Genealogical Scams and Flimflams

 

 

I.            Introduction

 

Christian apologists and missionaries have been placing a lot of emphasis on the messianic significance of genealogies – the two genealogies recorded in the New Testament and carefully selected genealogical data from the "Old Testament" (the Christian version of the Hebrew Bible), and other sources.  Their intent is to focus one's attention on declarations made in the New Testament concerning Jesus being the Messiah and on the arguments to support it drawn from so-called Scriptural evidence found in both the New Testament and the "Old Testament".

 

In this essay, various Christian apologetic and missionary claims and arguments are examined, primarily those claims which are based on information drawn from the "Old Testament".  The analysis will demonstrate that these claims cannot be supported from the teachings of the Hebrew Bible and, therefore, have no validity.

 

II.            The Two Genealogies in the New Testament

 

The Christian messianic paradigm is founded on two genealogies recorded for Jesus in the New Testament.  Though the genealogical information recorded in the New Testament is irrelevant to Judaism, some observations are helpful in assessing its general validity.  One genealogy appears in  the Gospel of Matthew (Mt 1:2-16), and Christians agree that it depicts the lineage of Jesus through Joseph.  The other genealogy is found in the Gospel of Luke (Lk 3:23-38), but there is no consensus among Christians on whether it represents the lineage of Jesus through Mary, or another lineage through Joseph.  Several characteristics of these two genealogies are worth noting:

 

U      The genealogy recorded in the Gospel of Matthew runs forward in time from Abraham to Jesus, and is divided into three series of 14 generations each, totaling 41 generations (not 42 generations, since Jechonias is listed twice – he appears last in the second series of 14 generations and first in the third series of 14 generations).  The first, and earliest series in time, spans 14 generations - from Abraham to David; the second series spans 14 generations - from Solomon to Jechonias; and the third series spans 14 generations - from Jechonias to Jesus.

 

U      The genealogy recorded in the Gospel of Luke runs backward in time from Jesus to God [sic][1], and is divided into four series.  The first, and latest series in time, spans 21 generations - from Jesus to Zorobabel; the second series spans 21 generations - from Salathiel to Nathan; the third series spans 14 generations - from David to Abraham; and the fourth series spans 21 generations from Thare to God [sic], where it concludes with:

 

Luke 3:38(KJV) – Which was the son of Enos, which was the son of Seth, which was the son of Adam, which was the son of God

 

It is interesting to note here that the author makes no distinction between the son of a mortal man and the son of God [sic].

 

U      The Matthew genealogy ends this way:

 

Matthew 1:15-16(KJV) – (15) And Eliud begat Eleazar; and Eleazar begat Matthan; and Matthan begat Jacob; (16) And Jacob begat Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ.

 

The last verse seems to have been carefully constructed to "set the stage" for the later narrative of the allegedly miraculous virgin birth of Jesus (Mt 1:18-25). 

 

U      The Luke genealogy starts this way:

 

Luke 3:23-24(KJV) – (23) And Jesus himself began to be about thirty years of age, being (as was supposed) the son of Joseph, which was the son of Heli, (24) Which was the son of Matthat, which was the son of Levi, which was the son of Melchi, which was the son of Janna, which was the son of Joseph,

 

The first verse seems to have been carefully fashioned to "harmonize" it with the earlier narrative of the allegedly miraculous virgin birth of Jesus (Lk 1:26-35).

 

In Sec IV below, the segments which start at King David and end at Jesus, and which pertain to the focus of this essay, the Messiah's lineage, are provided in tabular form (Table IV.A-1), and will be subjected to a detailed analysis.

 

III.            Going Back to Basics:  The Most Elementary Jewish Messianic Concepts

 

A messianic vision is not "just another" Jewish concept, it is at the heart of Judaism, and the dream of an eventual redemption is the cornerstone of the Jewish faith.  Naturally, if this concept was to be mentioned in the Hebrew Bible, perhaps the optimal time for it to first appear is when Jacob blessed his sons.  Indeed, in his blessing of Judah, the father of the commanding Tribe of Israel, Jacob said:

 

Genesis 49:10 - The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor the ruler's staff, until Shiloh come, and to him shall gather the nations.

