Ancestors of Jesus
The ancestors of Jesus of Nazareth are handed down in the New Testament of the Bible as a list-like lineage mostly of the fathers (wrongly called family tree ) in two versions. Both emphasize Jesus' origins from God's chosen people, Israel . It is controversial whether the lists were written by the authors of the Gospels of Matthew and Luke themselves or whether they were taken from tradition that is already circulating.
In Christian iconography , especially of the Middle Ages, the pictorial representation of the family tree of Christ is referred to as the Root Jesse or Latin Radix Jesse .
Gospel according to Matthew
Mt 1,1–17 EU according to the standard translation :
“Family tree of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham: Abraham was the father of Isaac,
Isaac of Jacob, / Jacob of Judah and his brothers.
Judah was the father of Perez and Serach; her mother was Tamar.
Perez was the father of Hezron, Hezron of Aram,
Aram of Amminadab,
Amminadab of Nachshon, Nachshon of Salmon.
Salmon was the father of Boaz; his mother was Rahab.
Boaz was Obed's father; his mother was Ruth. Obed was the father of Jesse,
Jesse the father of King David.
David was the father of Solomon, whose mother was the wife of Uriah.
Solomon was the father of Rehoboam,
Rehoboam of Abijah, Abijah of Asa,
Asa of Jehoshaphat,
Jehoshaphat of Jehoram, Joram of Uzziah.
Uzziah was the father of Iotam,
Iotam of Ahaz, Ahaz of Hezekiah,
Hezekiah of Manasseh,
Manasseh of Amos, Amos of Joschiah.
Josiah was the father of Jehoiachin and his brothers; that was at the time of the Babylonian captivity. 12 After the captivity of Babylon, Jehoiachin was the father of Shealtyel,
Shealtyel of Zerubbabel,
Zerubbabel of Abihud,
Abihud of Eliakim, and Eliakim of Azor.
Azor was the father of Zadok,
Zadok of Achim, Achim of Eliud,
Eliud of Eleazar,
Eleazar of Mattan, Mattan of Jacob.
Jacob was the father of Joseph, Mary's husband;
of her was born Jesus, who is called the Christ (the Messiah).
All in all, there are fourteen generations from Abraham to David, fourteen generations from David to the Babylonian captivity, and fourteen generations from the Babylonian captivity to Christ. "
Gospel according to Luke
Lk 3.23–38 EU according to the standard translation:
“Jesus was about thirty years old when he first appeared in public. He was thought to be Joseph's son. Josef's ancestors were: Eli, Mattat, Levi, Melchi, Jannai, Josef, Mattitja, Amos, Nahum, Hesli, Naggai, Mahat, Mattitja, Schimi, Josech, Joda, Johanan, Resa, Serubbabel, Schealtiël, Neri, Melchi, Addi , Kosam, Elmadam, Er, Joschua, Eliëser, Jorim, Mattat, Levi, Simeon, Juda, Josef, Jonam, Eljakim, Melea, Menna, Mattata, Natan, David, Isai, Obed, Boas, Salmon, Nachschon, Amminadab, Admin , Arni, Hezron, Perez, Juda, Jakob, Isaak, Abraham, Terach, Nahor, Serug, Regu, Peleg, Eber, Schelach, Kenan, Arpachschad, Sem, Noach, Lamech, Metuschelach, Henoch, Jered, Mahalalel, Kenan, Enosch , Set, Adam; (that came from) God. "
There are two versions of verse 33, instead of Admin and Arni, in some editions only Aram (Ram) is mentioned, which means that the list from God to Jesus contains either 77 or 78 names.
Similarities
The common intention of the lists is to proclaim Jesus of Nazareth as predestined by YHWH himself, fully entitled to inheritance member of the first chosen people of God Israel, the goal of the entire biblical salvation history of Israel and the only possible candidate for the dignity of the Messiah . They want to give specific answers to questions from their readers about Jesus' origin and importance for his people.
What is important to them is agreement with God's will for salvation for Israel as such. For them the Redeemer could only come from among God's chosen people to save this people and thus all other peoples. That is why both lists of ancestors place Jesus completely in the history of the promise of Israel, which is guided by the Spirit of God . Both versions mainly include the lineage of the fathers as an uninterrupted chronological succession of generations .
