There are numerous well known questions about the discrepancies contained in the Jesus family-tree as it is presented by Matthew and Luke. But there is another aspect here that arouses my curiosity, one which I have not seen discussed, and is common with both apostles’ work. I wonder just where these authors got the information to come up with their purported lineage. I have no question about the earlier names, the OT gives them a good start on the oldest of ancestors, from Adam right down to Jehoiakim. But things get really murky following the Babylon captivity onward; the OT has nothing more to offer. Was ancient Judah the original model for our present day county recorder’s office? Could Matthew and Luke just go down to the regional civic center and do some research to trace the family back 600 years? Are, or were, there massive and meticulous documents of this kind of data that were kept by the ancient Jews? Or did God just make that info available to them?
Has anyone ever addressed this question? Would like to know if there are any theories about it, or perhaps even a ‘no-brainer’ solution that somehow I have not been able to perceive.
That’s a dang good question. Undoubtedly scholars have been arguing this since it became possible to do so without getting fried crispy. I would recommend you ask Dr Ehrman over in the blog to recommend good commentaries on Matthew and Luke. Other than finding out what Dr Ehrman considers a good commentary such a work is going to give you at least a summary of the different views that scholars have held.
The Hebrew Bible is obsessed with genealogies and “begats” and there were definite rules that applied to the Messiah so perhaps there already existed such “Messianic” genealogies and one or more of them were adapted to fit Jesus? Just a guess.
jimlefferts said
Was ancient Judah the original model for our present day county recorder’s office? Could Matthew and Luke just go down to the regional civic center and do some research to trace the family back 600 years? Are, or were, there massive and meticulous documents of this kind of data that were kept by the ancient Jews? Or did God just make that info available to them?
Excellent question. I have traced my genealogy on ancestry.com. The amount of misinformation online demonstrates how easy and tempting it is to concoct questionable ancestry. Some of my distant relatives have genealogies that show we are descended from Mayflower ancestors. We are supposedly descended from the captain of the Mayflower and his wife through their son born here in the New World. Unfortunately, reliable history indicates that the captain went back to England and his wife never left Britain. They had no son in America.
Lawyerskeptic said
jimlefferts said
Was ancient Judah the original model for our present day county recorder’s office? Could Matthew and Luke just go down to the regional civic center and do some research to trace the family back 600 years? Are, or were, there massive and meticulous documents of this kind of data that were kept by the ancient Jews? Or did God just make that info available to them?
Excellent question. I have traced my genealogy on ancestry.com. The amount of misinformation online demonstrates how easy and tempting it is to concoct questionable ancestry. Some of my distant relatives have genealogies that show we are descended from Mayflower ancestors. We are supposedly descended from the captain of the Mayflower and his wife through their son born here in the New World. Unfortunately, reliable history indicates that the captain went back to England and his wife never left Britain. They had no son in America.
I’ve been doing genealogy for 20+ years as well and I know exactly what you mean. I’m sure it’s not just an American phenomenon, but amateurs latch onto the slightest whiff that they might be related to royalty whether the suggestion is logical or not. Perhaps people of the ancient world weren’t so different in that regard.
jimlefferts said
There are numerous well known questions about the discrepancies contained in the Jesus family-tree as it is presented by Matthew and Luke. But there is another aspect here that arouses my curiosity, one which I have not seen discussed, and is common with both apostles’ work. I wonder just where these authors got the information to come up with their purported lineage. I have no question about the earlier names, the OT gives them a good start on the oldest of ancestors, from Adam right down to Jehoiakim. But things get really murky following the Babylon captivity onward; the OT has nothing more to offer. Was ancient Judah the original model for our present day county recorder’s office? Could Matthew and Luke just go down to the regional civic center and do some research to trace the family back 600 years? Are, or were, there massive and meticulous documents of this kind of data that were kept by the ancient Jews? Or did God just make that info available to them?Has anyone ever addressed this question? Would like to know if there are any theories about it, or perhaps even a ‘no-brainer’ solution that somehow I have not been able to perceive.
Yes, I write about it in my book, The Greatest Bible Study in Historical Accuracy, 2nd Edition (only the first edition is available on amazon.com and this topic is not in that edition.
…the son of Matthat, the son of Levi, the son of Melchi, the son of Jannai, the son of Joseph, the son of Mattathias…
The Gospel according to Luke 3: 24-25
Jesus was a son of ancestors, Matthat, Levi, Melchi, Jannai, Joseph, and Mattathias. Historically, there was a Mattathias the Hasmonean, biological father of Judas Maccabee who successfully revolted against the Greek-Macedonian state, the Seleucid Empire.
Jannai > Melchi > Levi > Matthat > Heli > Jesus means:
Melchi and Levi may be interpreted as king and priest, respectively.
Jannai is Alexander Jannai/Jannaeus/Yannai. Jannai was a Hasmonean king of Judaea 103 – 76 B.C.E. and, for a time, he was High Priest (king and priest).
With the genealogy of Mary, biological parent of Jesus, not Joseph, a non-biological parent of Jesus, Mary is royalty.
Until, my book in its second edition is finished and available on amazon, see Herodian Messiah by Joseph Raymond.
Joseph Raymond wrote, “Those named by Luke as ancestors of Jesus match, to a degree [not exactly], the lineage of [King] Antigonus.”
Regarding the Talmud’s claim that Jesus was the son of a soldier named “Pantera,” Joseph Raymond explains, “Pantera is a bastardization of the name of Jesus’ true father, Antipater, who lived in Rome most of his early life and assuredly commanded Roman auxiliary troops in Judea as coregent of the Jewish kingdom. “
Next, let us look at Chapter 3: Luke’s Genealogy [of Mary] in the book, Herodian Messiah by Joseph Raymond.
I approached this work as a lawyer constructs a legal brief. First collect the facts, next research the law, then analyze the law to the facts (with a healthy dose of returning to step one when the pieces of the jigsaw puzzle refuse to align). – From Joseph Raymond’s Summary Argument (Chapter 1)
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