 

Though there are several different translations and interpretations by the Jewish Sages, ancient and modern, of the term Shiloh, which will not be explored in this essay, they all involve messianic notions.  The closing phrase of the blessing given to Judah defines the Messiah's role in the world.  Ultimately, his job is to gather the nations under the banner of the One G-d of peace.  If a gathering of the nations for the sake of peace is the first explicit description of the messianic era, it clearly suggests something that is natural, recognizable, and human.

 

With Judah's destiny defined, it is natural to expect the next significant messianic statement to be made during the reign of King David, the first king of Israel out of the Tribe of Judah.  Sure enough, the Davidic dynasty, from which the Jewish Messiah is to emerge, was established when the prophet Nathan conveyed to David the following promise from G-d:

 

2 Samuel 7:12-16 – (12) When your days are fulfilled, and you shall lie with your forefathers, then I will raise up your seed that shall issue from your body after you, and I will establish his kingdom. (13) He shall build a house for My Name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. (14) I will be to him a father, and he shall be to Me a son; so that when he goes astray I will chasten him with the rod of men, and with afflictions of human beings. (15) And My mercy shall not depart from him; in the manner in which I withdrew it from Saul, whom I removed from before you. (16) And your house and your kingdom shall be established forever before you; your throne shall be established forever.

 

This promise includes the following elements:

 

Y      An everlasting dynasty, the Davidic dynasty, is established with David.

Y      David's heir to the throne, through whom this dynasty shall pass, will be one of his natural (biological) sons.

Y      The son who inherits the throne from David is the one who will build the Temple in Jerusalem.

Y      The Davidic dynasty will propagate through David's seed ( [zera]), i.e., via his direct descendants.

Y      Every future king who sits upon the throne of David will be a mortal man.

Y      Every future king who sits upon the throne of David will have a special "father-son" relationship with G-d, so that when he sins, he will be duly punished.

Y      Even when future kings (in David's seat) commit iniquity, G-d will keep the Davidic dynasty intact, and not terminate it as He did with Saul's kingship.

 

Although rather comprehensive, the promise does not include these elements:

 

X     The throne of David will always be occupied by a reigning king.

X     A special future king (in David's seat) will be fathered by someone who is not a direct descendant of David.

X  A special future king (in David's seat) will be conceived by and born to a virgin who will remain a virgo intacta following conception.

X     A special future king (in David's seat) will be a deity, and even share a triune godhead with G-d.

X     A special future king (in David's seat) will be born and remain forever free of sin.

X     A special future king (in David's seat) will preside over a heavenly (rather than an) earthly kingdom.

X     A special future king (in David's seat) will "build" a heavenly (rather than an earthly) Temple.

 

Several of these elements will be applied to the analysis of Christian apologetic and missionary claims in the next section of this essay.

 

IV.            Christian Apologetic and Missionary Claims Concerning Messianic Lineage

 

Popular Christian apologetic and missionary claims about the lineage of the Messiah abound, and new claims continue to surface as existing ones are refuted.  The following analysis will demonstrate that the arguments being used to justify Jesus as a bona fide heir to the throne of David do not survive under rigorous scrutiny.

 

1. Genealogical Myths:  Whose Genealogies Are These Anyway?

 

The two genealogies recorded in the New Testament share a common span of time with the genealogies listed in 1^st Chronicles 3 of the Hebrew Bible.  This makes it possible to compare the data in these two sources.  Specifically, since the Hebrew Bible generally provides only genealogies that reflect biological decadency, it is reasonable to compare David's progeny, as recorded in 1^st Chronicles 3:5-24, with the genealogy listed in Matthew 1:6-16.  To facilitate further comparisons, Table IV.A-1 also includes the genealogy listed in Luke 3:23-31.  For simplicity, the names used in the genealogy from the Hebrew Bible are the anglicized rather than phonetic Hebrew renditions.

