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Traditionally, many liberal theologians (e.g. Walter Bruggeman) have separated Genesis into two parts - Genesis 1 - 11 and Genesis 12 - 50. The dividing point begins with Abraham, and the tone of Genesis does change significantly at that point.
In the first 11 chapters, Adam through Noah and Babel represent nearly 2000 years of human history. A broad ...
11
This is a great question. The Bible never provides a direct rationale for the seemingly long ages recorded in the Old Testament. It just states them as a matter of fact with no apology for them.
As we look more closely at the ages, though, we find some very interesting things. The ages fall quite dramatically at a very definite point in biblical history ...
11
This question spawns from a misunderstanding of why the genealogy is there in the first place.
The genealogy is not a benign collection of facts, much like our own western approach to the topic would have it listed. Instead, Matthew provides Jesus' genealogy to legitimize him for any Jewish readers.
First, consider that everyone is from Adam. It means ...
11
The Old Testament has two distinct methods of claiming kingship. One is by descent from David, and the other is by prophetic or divine appointment. Where did David himself get his kingship? It was by prophetic appointment, through Samuel.
One was applicable to the southern Kingdom of Judah, with its capital in Jerusalem, while the other was applicable to ...
9
Robert C. Gunderson, Senior Royalty Research Specialist, of the Church Genealogical Department stated, in regards to the possibility of accurately tracing back to Adam and Eve, that the answer is No. The reason being that European royal genealogy before 500s A.D. Cannot be verified. This would exclude biblical characters as well.
See
https://familysearch....
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The focus of this invective isn't so much on the genealogies themselves as it is the way in which people use them to puff them themselves up. Even barring earthly lineages, the poor of the church of Corinth managed to put themselves into faction. In 1 Corinthians 3, Paul writes:
Brothers and sisters, I could not address you as people who live by the Spirit ...
8
There are several lessons to be drawn from this genealogy. One of my personal favorites is the four women mentioned: Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, and Mary. Each of these women's stories is mentioned in Scripture, and each has a less than stellar reputation.
To wit:
Tamar played the part of a prostitute, and got her father-in-law to impregnante her, although she ...
8
tl;dr>
Why was it recorded like that?
because the story is making a theological point, not a legal one
Is this the norm or the exception?
the exact particulars of Boaz are exception, but it is based on a normal practice
Is there any other recorded incident in the Scriptures where this was done and the lineage was accorded to the deceased person?
Yes, ...
7
Honestly, there are a lot of questions there and rather than skip around I'm going to give one really long background on the birthright and blessing. Just be glad I'm not also giving a treatment to the meaning of firstborn.
There is a TL;DR Conclusion at the end, where I will revisit each specific question.
But first there is a lot of groundwork to lay.
...
7
Emanuel Swedenborg (1688-1772), whose teachings are accepted in the various "New Church" or Swedenborgian denominations, stated that all of the early stories of Genesis up to the point of Eber in Genesis 11:14-16 are purely symbolic.
In the introduction to his interpretation of Genesis 11 he states:
The historical events mentioned up to now, apart ...
7
These are two lineages in the Gospels. One - which you have cited - in Matthew, which traces Jesus' ancestry through Joseph, and another in Luke which traces His ancestry through Mary. Joseph's genealogy, however, also applies to Mary in that she, like he, was of the house and lineage of David (Luke 2:4).
John Chrysostom addresses your question directly ...
6
Many people believe that there are gaps in the Genealogy listed in Matthew. This article addresses "the primary problems of the Genealogy in Matthew", and lists the gaps as one of the arguments for "unreliability" leveled by critics.
Section I: What Are The Primary Problems Associated With Matthew’s
Genealogy And How Are They Reconciled?
There are ...
6
There are some debates about this because these genealogies do not have every name along the branches but certain representative names. Most sources I have encountered think Matthew proves Christ was legally entitled to the throne of David as a legal ancestor to David through his father by law. Luke on the other hand traces the the physical lineage through ...
6
Noah's Lineage
Noah was definitely a significant figure, as it was he and his family alone who survived the flood. The purpose appears to be to show Noah's lineage from Adam. Adding in brothers and sisters at each level would be a bit tangential to that purpose.
Enoch was certainly a man of note due to his close relationship with God.
The Line of Cain
...
6
I don't think we can ever know for sure as we can't ask them. However I think the answer is probably to do with who they are writing to and what is the purpose of their writing.
Matthew is probably writing to a Jewish audience. For them the Christ has to have come from Abraham & David and so Matthew spends the time to show that Jesus has the credentials ...
