Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers: Series II/Volume I/Church History of Eusebius/Book I/Chapter 7

The Alleged Discrepancy in the Gospels in regard to the Genealogy of Christ.

1. and Luke in their gospels have given us the genealogy of Christ differently, and many suppose that they are at variance with one another. Since as a consequence every believer, in ignorance of the truth, has been zealous to invent some explanation which shall harmonize the two passages, permit us to subjoin the account of the matter which has come down to us, and which is given by Africanus, who was mentioned by us just above, in his epistle to Aristides, On Africanus, see Bk. VI. chap. 31. Of this Aristides to whom the epistle is addressed we know nothing. He must not be confounded with the apologist Aristides, who lived in the reign of Trajan (see below, Bk. IV. c. 3). Photius (Bibl. 34) mentions this epistle, but tells us nothing about Aristides himself. The epistle exists in numerous fragments, from which Spitta (Der Brief des Julius Africanus an Aristides kritisch untersucht und hergestellt, Halle, 1877) attempts to reconstruct the original epistle. His work is the best and most complete upon the subject. Compare Routh, ''Rel. Sacr&#230;,'' II. pp. 228&#8211;237 and pp. 329&#8211;356, where two fragments are given and discussed at length. The epistle (as given by Mai) is translated in the Ante-Nicene Fathers, Am. ed. VI. p. 125 ff.

The attempt of Africanus is, so far as we know, the first critical attempt to harmonize the two genealogies of Christ. The question had been the subject merely of guesses and suppositions until his time. He approaches the matter in a free critical spirit (such as seems always to have characterized him), and his investigations therefore deserve attention. He holds that both genealogies are those of Joseph, and this was the unanimous opinion of antiquity, though, as he says, the discrepancies were reconciled in various ways. Africanus himself, as will be seen, explains by the law of Levirate marriages, and his view is advocated by Mill (On the Mythical Interpretation of the Gospel, p. 201 sq.); but of this interpretation Rev. John Lightfoot justly says, &#8220;There is neither reason for it, nor, indeed, any foundation at all.&#8221;

Upon the supposition that both genealogies relate to Joseph the best explanation is that Matthew&#8217;s table represents the royal line of legal successors to the throne of David, while Luke&#8217;s gives the line of actual descent. This view is ably advocated by Hervey in Smith&#8217;s Bible Dictionary (article Genealogy of Jesus). Another opinion which has prevailed widely since the Reformation is that Luke gives the genealogy of Mary. The view is defended very ingeniously by Weiss (Leben Jesu, I. 205, 2d edition). For further particulars see, besides the works already mentioned, the various commentaries upon Matthew and Luke and the various lives of Christ, especially Andrews&#8217;, p. 55 sq. where he discusses the harmony of the gospel genealogies. After refuting the opinions of others as forced and deceptive, he give the account which he had received from tradition in these words:

2. &#8220;For whereas the names of the generations were reckoned in Israel either according to nature or according to law;&#8212;according to nature by the succession of legitimate offspring, and according to law whenever another raised up a child to the name of a brother dying childless; for because a clear hope of resurrection was not yet given they had a representation of the future promise by a kind of mortal resurrection, in order that the name of the one deceased might be perpetuated;&#8212;

3. whereas then some of those who are inserted in this genealogical table succeeded by natural descent, the son to the father, while others, though born of one father, were ascribed by name to another, mention was made of both of those who were progenitors in fact and of those who were so only in name.

4. Thus neither of the gospels is in error, for one reckons by nature, the other by law. For the line of descent from Solomon and that from Nathan were so involved, the one with the other, by the raising up of children to the childless and by second marriages, that the same persons are justly considered to belong at one time to one, at another time to another; that is, at one time to the reputed fathers, at another to the actual fathers. So that both these accounts are strictly true and come down to Joseph with considerable intricacy indeed, yet quite accurately.

5. But in order that what I have said may be made clear I shall explain the interchange of the generations. If we reckon the generations from David through Solomon, the third from the end is found to be Matthan, who begat Jacob the father of Joseph. But if, with Luke, we reckon them from Nathan the son of David, in like manner the third from the end is Melchi, whose son Eli was the father of Joseph. For Joseph was the son of Eli, the son of Melchi.

6. Joseph therefore being the object proposed to us, it must be shown how it is that each is recorded to be his father, both Jacob, who derived his descent from Solomon, and Eli, who derived his from Nathan; first how it is that these two, Jacob and Eli, were brothers, and then how it is that their fathers, Matthan and Melchi, although of different families, are declared to be grandfathers of Joseph.