 

Table IV.A-1 – Comparing Genealogies: Hebrew Bible vs. New Testament

 

* Bold names indicate names of special interest.  Underlined names indicate intermediate

  points of convergence for the two New Testament genealogies.

 

 

According to Christian theology, Jesus was the promised Messiah.  Therefore, it is important to be familiar with the "evidence" offered by the authors of the New Testament in support of this doctrine:

 

U      The authors of the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke refer to Jesus as the son of David:

 

Matthew 1:1(KJV) – The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham. [See also Mt 9:27, 12:23, 15:22, 20:30,31, 21:9,15, 22:42; Mk 10:47,48; Lk 18:38,39]

 

U      The author of the Gospel of John and Paul, the author of Romans and 2^nd Timothy, refer to Jesus as the being of the seed of David:

 

Romans 1:3(KJV) - Concerning his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, which was made of the seed of David according to the flesh; [See also Jo 7:42; 2 Ti 2:8]

 

If these statements were accurate, Jesus would have met a stipulation in the Hebrew Bible, that the Messiah had to be a direct descendant of King David.

 

Consider the two genealogies in the New Testament, which are displayed in the right hand portion of Table IV.A-1, and note the following issues:

 

U      In addition to sharing common starting and ending points (David, and Jesus, respectively), these two genealogies have three intermediate points at which they converge – Salathiel, Zorobabel, and Joseph.

 

¤     This is a rather complex, perhaps impossible, scheme.  It should be noted, by contrast, that the 14 generations listed in the first series of the Matthew genealogy (from Abraham through David) match (in reverse order) the 14 generations listed in the third series of the Luke genealogy (from David through Abraham).  [These parts are not displayed in this essay.]

 

U      The approximate span of time from the birth of David to the death of Jesus is 1,070 years.  This would translate to a generational average of approximately 38 years per generation for the Matthew genealogy, and of approximately 25 years per generation for the Luke genealogy.

 

¤     An increase of 52% in the average generational span for the Matthew genealogy relative to the Luke genealogy or, conversely, a decrease of 34% in the average generational span for the Luke genealogy relative to the Matthew genealogy, is significant and cannot be attributed to chance alone.

 

U      Christians agree that the Matthew genealogy is that of Jesus through Joseph.  However, Christians do not agree on whose the Luke genealogy is.  Some say it is Mary's genealogy, even though her name does not appear anywhere in it; others say that it is the lineage of Jesus through Joseph by Law, and the Matthew genealogy is his lineage through Joseph by Nature.

 

¤     Complicating the problem created with the Luke genealogy leading to David through Nathan and not Solomon, is the dilemma for the Luke genealogy being that of Mary.  According to Torah, Tribal lineage is determined exclusively by the biological (natural) father (e.g., Num 1:18).  Consequently, female genealogies are irrelevant to bloodline and, in general, are not listed in the Hebrew Bible.

 

¤     Several serious problems plague the other claim, that both are genealogies of Jesus – Matthew's being by Nature and Luke's being by Law:

 

!          If, according to the New Testament, the Holy Spirit was the natural father of Jesus, then he cannot be the natural son of Joseph; and, since tribal lineage is a blood-right, the claim to David's throne cannot be passed from Joseph to Jesus merely through "adoption".

 

!          On the other hand, if Joseph was the natural father of Jesus, then the Curse of Jeconiah (see Sec. IV.E) is passed on from Joseph to Jesus along with the tribal lineage and any other blood-rights.

 

!          One class of arguments being offered to explain the convergence of the two genealogies at Zorobabel, Salathiel, and Joseph, and ending at Jesus, involves the notion of a Levirate Marriage[2] taking place at various points along the way.  An analysis of such explanations reveals that at least the latest such marital union, which resulted in the birth of Joseph, was not a valid Levirate Marriage.

