Part 1: Matthew's list: The fourteens
Apr 10, 2016 1:05:20 GMT
Post by Colossians on Apr 10, 2016 1:05:20 GMT
This material is for the teaching of the Body of Christ, however the author reserves copyright over it.
Forward
There has been much contention over the years as to just how the 3 groups of 14 generations are arrived at in Matthew’s lineage of Jesus, recorded in the first chapter of his gospel.
This work provides the definitive answer to the issue, as well as a general categorisation of the 3 groups.
We shall be assuming that Matthew was of infinite integrity, and that he could count.
_______________
THE FOURTEENS
Here is the list of names in Matthew’s lineage of Christ.
Abraham
Isaac
Jacob
Judah
Pharez
Hezron
Ram
Amminadab
Nahshon
Salmon
Boaz
Obed
Jesse
David
Solomon
Rehoboam
Abijah
Asa
Jehoshaphat
Jehoram
Uzziah
Jotham
Ahaz
Hezekiah
Manasseh
Amon
Josiah
Jechoniah
Shealtiel
Zerubbabel
Abiud
Eliakim
Azor
Sadoc
Achim
Eliud
Eleazar
Matthan
Jacob
Joseph
Jesus
The division of the 14s, and accompanying rationale
[17] “So all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations;
We are told here that “from” Abraham to David are 14 generations. If we begin by assuming that the interval from Abraham to Isaac is the first of the count (thereby effectively starting at Isaac and not counting Abraham), we get to David at count = 13. So we are rather constrained to begin with Abraham (himself) as the first count, and to therefore understand that each name (rather than the interval which separates each name) counts as a generation.
Commensurately, we are compelled to interpret (as the KJV scholars have done) the Greek word heos as “to [David]” – relating “up to and including [David]” – rather than “until [David]”, which would relate “up to but not including [David]”.
The first group of 14:
Abraham
Isaac
Jacob
Judah
Pharez
Hezron
Ram
Amminadab
Nahshon
Salmon
Boaz
Obed
Jesse
David
and from David until the carrying away into Babylon are fourteen generations;
Because we have established from the first group of 14 that “from” is inclusive of the first name in the list, we (according to consistency) begin this second group with David = 1. Josiah then will be number 14.
Commensurately, we are compelled in this instance to interpret (as the KJV scholars have done) the Greek word heos as “until”, Josiah’s being number 14 necessitating that “the carrying away into Babylon” not be included in this second group but be rather that which begins the final group.
The second group of 14:
David
Solomon
Rehoboam
Abijah
Asa
Jehoshaphat
Jehoram
Uzziah
Jotham
Ahaz
Hezekiah
Manasseh
Amon
Josiah
and from the carrying away into Babylon unto Christ are fourteen generations.”
We have been told at v11 (see that verse) that the carrying away into Babylon was correlative with the generation that was “Jechoniah and his brethren”. And so because we have established from the first group of 14 that “from” is inclusive of the first name in the list, we (according to consistency) begin this second group with Jechoniah = 1, he being the actual king carried away into Babylon.1 Jesus then will be number 14 (and hence the interpreting of heos by the KJV scholars in this instance as “unto” = “to” = “up to and including”).
The final group of 14:
Jechoniah (“the carrying away into Babylon”)
Shealtiel
Zerubbabel
Abiud
Eliakim
Azor
Sadoc
Achim
Eliud
Eleazar
Matthan
Jacob
Joseph
Jesus
1 Although 2 Chr 36:6 tells us that Nebuchadnezzar bound Jechoniah’s father Jehoiakim in fetters to take him to Babylon (which upon cursory reading might suggest that he was brought to Babylon ahead of his son), it is apparent from 2 Ki 24:6 that he was never actually transported there.
General categorisation
The first group of 14 relates the patriarchs (fathers), culminating in the last father David who, being the terminus of the group, was of necessity also the ‘son’. For David was the consummate type of Christ, and for the purposes of this work, Christ is both the Father and the Son (see Is 9:6, John 14:9).
The second group of 14 relates the Davidic kings who reigned in their own right. This of course includes David, hence his inclusion in both group 1 and group 2.
The final group of 14 relates the exile and/or subjugation of Judah by foreign powers.
These 3 groups – the fathers, the reign of the house of David, and the exile – represent natural divisions according to category.