7. Matthan and Melchi having married in succession the same woman, begat children who were uterine brothers, for the law did not prohibit a widow, whether such by divorce or by the death of her husband, from marrying another.

8. By Estha then (for this was the woman&#8217;s name according to tradition) Matthan, a descendant of Solomon, first begat Jacob. And when Matthan was dead, Melchi, who traced his descent back to Nathan, being of the same tribe but of another family, married her as before said, and begat a son Eli.

9. Thus we shall find the two, Jacob and Eli, although belonging to different families, yet brethren by the same mother. Of these the one, Jacob, when his brother Eli had died childless, took the latter&#8217;s wife and begat by her a son Joseph, his own son by nature and in accordance with reason. Wherefore also it is written: &#8216;Jacob begat Joseph.&#8217; But according to law he was the son of Eli, for Jacob, being the brother of the latter, raised up seed to him.

10. Hence the genealogy traced through him will not be rendered void, which the evangelist Matthew in his enumeration gives thus: &#8216;Jacob begat Joseph.&#8217; But Luke, on the other hand, says: &#8216;Who was the son, as was supposed&#8217; This passage has caused much trouble. Valesius remarks, &#8220;Africanus wishes to refer the words &#8033;&#962; &#7952;&#957;&#959;&#956;&#8055;&#950;&#949;&#964;&#959; (&#8216;as was supposed&#8217;) not only to the words &#8017;&#953;&#8056;&#962; &#8125;&#921;&#969;&#963;&#8053;&#966;, but also to the words &#964;&#959;&#8166; &#8190;&#919;&#955;&#8054;, which follow, which although it is acute is nevertheless improper and foolish; for if Luke indicates that legal generation or adoption by the words &#8033;&#962; &#7952;&#957;&#959;&#956;&#8055;&#950;&#949;&#964;&#959;, as Africanus claims, it would follow that Christ was the son of Joseph by legal adoption in the same way that Joseph was the son of Eli. And thus it would be said that Mary, after the death of Joseph, married his brother, and that Christ was begotten by him, which is impious and absurd. And besides, if these words, &#8033;&#962; &#7952;&#957;&#959;&#956;&#8055;&#950;&#949;&#964;&#959;, are extended to the words &#964;&#959;&#8166; &#8190;&#919;&#955;&#8054;, in the same way they can be extended to all which follow. For there is no reason why they should be supplied in the second grade and not in the others.&#8221;