 

!          Another class of arguments being offered to explain the convergence of the two genealogies at Zorobabel, Salathiel, and Joseph, and ending at Jesus, combines the notion of a Levirate Marriage taking place in the last stage, of which Joseph was the product, with an assumption that the Zorobabel and Salathiel in the Matthew genealogy were different persons from the Zorobabel and Salathiel in the Luke genealogy.  In view of the fact that these two names are rare in the Hebrew Bible – they belong to only a single pair of individuals – it is rather unlikely that they represent persons in the Luke genealogy who are different from those bearing the same names in both the Matthew and 1^st Chronicles 3 genealogies.

 

U      The Matthew genealogy, going forward from David to Zerubbabel, does not match the corresponding genealogy recorded in 1^st Chronicles, Chapter 3, of the Hebrew Bible.  It appears that, in order to create a genealogy that would suit his purpose, the author of the Gospel of Matthew had to do the following:

 

¤      Leave out the generations that correspond to Kings Ahazia, Joash, Amaziah, and Eliakim/Jehoiakim.

 

¤      Leave out the generation that corresponds to Pedaiah, the son of Shealtiel.

 

¤      Create new names for the generations going forward from Zerubbabel, none of which match the names that appear for the corresponding generations in the 1^st Chronicles 3 genealogy.

 

¤      Leave out the generations that correspond to Neariah, the son of Shemaiah, and Elioenai, the son of Neariah.

 

U      The Luke genealogy, going forward from David to Zerubbabel, does not match the corresponding genealogy recorded in 1^st Chronicles, Chapter 3, of the Hebrew Bible.  It appears that, in order to create a genealogy that would suit his purpose, the author of the Gospel of Luke had to do the following:

 

¤     Come up with a set of new names except for Shealtiel and Zerubbabel.

 

¤     Decrease the average generational span to ~25 years relative to the average generational span of ~38 years in the Matthew genealogy, a reduction of ~13 years or ~34%, which is significant.

 

Given the choices of genealogies from King David going forward, the two genealogies in the New Testament or the genealogy 1^st Chronicles in the Hebrew Bible, which would you accept as trustworthy and accurate?  It is interesting to note that Paul (of the New Testament), perhaps recognizing the severity of the inherent problems with the two hopelessly irreconcilable genealogies recorded in the New Testament, writes:

 

1 Timothy 1:4(KJV) - Neither give heed to fables and endless genealogies, which minister questions, rather than godly edifying which is in faith: so do.

 

Titus 3:9(KJV) - But avoid foolish questions, and genealogies, and contentions, and strivings about the law; for they are unprofitable and vain.

 

Paul teaches Christians that certain parts of the Bible – the genealogies, which include those of Jesus – are akin to fables and foolish questions, and, therefore, must not be given heed and should be avoided, since they raise questions and have no value.[3]  Yet, in spite of these admonitions, Christian apologists and missionaries persist with their genealogical games.

 

¤     Conclusion:  The two genealogies recorded in the New Testament are internally inconsistent and irreconcilable, and significant portions thereof are at variance with corresponding spans listed in the Hebrew Bible.  It is, therefore, not possible to rely on the information contained in these two genealogies, nor is it possible to identify, with any degree of certainty, to whom they belong.

 

2. A Missionary Myth: Jewish Genealogy Records Were Destroyed in 70 C.E.

 

As part of justifying the two genealogies found in the New Testament, Christian apologists and  missionaries often claim that the source of the information therein were the meticulously kept Jewish genealogical records, which were stored in the Temple in Jerusalem.  They go on and claim that these records were destroyed when the Temple was ransacked and burned to the ground by the Romans in the year 70 C.E..  Therefore, Christians claim to have at least a semblance of the true genealogical link between Jesus and David, while the Jews, even when they eventually recognize someone as Messiah, will have no genealogical records to furnish as proof that he, indeed, is the Messiah.

