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Apparent Bible Contradiction - Geneology of Jesus
11/20/03 | Me

Posted on 11/20/2003 10:20:48 AM PST by FourtySeven

Hello fellow FReepers! I was wondering if any of you might be able to help me answer this question. I've been spending a great deal of time struggling with the following issue, and I was hoping you might give some insight.  In my study of this issue, I came across this website, specifically the following page:

http://preacherstudy.com/geneo.htm

After reading it, it's clear the author put much thought into the issue of Jesus' geneology, yet my main question remains unanswered.  My main question is thus:

Comparing Matt 1:6-11 to 1Chron 3:10-17 would seem to indicate there is a discrepency between Matthew's geneology of Jesus and Ezra's, specifically, 3 are ommitted which are:  Ahaziah, Joash, and Amaziah. 

Now, in Matt 1:17, the language is clear, at least it seems to be, as Matthew says, "Therefore, ALL the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations; and from David to the deportation to Babylon fourteen generations; and from the deportation to Babylon to the time of Christ fourteen generations."

The word "all" is the same in all the translations I've found so far except for the NLT.  In the NLT, it doesn't seem to indicate that this is a complete representation of all the generations, unlike all the other versions.  From the NLT:

All those listed above include fourteen generations from Abraham to King David, and fourteen from David's time to the Babylonian exile, and fourteen from the Babylonian exile to the Messiah.

Note the use of the word "include" to modify the "all", meaning it's not "all of them" but rather all the generations listed above "include, but aren't limited to..." all the generations of Jesus.  At any rate, this is a side issue, in my opinion, as all of the rest of the commonly accepted versions are clear in the use of all, and no other modifier.

A studious examination of the word "generations", as it's used in that verse (Matt 1:17), from the original Greek also seems to indicate that the way it's used there, it's meant to imply that it's a "successive line", meaning "continuous", or "no breaks".  (From Thayer's Lexicon, see Strong's Number 1074, "genea"; as Thayer says, in that particular verse, the meaning is supposed to be taken as, "the several ranks of natural descent, the successive members of a genealogy".  Thayer specifically mentions Matthew 1:17 in saying when it's appropriate to use that particular definition of "genea")

Thus, the basic conclusion one is to draw from the first chapter of Matthew up to and through verse 17 is that it (those first 16 verses) are a complete record of Jesus' geneology (specifically from the time of David until the exile to Babylon), yet, again, comparing it to 1Chr 3:10-17 shows that it is not a complete, i.e. successive, record in that time frame.

Let me tell you something about myself now, before you think I'm just writing to "start a fight".  I am a Christian.  I believe in Jesus as my Savior.  I don't affiliate myself with any denomination.  I want to believe in all my heart and soul that the Bible is the inerrant Word of God.  However, after having encountered this problem, I must admit my faith is shaken a bit.

The website mentioned above goes on to explain that there are instances in the Bible where there are incomplete geneologies, and I agree with that.

However, I cannot find anywhere in the Bible, other than in Matthew, where there is an example of BOTH an incomplete geneology AND a claim that the geneology is complete, in the same chapter.

Could you help me to understand how to get beyond this apparent serious contradiction?

Thank you for your attention.


TOPICS: Theology
KEYWORDS: biblequestions
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To: FourtySeven
I know almost nothing about Thayer. I'd have to hear his argument before I critique it.
21 posted on 11/23/2003 11:47:55 AM PST by dangus
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To: FourtySeven
I don't have the strict answer, but I do recalll some studies in this area about ten years ago, wherein pertinent issues were associated with fulfillment of Prophecy and relationship between God and Israel at the time of those kingdoms.

There was also significance in Joseph's heritage as well as Mary's,

Also noteworthy was an apparant Satanic ploy centuries earlier to disrupt or attack the lineage as a method of apparantly trying to pre-empt Prophecy and preventing its fulfillment.

I suspect the real answers lay in the grace of God and its testimony in comparison to the policy of evil by Satan and its impotence to defeat His grace.
22 posted on 11/23/2003 12:41:53 PM PST by Cvengr (0:^))
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