Filling in some holes
Two (sequential) kings are deliberately genericized by Matthew: Jehoahaz (4th son of Josiah) and Jehoiakim (2nd son of Josiah) – brothers of each other and respectively uncle and father of Jechoniah – are merely mentioned in passing at v11 as Jechoniah’s brethren.2 The reasons for their effective annulment are as follows:
Jehoahaz is excluded from group 23 because he did not reign in his own right (after a mere 3 month reign he was dragged off to Egypt by Pharaoh-ne-choh),4 and excluded from group 3 (which group depends not on kingship) because he was not in the line of Christ anyway.
Jehoiakim is excluded from group 2 because he did not reign in his own right (he was subject initially to Pharaoh-ne-choh and then to Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon), and excluded from group 3 because, although we was in the line of Christ, the first generation of such group is correlated with the carrying away into Babylon, and although the subjugation of Jehoiakim (together with that of his brother Jehoahaz immediately before him) was what we might call “the beginning of the end” in this regard, it was nevertheless not he but his son Jechoniah who was in fact dragged off to Babylon and who therefore most particularly represented “the carrying away”.
Additionally, 3 (sequential) kings – Ahaziah, Joash and Amaziah – are deliberately omitted by Matthew from group 2. They reigned in between Jehoram and Uzziah (also known as Azariah). They are omitted for the reason we have stipulated in the closing section of our work: “King Ahaziah: a man almost twice as old as himself”: each having been killed by his own people (Israel/Judah), he could not stand as type for the New Testament husband who, if he cannot rule his own household, has no place in overseeing the church of God (see 1 Ti 3:5).5
2 That Jechoniah’s uncle and father are referred to as his “brethren” is a generality: Abraham’s nephew Lot is at Gen 14:16 referred to as Abraham’s brother; Jacob at Gen 29:12 referred to his uncle Laban as his brother.
3 It would appear at first not necessary to explain why Jehoahaz is excluded from group 2: such would presumably be subsumed under his exclusion from the entire list anyway for his not being in the line of Christ. But it is indeed necessary, for as we have shown, although Matthew’s list is primarily concerned with the entire line of Christ at a general level, with regard to the 14s it is (also) (coextensively) concerned with categories, and in order for us to affirm the count of 14 for the group 2 category, such group has to be shown to consist not merely of Davidic kings, but Davidic kings who ruled in their own right. That is, even though the Davidic king Jehoahaz was not in the line of Christ, if he had nevertheless ruled in his own right the whole system had fallen apart: group 2 would have been completely severed from the scheme of things for its not only containing 15 instead of 14 generations, but a (15th) generation which was not in the line of Christ.
4 The mere 3 month reign of Jehoahaz can hardly count as a reign: it was ended by the very same Pharaoh who not only ended his father Josiah’s life but who also crowned his brother Jehoiakim in his (Jehoahaz’s) stead (see 2 Kings 23:29-34). Pharaoh was running the show.
5 Ahaziah’s death at the hands of Jehu of Israel was never avenged: his shame therefore remained and thus his exclusion from Matthew’s list for the reason we have given. Contrasting, his son Joash’s murder at the hands of his (Joash’s) own servants was avenged by his son Amaziah when Amaziah ascended the throne (2 Ki 14:5), which avengement had therefore reversed Joash’s shame were it not for the fact that Amaziah himself was (also) (subsequently) slain by his own people (2 Ki 14:19), thereby reversing the (otherwise) reversal of his father Joash’s shame and (instead and contrarily) adding his own name to the exclusion list. And so note then the contrast with King Amon: he is included by Matthew because, although he was in similar fashion to Joash murdered by his own servants, such crime was (fully) avenged without revocation (i.e. without counter-avengement) (see 2 Ki 21:23,24).
In closing …
With regard to the discerning of the 14s, western minds are commonly side-tracked for their assumption that the 3 groups should sum to 42 (rather than the 41 to which they actually sum).
And so they feel that perhaps Matthew made an error.
Some have gone so far as to say that perhaps Matthew artificially declared the groups to each contain 14 entries when he knew that they didn’t: liberal theologians in full flight watering down the word of God.
The sum total of the generations is not in Matthew’s sights: he is simply concerned with 3 (separate) categories, the each of them containing 14 generations.