 

The problem with this claim is that it is based on a fallacy.  The assertion that all genealogical records of the Jewish people were destroyed with the destruction of the Second Temple around 70 C.E. is untrue and unfounded.  No such event ever occurred in Jewish history, and there exists neither a credible historian nor any other reliable ancient source to support this claim.  The genealogies of the twelve tribes of Israel were not stored in the Temple and, therefore, they could not have been destroyed with it.  The majority of the Jewish people did not live in the Land of Israel during the first century C.E., and their genealogical records, if they were maintained and kept, would not have been affected by the destruction of Jerusalem and the Second Temple.  Of the estimated six million Jews in the world in 50 C.E., approximately one third lived in the Land of Israel, another one third lived in Egypt (mostly in the populous area around Alexandria), and the rest lived throughout the Roman Empire (primarily in Europe)[4].

 

Most Jews of modern times do not know their tribal affiliation.  The likely reason for this is that today’s Jewish people are either descendants of the tribes which comprised the Kingdom of Judah (Judah, Levi, and part of Benjamin), or descendants of a major wave of proselytes during the period from around 100 B.C.E. to around 100 C.E.  There were, of course, converts to Judaism throughout all of the history in the Common Era (and before), but those were relatively small in numbers.  This matter may be turning into a non-issue with today's advances in genetics research, where genetic markers related to tribal affiliation have been discovered, and are in the process of being identified with specific tribes.  A genetic marker for Aaron's descendants, the  (kohanim), priests, has also been identified.  An amazing fact about these scientific discoveries is that all the tribal genetic markers reside on the Y-chromosome, which is carried only by males.  This could serve as scientific confirmation of the part of Jewish Law which states that blood-rights, such as tribal affiliation, priestly descent, and any other lineage-related attributes, are transmitted exclusively from (biological) father to his son(s).

 

Concerning the matter of known tribal affiliations among the Jewish people, it is worthwhile to comment about the descendants of the Tribe of Levi.  There is no segment of the Jewish people whose members are more aware of their tribal affiliation and more mindful to properly transmit this distinctive ancestry than those from the Tribe of Levi.  From Biblical times onward, it has always been of utmost importance for members of the Tribe of Levi to be aware of their unique place and status among the people of Israel.  There are numerous distinct laws in the Torah which pertain only to this Tribe, such as a  (kohen), a priest, may only marry certain women, a  (kohen), a priest, is prohibited from coming into contact with a dead body, thus barred from attending any part of a funeral service (with some exceptions for immediate family).  Also, only descendants from the Tribe of Levi may take part in the ritual Aaronic Priestly Benediction ceremony, where the  (kohanim), priests, bless the congregation while chanting the passage Numbers 6:24-26, performed on every festival in many traditional synagogues throughout the world.  The clans from the Tribe of Levi have been known among the Jewish people throughout history.

 

According to Jewish Law, lineage is passed along exclusively by the (biological) father (e.g., Num 1:18), while the identity as a Jew is either passed by the mother (Deut 7:3-4; Ezra 10:2-3) or acquired through proper ritual conversion to Judaism.  In this fashion, the priestly lineage is identified (and has, thus, been preserved over history) on the eighth day following the birth of a son of a father who is a  (kohen), a Priest, when, as part of the circumcision ritual, the child is also given a name to which is appended the Hebrew title  (ha’kohen), The Priest.  Similarly, when a son is born of a father who is a  (levi), a Levite, the Hebrew name is appended with the Hebrew title  (ha'levi), The Levite.  A male descendant of the Tribe of Levi is identified in this manner on all legal Jewish documents, such as records of birth and death, marriage contracts, and divorce decrees.  This custom has been carried on as part of the Jewish tradition since the days in the desert, in accordance with Exodus 40:15.  It was well known and well documented among the Jewish people who these individuals were, and this information was carefully passed down from father to son, and often recorded in a family's record book of family genealogy.  Nehemiah refers to such a record as  (sefer ha'yahas; Neh 7:5), and in Modern Hebrew, this is known as  (sefer yuhasin).

