Intriguing Genealogies

My usual intention in my blog posts is not to present readers with ‘answers’, that would be presumptuous, but to highlight what I consider to be pivotal matters ~ and possible ways of viewing them.

Today I will focus first on the two genealogies of Joseph, found in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke, and then on a subtle reference to Miryam’s lineage. The importance of the territory of Benjamin will then be assessed, before turning to Rachel, Benjamin, Miryam and Yeshua, and the term ‘Bet-Lechem Efratah’.

The names listed in the genealogy of Joseph (Miryam’s husband) in the Gospel of Matthew are Judean and, according to tradition, Davidic. For this reason Yeshua, who appeared to be Joseph’s son, was considered to be a royal ‘Son of David’.

Why is it then that a northern name, ‘Joseph’, closes Matthew’s Judean genealogy?

I am aware of two possible reasons: The name ‘Joseph’ appears frequently in the Aaronic priesthood. Many ‘sons of Aaron’ were named Joseph, probably because priestly families were aware that the first incarnation of Messiah would be as the priestly ‘Mashiach ben Yosef’, Messiah ben Joseph. They understood that Messiah would be born of a woman and live among Israel. Every Levitical mother assuredly hoped that her son would be the long-awaited Messiah…

The second reason is less sublime: The genealogy provided in the Gospel of Luke is identical to that of Matthew, up until the time of David, after which it starts to feature the name ‘Joseph’. Joseph was a name found within the tribes of Benjamin, Ephraim and Manasseh because of their familial ties with the patriarch Joseph and with Rachel. The name ‘Joseph’ could therefore indicate that Joseph’s mother was a Benjamite.

The territory of Benjamin was unique in that it belonged to both North and  South. This territory had ancient familial ties with the North but, after the time of David, it came under the political authority of the South.

At the time of the division of the land of Canaan under Joshua, the territory of Benjamin was strongly associated with the territories of Ephraim and Manasseh, as all three tribes were descendants of Rachel, the Matriarch of the nation.

The territory of Benjamin became distinctive in that it was home to Israel’s first king; King Saul was a Benjamite. After Saul’s defeat by David, however, the territory of Benjamin became part of Judea and Jerusalem, a city that straddled the boundary line between the territories of Benjamin and Judea, became King David’s new capital.

The assimilation of the tribe of Benjamin into the southern territory of Judea began to occur thus only after David defeated King Saul in about 1030 BCE. From that time on, four tribes would co-exist within Judea: Judah, Benjamin, Levi and Simeon. In time, some movement of the northern tribe of Benjamin into more southerly regions became inevitable and Benjamites would have settled in towns such as Bethlehem, which was several miles south of the traditional territory of Benjamin. 

A Semitic allusion to Yeshua as Messiah ben Joseph is, I believe, found in his actual name: Yeshua ben Joseph.

Who was this Joseph, born in Bethlehem; a Judean 'Son of David', a Levitical 'Son of Aaron' , and/or a 'Son of Benjamin'? 

And what of Miryam’s lineage? There is one very subtle Semitic allusion to her lineage; one certainly has to ‘read between the lines’ to find it.

A familial connection is made between Miryam and Elisheva (Elizabeth), the wife of Zacharias, an Aaronic priest who performed the annual two week period of duty in the Holy Place of the Jerusalem Temple. 

It is early in Luke’s Gospel that we find the allusion to Miryam’s genealogy; there we learn that Elisheva and Miryam were relatives ~ and, furthermore, that Elisheva was ‘a daughter of Aaron’. Are we intended to infer, in a Semitic manner, that Miryam was ‘a daughter of Aaron’ too; that she was the daughter of a Kohen?

This is significant because according to early Hebraic tradition, as substantiated by the Dead Sea Scrolls, Messiah ben Joseph was referred to as a priestly Messiah…

A ketunah, that seamless priestly tunic at the foot of Yeshua’s cross, comes instantly to mind… 

(To be continued with the significance of Rachel and the territory of Benjamin, with regard to Miryam, Yeshua and‘Bet-Lechem Ephratah’.)