Genealogy

Genealogies in the Bible

A genealogy is a record that traces, by name, the line of descent from ancestors to their descendants. Depending on context, the New Korean Revised Version (Gaeyeok Gaejeong) renders the term as "genealogy," "lineage," or "account."

• Genesis: Chapter 5 records ten generations from Adam to Noah, giving each person's age. Among them are Seth, Jared, Enoch, and Methuselah. Chapter 10 arranges the descendants of Shem, Ham, and Japheth by nation, and chapter 11 records the line from Shem to Abram.
• 1 Chronicles 1–9: Sets out the genealogies from Adam to the period after the exile, arranged according to the twelve tribes of Israel.
• Ezra 2 and Nehemiah 7: List, by family, those who returned from Babylon.
• Matthew 1:1–17 and Luke 3:23–38: Record the genealogy of Jesus Christ.

Background

The recurring expression in Genesis, "These are the generations of …," translates the Hebrew word toledot. The word derives from the verb meaning "to beget" and serves to divide Genesis into sections. In ancient Israel, genealogies provided the basis for confirming the allotment and inheritance of land, the qualifications of priests and Levites, and the legitimacy of royal succession. After the return from exile, those whose names could not be found in the register were excluded from the priesthood (Ezra 2:62).

Significance in the New Testament

Matthew introduces Jesus as "the son of David, the son of Abraham" (Matthew 1:1). The genealogy is then divided into three groups of fourteen generations (Matthew 1:17). Attention is often drawn to the inclusion in this genealogy of Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, and "her that had been the wife of Urias" (Bathsheba). Luke traces the line backward from Jesus to Adam, "which was the son of God" (Luke 3:38).

The Epistles warn against devoting oneself to "endless genealogies" (1 Timothy 1:4; Titus 3:9). Hebrews 7:3 portrays Melchizedek as one "without descent."

Interpretation and Debated Issues

• Differences between the two Gospels: Matthew names Jacob as the father of Joseph of Nazareth, while Luke names Heli. Some interpreters account for this difference by taking Luke's genealogy as the line of Mary. Another traditional explanation appeals to levirate marriage, the custom by which a man married his deceased brother's widow to continue the family line.
• Omissions and chronology: Matthew 1:8 passes over several kings mentioned in the books of Kings. For this reason it is widely acknowledged that biblical genealogies do not record every generation without omission. Some have calculated the date of creation by combining the figures in Genesis 5 and 11; the seventeenth-century calculation of James Ussher is the best-known example. Opinion is divided between those who read the genealogies as a continuous chronology and those who hold that they may contain gaps (see Creation and Evolution). In addition, the Septuagint and the Masoretic Text differ in the ages given in these chapters. The Cainan mentioned in Luke 3:36 appears only in the Septuagint text of Genesis.
• Traditions outside the text: Later Jewish literature, such as the apocryphal book of 1 Enoch, contains an account of angels descending in the days of Jared. This account does not appear in the text of Genesis.

In the Korean Church

In Bible read-through programs, Genesis 5 and 1 Chronicles 1–9 are regarded as difficult passages because of their long lists of names. Around Christmas, sermons are sometimes preached on the genealogy in Matthew 1, and preachers occasionally explain it by comparison with the Korean tradition of family genealogical records.