 

Sidebar Note:  The role and importance of genealogies in Judaism - The fact that genealogies are listed in the Hebrew Bible indicates that they had, and still have, a place in Judaism.  For instance, as explained above, the proper identification of the descendants from the Tribe of Levi was particularly important since the priestly and Levitical lines had to be kept pure (Exod 40:15; Num 25:12-13; Ezra 2:61-62).

 

Christian apologists and missionaries insist that, since genealogy was important for the priesthood, the same standard must be applied to the Messiah.  The response to this suggestion is simple.  Anyone can learn to imitate the rituals that Priests and Levites perform as part of their Temple service and claim to be from the Tribe of Levi.  This is why the recorded genealogies are important in validating that people are indeed who they claim to be.  On the other hand, as the past 2,000 years have demonstrated, there were many individuals who claimed to be the Messiah, yet they all turned out to be false messiahs.  Did their respective genealogies disqualify them?  No, they did not!  What disqualified them was the fact that they failed to fully execute the messianic agenda that is described in the Hebrew Bible.

 

The promised Jewish Messiah will complete the messianic agenda and bring about the conditions described therein as part of his sovereignty, though some of this will happen prior to his being identified as Messiah.  As a human being, the Messiah lives/will live in a world of recognizable realities of military requirements and political alignments.  He will have to deal with these realities, and emerge victorious within the constraints that they engender.

 

Will the Messiah be required to furnish a certified record of his genealogy as proof that he is a descendant of King David?  Will he have to submit himself to a blood test to determine if he is from the Tribe of Judah?  This is rather unlikely, since the litmus test will be very simple:  Do the conditions described in the messianic agenda exist or not?  The classical quality of the messianic prophecies by the Jewish prophets is that they are exhaustive and exclusive, which means that when they are realized everyone will know it, e.g., when one watches the news program on TV or looks at the front page of a daily newspaper, it will be obvious that a new era has arrived.  No faith will be required in order to experience these prophecies when they are fulfilled.  Thus, the genealogy of the Messiah will be a non-issue, since "seeing is believing" will convince everyone that he is the one.

 

3. A Missionary Myth: Conditional Promises to David's Successors

 

A popular claim invented by Christian apologists and missionaries in order to protect the sanctity and necessity of the virgin birth in Christian theology, is the attempt to invalidate the successors of King David as possible progenitors of the promised Jewish Messiah.  They claim that, although the promise which G-d made to David was eternal, the promise that He made to David's sons, i.e., to the successors to his throne, was conditional and depended on stipulations and contingencies that had to be met.  Since Solomon in particular, as well as many of the other Kings of Judah, "… did that which was evil before the L-rd …", the Messiah of Christianity, who has to be "perfect", i.e., without the "blemish of sin", cannot have an earthly father out of this "tainted" lineage.  According to the claim, this unacceptable lineage had to be cut-off, or terminated, at some point, and problem was solved through the miracle of a virgin birth.

 

Two verses are cited as evidence to support the allegation about the different promises.  Cited first is the unconditional promise to David:

 

Psalms 132:11 - The L-rd has sworn in truth to David, from which He will not turn back, "Of the fruit of your body I shall seat upon your throne."

 

Then the alleged "conditional" promise regarding David's descendants is cited:

 

Psalms 132:12 - "If your sons will keep My covenant, and this, My testimony, that I shall teach them, then also their sons will forever sit upon your throne."

 

However, there is a problem here – the consequences are for violating the stipulations in Psalms 132:12 are missing.  Is this an open-ended set of conditions, the violation of which will result in unspecified consequences?  Surely, the Hebrew Bible should be more specific here, as it is elsewhere.

