
Ahaz: Wicked Judah king.
Hezekiah: Religious king of Judah, reinstated religion in Judah, got rid of pagans.
Manasseh: King of Judah who supported idolatry in the temple until he was captured, tortured, and cried out to God for help.
Amon: King of Judah, restored idolatry, assassinated.
Josiah: King of Judah, Hilikiah brought him "a book of the Torah" he found. Josiah had it read to the people. He also took control of the northern kingdom of Israel. Killed by Pharaoh Neco.
Jehoiachin: Last Davidic king. 2 Kings 23-24 puts the line as: Josiah -> Eliakim/Jehoiakim -> Jehoiachin. 2 Chronicles supports.
Shealtiel: Couldn't find much.
Zerubbabel: Laid the foundation for the second temple.
Abiud: This is the only mention of this name in the Bible, no children noted anywhere else.
Eliakim: Nothing found.
Azor: Again, nada.
Zadok: Nothing.
Akim: Only mention of this name.
Eliud: Again, unique name occurrence.
Eleazar: Nothing.
Matthan: Unique occurrence of this name.
Jacob: Nothing.
Joseph: Jesus', for lack of a better word, adopted father.
What happened?
After Zerubbabel (who's parentage is questioned) the Davidic line disappears from the Bible, that is 10 generations. Is this because of the time between Malachi and Jesus? I wonder where the Jewish family tree (which must have contained hundreds of names) was/is kept? The temple?
Given that Jews believe the Messiah hasn't come, I guess they are still tracking David's lineage... assuming all pre-Jesus records weren't destroyed in the Temple. I doubt they would risk just keeping the names of the first born sons as that line could die out.
Interesting that Matthew's genealogy "ends" with Jacob the father of Joseph which mirrors Genesis' Jacob-Joseph.
Who's Counting?
Remember the 42 generations (14+14+14 in Matt 1:17)? Note that Matthew skipped several names between Jehoram to Uzziah and Josiah to Jehoiachin. On one hand abbreviation of records was not unprecedented, however, wouldn't this important list warrant completeness? If you are going to abbreviate why not say something like, "Jehoram was the great-great-grandfather of Uzziah..."? This is odd to me. Even stranger is Matthew only listed 40 names (41 including Christ), not 42. If you include the names he skipped you go well over 42. I stumbled on some theories before I had to go looking. Regardless, I can forget my assumption that tax collectors keep good records.
Wrong lineage?
Why in the world would Matthew trace Joseph's lineage and not Mary's, then go on to tell the story of immaculate conception? According to the Talmud, derived from Deuteronomy 7:3-4, a person is a Jew if they are born to a Jewish woman (regardless of the race or religion of the father). Interestingly, I think several of the mothers in Jesus' line were not ethnically Jewish (Ruth, Rahab, and possibly Tamar).
Matthew recorded Joseph's line because tribe membership, status, etc is traced through the father (note "son of" occurs 1140 times in the NIV Bible, "daughter of" only 131). To illustrate, the Davidic line is traced through the fathers, not the mothers.
If there isn't a blood connection between Jesus and Joseph then, according to the Talmud, status and lineage still pass to the child. "The Talmud says that he who raises someone else's child is regarded as if he had actually brought him into the world physically." (link, link, link) So, Matthew was following Jewish law to establish Jesus' lines to David.
Is Mary a descendent of David?
For those who look for a blood relationship to David and Abraham, the "Third Difficulty" section here explains that Mary probably does have such a relationship through Nathan.
Who isn't an ancestor of David?
Mathematically speaking, how many generations would pass before such a small group of people could all have a bit of David's blood? According to Matthew, with 2 Kings and Chronicles filling in the omissions, there are 30 people between Jesus and David (exclusive). Given the small size of the nation of Israel and the restrictive laws of marrying only Jews, probability would be very high that both Mary and Joseph would both have David as an ancestor. To illustrate my point: a common ancestors study done recently by MIT, Yale, et al, statistically proved that all 5+ billion people alive today share a common ancestor who lived between 2,000 and 5,000 years ago. So, theoretically, everyone on the planet alive today could be a descendent of David.
Matthew vs. Luke
Note there are some problematic differences between Matthew and Luke's genealogies of Christ. Here they are side by side.
Keep in mind, these differences do not mean Jesus is not in David's line. The Jews were particular about keeping track of their ancestors (for tribe and status). If Jesus wasn't of David He probably would have been publicly denounced as a fraud by the Jewish leadership.
How does this relate to me?
This is interesting stuff (I hope), but how does it relate to Christians today? Well, imagine for a moment that you are Josiah, or one of the other religious kings in David's line. What a huge responsibility (in addition to being king)! Would you have taken the prophecy that the Messiah would be your descendent seriously? Maybe not, there are some serious people in that list and it isn't recorded that they thought about the Messiah when weighing their mates. What if you knew then what you know now? Would you have sinned less, prayed more, or strived to know God more? Well, that is exactly the position you are in. You are the temple of God!
Praises!
God makes the best lemon aid! Look at the names up there and what some of those kings did. Imagine living under a wicked king who taxes the mess out of you that was installed by a foreign power (verses). Could your hope for your children's future be less dim? Well, God pulled it out and came through for His people. So next time you get lost in what is going on in today's world, look at the big picture - God's plan.
1 comment:
it's very useful.. thanks!
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