However although the sum total of them is not in Matthew’s sights, we shall perhaps show in our future works that it was nevertheless in God’s sights, and in a very unexpected way.
Amen.
Forward
There has been much contention over the years as to just how the 3 groups of 14 generations are arrived at in Matthew’s lineage of Jesus, recorded in the first chapter of his gospel.
This work provides the definitive answer to the issue, as well as a general categorisation of the 3 groups.
We shall be assuming that Matthew was of infinite integrity, and that he could count.
_______________
THE FOURTEENS
Here is the list of names in Matthew’s lineage of Christ.
Abraham
Isaac
Jacob
Judah
Pharez
Hezron
Ram
Amminadab
Nahshon
Salmon
Boaz
Obed
Jesse
David
Solomon
Rehoboam
Abijah
Asa
Jehoshaphat
Jehoram
Uzziah
Jotham
Ahaz
Hezekiah
Manasseh
Amon
Josiah
Jechoniah
Shealtiel
Zerubbabel
Abiud
Eliakim
Azor
Sadoc
Achim
Eliud
Eleazar
Matthan
Jacob
Joseph
Jesus
The division of the 14s, and accompanying rationale
[17] “So all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations;
We are told here that “from” Abraham to David are 14 generations. If we begin by assuming that the interval from Abraham to Isaac is the first of the count (thereby effectively starting at Isaac and not counting Abraham), we get to David at count = 13. So we are rather constrained to begin with Abraham (himself) as the first count, and to therefore understand that each name (rather than the interval which separates each name) counts as a generation.
Commensurately, we are compelled to interpret (as the KJV scholars have done) the Greek word heos as “to [David]” – relating “up to and including [David]” – rather than “until [David]”, which would relate “up to but not including [David]”.
The first group of 14:
Abraham
Isaac
Jacob
Judah
Pharez
Hezron
Ram
Amminadab
Nahshon
Salmon
Boaz
Obed
Jesse
David
and from David until the carrying away into Babylon are fourteen generations;
Because we have established from the first group of 14 that “from” is inclusive of the first name in the list, we (according to consistency) begin this second group with David = 1. Josiah then will be number 14.
Commensurately, we are compelled in this instance to interpret (as the KJV scholars have done) the Greek word heos as “until”, Josiah’s being number 14 necessitating that “the carrying away into Babylon” not be included in this second group but be rather that which begins the final group.
The second group of 14:
David
Solomon
Rehoboam
Abijah
Asa
Jehoshaphat
Jehoram
Uzziah
Jotham
Ahaz
Hezekiah
Manasseh
Amon
Josiah
and from the carrying away into Babylon unto Christ are fourteen generations.”
We have been told at v11 (see that verse) that the carrying away into Babylon was correlative with the generation that was “Jechoniah and his brethren”. And so because we have established from the first group of 14 that “from” is inclusive of the first name in the list, we (according to consistency) begin this second group with Jechoniah = 1, he being the actual king carried away into Babylon.1 Jesus then will be number 14 (and hence the interpreting of heos by the KJV scholars in this instance as “unto” = “to” = “up to and including”).
The final group of 14:
Jechoniah (“the carrying away into Babylon”)
Shealtiel
Zerubbabel
Abiud
Eliakim
Azor
Sadoc
Achim
Eliud
Eleazar
Matthan
Jacob
Joseph
Jesus
1 Although 2 Chr 36:6 tells us that Nebuchadnezzar bound Jechoniah’s father Jehoiakim in fetters to take him to Babylon (which upon cursory reading might suggest that he was brought to Babylon ahead of his son), it is apparent from 2 Ki 24:6 that he was never actually transported there.
General categorisation
The first group of 14 relates the patriarchs (fathers), culminating in the last father David who, being the terminus of the group, was of necessity also the ‘son’. For David was the consummate type of Christ, and for the purposes of this work, Christ is both the Father and the Son (see Is 9:6, John 14:9).
The second group of 14 relates the Davidic kings who reigned in their own right. This of course includes David, hence his inclusion in both group 1 and group 2.
The final group of 14 relates the exile and/or subjugation of Judah by foreign powers.
These 3 groups – the fathers, the reign of the house of David, and the exile – represent natural divisions according to category.
