GENEALOGIES, BIBLICAL

The Israelites share with other Semitic peoples the tendency to trace the ancestry of the tribe, clan, or individual back through the male line to a historical or legendary figure of the distant past. Frequently he is eponymous; i.e., from him they take their name—e.g., the individuals of a social group would be known as the sons of Israel (Heb. b ^enê yiśrā’ēl ) and the group as the house of Israel (bêt yiśrā’ēl ). Membership in a tribe or clan means to be descended from such a common ancestor either really or by legal fiction. When those who are not of natural descent are amalgamated to the group (Jos 15.13), they are genealogized into it by adoption of its ancestors.

The Old Testament genealogies are mostly the work of the Pentateuchal priestly writers in the Persian period from the 6th to the 4th century. They are found especially in the Pentateuch, Chronicles, Ezra, and Nehemia. Some, such as Genesis ch. 4–5, have parallels in Babylonian literature, where there is also an artificial listing of ten generations between the first man and the flood. The Priestly Writers frequently utilized genealogies as mnemonic aids, bridging the important epochs of history. Writing for a nation that was no longer independent, they wished to show the links of the present community with the past and Yahweh's special intervention in Israel's history. Israel's role and God's choice of Israel were shown to be no accident of history; they were in Yahweh's plan from the creation of the ancestor of all men, Adam. The genealogy showing the descent of all nations from Noah (Gn ch. 10) continued the same line of thought, indicating the relationship of the chosen people to the Gentiles.

After the Exile, genealogies became so important that ancient figures, such as Samuel, who previously had none, were given lines of ancestors. Every effort had to be made to preserve the identity and faith of the nation, continually threatened by syncretism. One solution was to insist that the priests and other leaders be of pure Jewish blood (Neh 7.5) as proved by genealogical charts. Levites who lacked authentic genealogies were excluded from the service of the Temple. The effort to preserve the nation developed into a nationalism and exclusivism opposed by works such as Jonah and Ruth. Finally, John the Baptist told the Jews that genealogy did not bring salvation: "God is able out of these stones to raise up children to Abraham" (Mt 3.9).

Studies of the individual genealogies often show their artificial nature. There are symmetrical patterns of names and periods of time. Words such as son and brother are used for distant relatives and for those joined only by covenant. Doublets occur showing great variation in the genealogy of the same person. After the period of conquest when the Israelites settled the land of Canaan, names of villages and towns often replaced personal names. All of this points to the fact that the author felt that the history of Israel is the history of God's chosen ones. Study of the genealogies shows that he was more interested in theology than chronology, more concerned with salvation history than the narration of names and dates.

See Also: genealogy of jesus.

Bibliography: r. de vaux, Ancient Israel, Its Life and Institutions, tr. j. mc hugh (New York 1961) 4–6. j. pedersen, Israel, Its Life and Culture, tr. a. mØller and a. i. fausbØll, 2 v. (New York 1926–1940; rev. ed. 1959) 1:257. l. waterman, "Some Repercussions from Late Levitical Genealogical Accretions in P and the Chronicler," American Journal of Semitic Languages and Literatures 58 (1941) 50. r. a. bowman, The Interpreters' Dictionary of the Bible, g. a. buttrick, ed., 4 v. (Nashville 1962) 2:362–365.

[s. c. doyle]