 

As is often the case, Christian apologists and missionaries convey only part of the full story – the portion that suits their claim.  The prophetic passage quoted in Sec III, 2 Samuel 7:12-16, specifies both the promise and the consequences of disobedience, and other passages in the Hebrew Bible do the same.  For instance, regarding the promise:

 

Psalms 89:29-30 – (29) "I will forever keep My kindness to him [David], and My covenant will remain true to him. (30) And I shall make his seed endure forever, and his throne like the days of heaven."

 

The consequences for not obeying are spelled out as well:

 

Psalms 89:31-33 – (31) "If his sons will forsake My Torah, and will not walk in My judgments, (32) If they profane My statutes, and do not keep My commandments, (33) Then I shall punish their transgression with the rod, and their iniquity with plagues."

 

Note the similarity between Psalms 89:33 and 2 Samuel 7:14.  But wait!  There is more here.  G-d abounds with kindness, love, and mercy:

 

Psalms 89:34-38 – (34) "And I shall not completely remove My loving kindness from him, and I shall not betray My faithfulness. (35) I shall not profane My covenant, nor shall I alter the utterances of my lips. (36) One thing have I sworn by My holiness - that I would not be deceitful to David. (37) His seed will be forever, and his throne like the sun before Me. (38) Like the moon, which is established forever, and witness in the sky, eternally true."

 

Do these proclamations convey the message that the Davidic lineage will be cut-off when one or more of David's successors transgress, and that it will resume some 10 centuries in the future with a sinless being who is born of a virgin?  No, there is no need to speculate about the consequences that accrue for the disobedience that was spoken of in Psalms 132:12; these were already described earlier.

 

Y      Conclusion:  The Kings of Judah who followed King David and who transgressed G-d's Law, and many of them did, were punished as promised.  However, the Hebrew Bible makes reiterates that the Davidic dynasty, from which the Jewish Messiah will eventually emerge, has not been eliminated.  King David was promised that his seed and throne would endure forever.

 

4. More Missionary Myths: Issues Concerning Solomon and Rehoboam

 

1.      Has Solomon Been Disqualified as Messiah's Progenitor?

 

Christian apologists and missionaries claim that, because he was expected to obey G-d's Law and failed to do so, Solomon was disqualified from being the forefather of the Jewish Messiah.  Is this claim a Scriptural fact, or is it fiction?

 

After relating Solomon's grandeur and successful accomplishments during his early years as King of Israel (1 Kgs 1:38-10:25), the Hebrew Bible tells of his failures (1 Kgs 11:1-10).  Starting with the account of his purchasing many horses – a violation of the prohibition the Torah placed on kings of Israel (Deut 17:16), it continues with the account of his marrying many women, likewise a violation of the Biblical prohibition placed upon the kings (Deut 17:17).  And many, if not most, of these women were foreign women, another violation of a prohibition according to the Torah (Deut 7:3).  Then comes G-d's anger with Solomon, and the consequences:

 

1 Kings 11:11-13 – (11) And the L-rd said to Solomon, "For as this has been with you and you have not observed My covenant and My statutes which I have commanded you, I will surely tear the kingdom from you, and shall give it to your servant. (12) However, in your days I will not do this, for the sake of David your father; from the hand of your son I shall tear it. (13) But I shall not tear the entire kingdom away from you; one tribe I shall grant to your son for the sake of David My servant, and for the sake of Jerusalem, [the city] which I have chosen.

 

This is a severe punishment, indeed, but there is no mention anywhere in the Hebrew Bible of any forfeiting of the right to kingship or disqualification from being the progenitor to the Messiah.  Even the righteous King David sinned, although not on as grand a scale as did his son Solomon and many of his successors, yet he was promised to be the ancestor of the Messiah.

 

Y      Conclusion:  This claim is a bogus issue.  The iniquity of Solomon and some of his legitimate successors does not automatically disqualify any of them from being the progenitor to the Messiah.