Filling in some holes
Two (sequential) kings are deliberately genericized by Matthew: Jehoahaz (4th son of Josiah) and Jehoiakim (2nd son of Josiah) – brothers of each other and respectively uncle and father of Jechoniah – are merely mentioned in passing at v11 as Jechoniah’s brethren.2 The reasons for their effective annulment are as follows:
Jehoahaz is excluded from group 23 because he did not reign in his own right (after a mere 3 month reign he was dragged off to Egypt by Pharaoh-ne-choh),4 and excluded from group 3 (which group depends not on kingship) because he was not in the line of Christ anyway.
Jehoiakim is excluded from group 2 because he did not reign in his own right (he was subject initially to Pharaoh-ne-choh and then to Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon), and excluded from group 3 because, although we was in the line of Christ, the first generation of such group is correlated with the carrying away into Babylon, and although the subjugation of Jehoiakim (together with that of his brother Jehoahaz immediately before him) was what we might call “the beginning of the end” in this regard, it was nevertheless not he but his son Jechoniah who was in fact dragged off to Babylon and who therefore most particularly represented “the carrying away”.
Additionally, 3 (sequential) kings – Ahaziah, Joash and Amaziah – are deliberately omitted by Matthew from group 2. They reigned in between Jehoram and Uzziah (also known as Azariah). They are omitted for the reason we have stipulated in the closing section of our work: “King Ahaziah: a man almost twice as old as himself”: each having been killed by his own people (Israel/Judah), he could not stand as type for the New Testament husband who, if he cannot rule his own household, has no place in overseeing the church of God (see 1 Ti 3:5).5
2 That Jechoniah’s uncle and father are referred to as his “brethren” is a generality: Abraham’s nephew Lot is at Gen 14:16 referred to as Abraham’s brother; Jacob at Gen 29:12 referred to his uncle Laban as his brother.
3 It would appear at first not necessary to explain why Jehoahaz is excluded from group 2: such would presumably be subsumed under his exclusion from the entire list anyway for his not being in the line of Christ. But it is indeed necessary, for as we have shown, although Matthew’s list is primarily concerned with the entire line of Christ at a general level, with regard to the 14s it is (also) (coextensively) concerned with categories, and in order for us to affirm the count of 14 for the group 2 category, such group has to be shown to consist not merely of Davidic kings, but Davidic kings who ruled in their own right. That is, even though the Davidic king Jehoahaz was not in the line of Christ, if he had nevertheless ruled in his own right the whole system had fallen apart: group 2 would have been completely severed from the scheme of things for its not only containing 15 instead of 14 generations, but a (15th) generation which was not in the line of Christ.
4 The mere 3 month reign of Jehoahaz can hardly count as a reign: it was ended by the very same Pharaoh who not only ended his father Josiah’s life but who also crowned his brother Jehoiakim in his (Jehoahaz’s) stead (see 2 Kings 23:29-34). Pharaoh was running the show.
5 Ahaziah’s death at the hands of Jehu of Israel was never avenged: his shame therefore remained and thus his exclusion from Matthew’s list for the reason we have given. Contrasting, his son Joash’s murder at the hands of his (Joash’s) own servants was avenged by his son Amaziah when Amaziah ascended the throne (2 Ki 14:5), which avengement had therefore reversed Joash’s shame were it not for the fact that Amaziah himself was (also) (subsequently) slain by his own people (2 Ki 14:19), thereby reversing the (otherwise) reversal of his father Joash’s shame and (instead and contrarily) adding his own name to the exclusion list. And so note then the contrast with King Amon: he is included by Matthew because, although he was in similar fashion to Joash murdered by his own servants, such crime was (fully) avenged without revocation (i.e. without counter-avengement) (see 2 Ki 21:23,24).
In closing …
With regard to the discerning of the 14s, western minds are commonly side-tracked for their assumption that the 3 groups should sum to 42 (rather than the 41 to which they actually sum).
And so they feel that perhaps Matthew made an error.
Some have gone so far as to say that perhaps Matthew artificially declared the groups to each contain 14 entries when he knew that they didn’t: liberal theologians in full flight watering down the word of God.
The sum total of the generations is not in Matthew’s sights: he is simply concerned with 3 (separate) categories, the each of them containing 14 generations.
However although the sum total of them is not in Matthew’s sights, we shall perhaps show in our future works that it was nevertheless in God’s sights, and in a very unexpected way.
Amen.