Both evangelists underline the main stations of the main line through a number symbolism in which the number seven and its multiples have a central meaning. In Judaism this number is considered to be an expression of the highest perfection (cf. the menorah , the seven-day week of the creation story in Gen 1, etc.).
In the ranking of the ancestors from Abraham to David, both versions are largely parallel. They follow the fathers' stories of Genesis (Gen 12-49) and the genealogies of Ruth 4.18-22 EU and 1 Chr 2.1-15 EU ; even where they diverge, they refer to biblical traditions.
particularities
From Abraham to Jesus (both included), Matthew names 41 names, which are seen as three rows of 14 generations each. Depending on the version, Luke gives 56 or 57 names, i.e. 56 (four times 14) names either for the range from Abraham to Joseph or from Abraham to Jesus.
Matthew
In the Gospel of Matthew, the list of Jesus' ancestors is at the very beginning. Already in the first verse she emphasizes the most important ones: David , the first king of all Israel and recipient of the Messiah promise , and Abraham , the progenitor of all Israelites , to whom the future promise of blessing for all peoples of the earth was given ( Gen 12.3 EU ).
“I want to bless those who bless you; I want to curse whoever curses you. All the families of the earth are to receive blessings through you. "
The list of fathers appears as part of his family tree.
Matthew divides the entire sequence into three by 14 terms, with the first row ending with David. It follows the formulaic language of biblical genealogies , which, from the progenitor's point of view, first name the father as the witness of his eldest son or son entitled to inheritance, that is, double each name: “Abraham begat Isaac. Isaac begat Jacob […] ”etc. He also names some of the mothers in Jesus' lineage: All five expressly or indirectly named women, Tamar , Rahab , Ruth , Bathsheba (“ wife of Uriah ”) and Mary show offensive moral standards according to the moral standards of the time Traits or circumstances such as pagan origin, idiosyncrasy, prostitution , adultery , extramarital conception, but apparently found acceptance before God. The ancestors of Jesus mentioned (excluding Mary) were non-Jews. Matthew thus points out the universal salvation aspect for non-Jews as well. The Catholic theologian Matthias Berghorn, on the other hand, interprets the commonality of the additional naming of Tamar (1.3), Rahab (1.5), Ruth (1.5) and Joseph (1.16) in the sense that they are just (Tamar : Gen 38.24; Joseph: Mt 1.19) and merciful (Rahab: Jos 2.14; Ruth: Ruth 3.10) and thus become the ideal ancestors of Jesus Christ, since Jesus shows himself to be merciful (Mt 9 , 13; 12.7) and thus fulfills the righteousness demanded by God (Matt.3.15; 4.1-11).
For Matthew, the relation of Jesus to the election of Israel is in the foreground. For him, the Messiah is the “real” Jew who redeems and keeps what was promised to all of Israel from the beginning: also and especially where this fulfillment of the promises seemed to be in question or contradicted the limited human expectations.
Luke
In the Gospel of Luke the list of ancestors follows the birth stories (Lk 1–2), the appearance of John the Baptist and the baptism of Jesus ( Lk 3, 1–22 EU ). She introduces the appearance of the adult Jesus Christ. The following opening verse emphasizes that the virgin born Savior of the whole world was believed to be a "son of Joseph."
Luke counts Joseph's ancestors, similar to the Roman genealogies of that time, as a lineage backwards, so names the sons first without naming the fathers twice: "[...] he was taken to be the son of Joseph, he was the son of Eli" . Luke also indirectly highlights certain stations in salvation history: He counts 42 (six times seven) generations from Jesus to David, then another 14 members in addition to Abraham and - beyond Matthew - a further 21 forefathers of Jesus up to God. With the total of 77 generations, he underlines the importance of this true Jew, who is at the same time a true man and was sent to offer forgiveness of their sins to all of Adam's descendants.