5
Matthew
The Gospel of Matthew appears to be written to Jews in order to present Jesus to them as the King of the Jews. As such, it was necessary to trace Jesus' lineage through Joseph, His adopted father, through the lineage of the kings back to David, whom God promised would have an heir who would reign forever. It was also important to trace His lineage ...
5
The evidence that the genealogies in the early part of Genesis refer to tribes instead of individuals is disarmingly simple. It is seen especially clearly in Genesis 10, which is commonly referred to as the Table of Nations. Here is the introductory verse of the chapter:
This is the account of Shem, Ham, and Japheth, Noah's sons, who themselves had sons ...
5
I'm not certain whether this will help with your question or not, but this is a small section from Oscar Cullmann's, Christology of the New Testament (page 129):
Hegesippus was the Jewish Christian author of a history of the very
early church of which we possess only a few fragments. According to
Eusebius he tells the following story: Despite the ...
4
Even if Theistic Evolution does require rejection of the creation account as literal, this does not require either that the Flood be fictional (many ancient civilizations record a great flood event), nor that Adam be fictitious.
Whether one is a literal-creationist or a Theistic Evolutionist, there must be a legitimate First Man in the genealogy. If ...
4
As Westerners, we live in what is known as a "guilt culture". Accordingly, we lack an understanding of the importance of familial lineage. Most of the Middle-east operates on what is know as an "Honor-Shame culture"
In a lecture before the Biblical Archaeology Society, Anthropologist Dr. Richard Rohrbaugh explains the significance of Geneologies. He ...
4
"How is Jesus the Messiah, the seed of David"? Simple: Jesus is the human aspect of the offspring of David. Before that, Jesus was spirit.
Jesus created all things, including humanity, as one of the persons of the Godhead before He was flesh and blood. It was only after Mary gave birth to Him that Jesus became flesh and blood. So this is not a circle.
To ...
4
Between neglect, wars, natural disasters, and other catastrophic events destroying important records throughout the ages, and people not bothering to keep them in the first place, it's next to impossible to find genuine family history data more than a few centuries back... which doesn't mean people haven't tried, both in our own time and in ages past!
You ...
4
My study bible (The NIV Study Bible by Zondervan) notes that it was a common ancient practice to "telescope" a genealogy -- i.e. to skip over generations when building the list. In the introduction to 1 Chronicles (where you'll also find a number of "missing" generations in its numerous genealogies), it states:
The most common type of fluidity in ...
4
The gospel of Jesus, written by Luke, has a specific reason for giving the genealogy that he does. Notice where Luke suddenly (almost unexpectedly) places that genealogy. He plonks it right inbetween Jesus' baptism in the Jordan river and the temptations in the wilderness (Luke 3:23-38). Why would a genealogy appear there, in the narrative?
Well, consider ...
4
None of the seed of David, through Jeconiah, could ever inherit the throne of David due to the curse upon Jeconiah recorded by the prophet Jeremiah.
Jeremiah states of Jeconiah, king of Judah :
Thus saith the LORD, Write ye this man childless, a man that shall not prosper in his days: for no man of his seed shall prosper, sitting upon the throne of David, ...
3
Are People Who Aren't Mentioned in the Bible Less Important?
No.
These names are recorded because they're important to the message that's being told, being our blood ancestors, (in general) righteous people, and, perhaps most importantly, the ancestors of the Jews (for whom the account was originally written) and the Messiah. That doesn't make the people ...
3
The Messiah and Joseph's genealogy?
Both Matthew and Luke record the genealogy of Yeshua from different perspectives. Matthew's gospel gives us the legal lineage of Yeshua, while Luke gives us the bloodline.
Matthew's focus is on Yeshua the son of David, the son of Abraham; thus the lineage of Yeshua in Matthew's gospel runs forward from Abraham, through ...
3
It is possibly a reference to the gnostic emanations (genealogies of angels) but in this case it seems to do more with Jewish folklore. Timothy does not really seem to attack gnosticism as is done in an Epistle like Colossians. It certainly has nothing to do with he genealogical records of Christ, which were so very important and which were clear enough ...
3
You have to understand that the purpose of the genealogy is literary, and not scientific. The Gospel of Matthew has a primary focus on Jesus as a great and authoritative teacher (like Moses)—notice how the genealogy starts at Abraham, the father of the Israelites. By contrast, Luke's genealogy (Lk 3:23ff.) traces Jesus' lineage back to Adam, which many have ...
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