 

2.      Was Rehoboam A Jew via Father or Mother?

 

This issue has been raised by Christian apologists and missionaries as a challenge to the rule that, in Judaism, a person's identity as a Jew is determined either by having a mother who is a Jewess or by formal ritual conversion to Judaism.  Putting aside, for now, the option of formal ritual conversion, the Christian apologists and missionaries claim that, if a person's mother has to be a Jewess to make that person a Jew, then Rehoboam was not a Jew, since his mother, Na'amah the Ammonitess, was not a Jewess, and they cite the following passage in support of this claim:

 

1 Kings 14:21 - And Rehoboam the son of Solomon reigned in Judah; forty-one years old was Rehoboam when he became king, and seventeen years he reigned in Jerusalem, the city that the L-rd has chosen to place His Name there out of all the tribes of Israel; and his mother’s name was Na'amah the Ammonitess.

 

They continue and argue that, according to Torah, Ammonites and Moabites were not allowed to convert to Judaism:

 

Deuteronomy 23:4 - An Ammonite [ (ammoni)] and a Moabite [ (mo'avi)] shall not enter into the congregation of the L-rd; even their tenth generation shall not enter into the congregation of the L-rd forever.

 

They correctly point out that the Torah requires a king of Israel to be a Jew:

 

Deuteronomy 17:15 - You shall surely set over yourself a king whom the L-rd, your G-d, shall choose; from among your brethren shall you set king over yourself; you may not place over yourself a foreign man, one who is not your brother.

 

And therefore, the Christian apologetic missionary argument continues, since G-d would not violate His own rule and place a non-Jew on the throne of David, Rehoboam had to be a Jew, not by his mother, Na'amah the Ammonitess, but by his father, Solomon, the Israelite and Jew.

 

On the surface, this challenge may appear to be a "slam-dunk" for Christian apologists and missionaries and, hence, for Christian theology.  On the one hand, if their claim that one's identity as a Jew is passed by the father were to hold up, they would have demonstrated that the requirement of having a mother that is a Jewess is a later addition to Jewish Law by the Rabbis.  On the other hand, if that challenge is defeated, the Christian apologists and missionaries may come back and claim that Rehoboam was not a Jew, since his mother was not allowed to convert to Judaism, thus he would be disqualified from having the Jewish Messiah come from his lineage.  Since he was the only son of Solomon listed in the Hebrew Bible, that would imply that Judaism has on its hands a serious problem with the origin of its Messiah.  To remedy this problem, they suggest that the miracle of a virgin birth was the divine solution to bring forth the Messiah.

 

In order to deal with this claim, a look beyond the surface in required.  The following is stated in the Torah concerning intermarriage with several nations that the Israelites will face upon entering the Promised Land:

 

Deuteronomy 7:3-4 – (3) And you shall not intermarry with them; your daughter you shall not give to his son, and his daughter you shall not take for your son.  (4) For he will cause your son to turn away from following Me, and they will serve other gods; then the wrath of the L-rd will be kindled against you, and He will soon destroy you.

 

The Hebrew wording and the knowledge of Torah are required for the correct understanding of the message these two verses convey.  The Torah teaches two important concepts here.  On the one hand, with the understanding that the he in Deuteronomy 7:4 refers to the Gentile father-in-law, the one referred to as your son is the son of the Israelite father, a Jew, who is marrying the daughter of the Gentile father.  The verse then states that this Israelite son will "… serve other gods …", which means that any children of this marriage will be Gentiles, following the race and faith of their Gentile mother. 

 

Alternatively, with the understanding that the he in Deuteronomy 7:4 refers to the Gentile whom the daughter (a Jewess) of an Israelite father, a Jew, marries, son is understood to mean grandson[5].  So that, by calling the son of an Israelite mother (a Jewess) and Gentile father the son of the Israelite grandfather (a Jew) in Deuteronomy 7:4, it follows that this child was to be regarded as being of the same race and faith as the mother.

 

In either case, and according to Jewish Law, the child of a father who is a Jew and a mother who is a Gentile follows the religious identity of the mother.  Are there examples from Scripture th