The expansion of the list of ancestors up to creation - Adam means "man" - shows the Lukan missionary interest in the universal expansion of Christianity to all people. For Luke, Jesus is the Son of God predestined from creation for the liberation of mankind. Luke does not trace the family tree back to the main royal line of Solomon , like Matthew , but to the sideline of Nathan , a later son of David ( 2 Sam 5,14 EU ). He also names a generation more between David and Abraham and also spells some of the names differently.
Attempts at harmonization
The unmistakable differences between the family trees were taken early in Christian history as an occasion for various attempts at harmonization in order to reconcile the lists of ancestors in the sense of the legal systems of Israel and to increase their historical credibility.
Levirate marriage
Eusebius of Caesarea explained the contradictions about the levirate marriage anchored in the Torah , referring to a non-preserved writing by Sextus Iulius Africanus . According to Dtn 25.5–10 EU , a man was obliged to marry his sister-in-law if his brother had died childless, so that his inheritance would be preserved.
According to Eusebius, Christian tradition names a woman named Estha as the grandmother of Joseph. She married Matthan, a descendant of David through his son Solomon. Together they would have had a son, Jacob. After Matthans death, she married Melchi, a descendant of David through his son Nathan. Together they would have had a son Eli. Thus Jakob and Eli would have been half-brothers with the same mother. Eli married, but died childless. According to the custom of the levirate marriage, his widow married his brother Jacob in order to have children for Eli. Then she gave birth to Josef. On the one hand, he would have been Jacob's biological son and thus a descendant of Solomon, and on the other, legally Eli's son and thus a descendant of Nathan.
Inherited daughters
Fritz Rienecker explains the differences on the basis of the regulations on heir daughter from Numbers 27.8 EU . If a man died but left only daughters and no sons, his daughters were entitled to inheritance: the husband of an heir daughter had to be registered in the sex of her father and thus got two fathers, as it were (Neh 7,63; 1 Chro 2,21 and 22. Cf. 4. Mo 32,41). If Maria had no brothers, her husband would not only be the son-in-law of her father Eli, but also a legal son.
Historical classification
The contradictions in the lists of ancestors have been used as an occasion for the historical-critical method of biblical research since around 1750 , so that their compatibility was no longer the primary goal of interpretation. In the enlightened criticism of the Bible, they are regarded as one of the proofs of the contradictions of the Bible as a whole. However, this also made it possible to pay more attention to the theological statements beyond historical evidence.
The Jewish theologian Geza Vermes rejects the thesis that the two evangelists constructed the lineage themselves in the sense of a pia fraus in order to be able to prove the theologically important descent of Jesus from David. He thinks it is more likely that they resorted to circulating pedigrees and used different versions.
See also
literature
- Matthias Berg Horn: The Genesis of Jesus Christ but was so ... . The origin of Jesus Christ according to the Matthean prologue (Mt 1,1-4,16), Göttingen 2019
- The Biblical Family Tree: Biblical Family Tree from Adam to Jesus (Map) , ISBN 3-9810508-0-0 .
- Journey through the Biblical Family Tree , 45 Worksheets, ISBN 3-9810508-1-9 .
- Geza Vermes: The nativity - history and legend , Penguin Books, London 2006, ISBN 0-14-102446-1 .
- Moises Mayordomo-Marin: Hear the beginning. Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 1998, ISBN 3-525-53864-2 .
- Uta Ranke-Heinemann: Jesus' family trees, in URH: No and Amen. Heyne, Munich 2002, ISBN 3-453-21182-0 , pp. 97-118.
Web links
- Bibleserver: Over 40 current and historical Bible translations online
- Bible Family Tree: Graphic representation of the family tree from Adam to Jesus
- Biblica 79 (1998): Jesus as the son of David with Lukas and Micha (PDF file; 76 kB)
- Biblical family trees
Single receipts
- ↑ Luther 1545 , Schlachter 1951
- ↑ Matthias Berghorn: But the Genesis of Jesus Christ was like this ... The origin of Jesus Christ according to the Matthew prologue (Mt 1,1–4,16) VR Unipress, Göttingen 2019, pp. 234–246
- ↑ Eusebius, Church History 1: 7 and 6:31
- ^ Fritz Rienecker: Wuppertaler Studienbibel , Volume Matthäus, p. 14