But against Valesius, Stroth says that Africanus seeks nothing in the words &#8033;&#962; &#7952;&#957;&#959;&#956;&#8055;&#950;&#949;&#964;&#959;, but in the fact that Luke says &#8220;he was the son of,&#8221; while Matthew says &#8220;he begat.&#8221; Stroth&#8217;s interpretation is followed by Closs, Heinichen, and others, but Routh follows Valesius. Spitta discusses the matter carefully (p. 91 sq.), agreeing with Valesius that Africanus lays the emphasis upon the words &#8033;&#962; &#7952;&#957;&#959;&#956;&#8055;&#950;&#949;&#964;&#959;, but by an emendation (introducing a second &#8033;&#962; &#7952;&#957;&#959;&#956;&#8055;&#950;&#949;&#964;&#959;, and reading &#8220;who was the son, as was supposed, of Joseph, the son of Jacob, who was himself also the son, as was supposed,&#8212;for this he also adds,&#8212;of Eli, the son of Melchi&#8221;) he applies the &#8033;&#962; &#7952;&#957;&#959;&#956;&#8055;&#950;&#949;&#964;&#959; only to the first and second members, and takes it in a more general sense to cover both cases, thus escaping Valesius&#8217; conclusions expressed above. The conjecture is ingenious, but is unwarranted and unnecessary. The words which occur in the next sentence, &#8220;and the expression, &#8216;he begat&#8217; he has omitted,&#8221; show that Africanus, as Stroth contends, lays the emphasis upon the difference of form in the two genealogies, &#8220;Son of&#8221; and &#8220;he begat.&#8221; The best explanation seems to me to be that Africanus supposes Luke to have implied the legal generation in the words &#8220;the Son of,&#8221; used in distinction from the definite expression &#8220;he begat,&#8221; and that the words &#8033;&#962; &#7952;&#957;&#959;&#956;&#8055;&#950;&#949;&#964;&#959;, which &#8220;he also adds,&#8221; simply emphasize this difference of expression by introducing a still greater ambiguity into Luke&#8217;s mode of statement. He not only uses the words, the &#8220;Son of,&#8221; which have a wide latitude, admitting any kind of sonship, but &#8220;he also adds,&#8221; &#8220;as was supposed,&#8221; showing, in Africanus&#8217; opinion, still more clearly that the list which follows is far from being a closely defined table of descent by &#8220;natural generation.&#8221; (for this he also adds), &#8216;of Joseph, the son of Eli, the son of Melchi&#8217;; for he could not more clearly express the generation according to law. And the expression &#8216;he begat&#8217; he has omitted in his genealogical table up to the end, tracing the genealogy back to Adam the son of God. This interpretation is neither incapable of proof nor is it an idle conjecture. This seems the best possible rendering of the Greek, which reads &#964;&#8052;&#957; &#7936;&#957;&#945;&#966;&#959;&#961;&#8048;&#957; &#960;&#959;&#953;&#951;&#963;&#8364;&#956;&#949;&#957;&#959;&#962; &#7953;&amp; 240&#903;&#962; &#964;&#959;&#8166; &#8125;&#913;&#948;&#8048;&#956;, &#964;&#959;&#8166; &#952;&#949;&#959;&#8166; &#954;&#945;&#964;&#8125; &#7936;&#957;&#8364;&#955;&#965;&#963;&#953;&#957;. &#959;&#8016;&#948;&#8050; &#956;&#8052;&#957; &#7936;&#957;&#945;&#960;&#8057;&#948;&#949;&#953;&#954;&#964;&#959;&#957; &#954;.&#964;.&#955;., which is very dark, punctuated thus, and it is difficult to understand what is meant by &#954;&#945;&#964;&#8125; &#7936;&#957;&#8364;&#955;&#965;&#963;&#953;&#957; in connection with the preceding words. (Crus&#232; translates, &#8220;having traced it back as far as Adam, &#8216;who was the son of God,&#8217; he resolves the whole series by referring back to God. Neither is this incapable of proof, nor is it an idle conjecture.&#8221;) The objections which Spitta brings against the sentence in this form are well founded. He contends (p. 63 sqq.), and that rightly, that Africanus could not have written the sentence thus. In restoring the original epistle of Africanus, therefore, he throws the words &#954;&#945;&#964;&#8125; &#7936;&#957;&#8364;&#955;&#965;&#963;&#953;&#957; into the next sentence, which disposes of the difficulty, and makes good sense. We should then read, &#8220;having traced it back as far as Adam, the Son of God. This interpretation (more literally, &#8216;as an interpretation,&#8217; or &#8216;by way of interpretation&#8217;) is neither incapable of proof, nor is it an idle conjecture.&#8221; That Africanus wrote thus I am convinced. But as Spitta shows, Eusebius must have divided the sentences as they now stand, for, according to his idea, that Africanus&#8217; account was one which he had received by tradition, the other mode of reading would be incomprehensible, though he probably did not understand much better the meaning of &#954;&#945;&#964;&#8125; &#7936;&#957;&#8364;&#955;&#965;&#963;&#953;&#957; as he placed it. In translating Africanus&#8217; epistle here, I have felt justified in rendering it as Africanus probably wrote it, instead of following Eusebius&#8217; incorrect reproduction of it.

11. For the relatives of our Lord according to the flesh, whether with the desire of boasting or simply wishing to state the fact, in either case truly, have handed down the following account: Some Idumean robbers, having attacked Ascalon, a city of Palestine, carried away from a temple of Apollo which stood near the walls, in addition to other booty, Antipater, son of a certain temple slave named Herod. And since the priest was not able to pay the ransom for his son, Antipater was brought up in the customs of the Idumeans, and afterward was befriended by Hyrcanus, the high priest of the Jews.

12. And having been sent by Hyrcanus on an embassy to Pompey, and having restored to him the kingdom which had been invaded by his brother Aristobulus, he had the good fortune to be named procurator of Palestine. But Antipater having been slain by those who were envious of his great good fortune was succeeded by his son Herod, who was afterward, by a decree of the senate, made King of the Jews under Antony and Augustus. His sons were Herod and the other tetrarchs. These accounts agree also with those of the Greeks.

13. But as there had been kept in the archives up to that time the genealogies of the Hebrews as well as of those who traced their lineage back to proselytes, such as Achior the Ammonite and Ruth the Moabitess, and to those who were mingled with the Israelites and came out of Egypt with them, Herod, inasmuch as the lineage of the Israelites contributed nothing to his advantage, and since he was goaded with the consciousness of his own ignoble extraction, burned all the genealogical records, thinking that he might appear of noble origin if no one else were able, from the public registers, to trace back his lineage to the patriarchs or proselytes and to those mingled with them, who were called Georae.

14. A few of the careful, however, having obtained private records of their own, either by remembering the names or by getting them in some other way from the registers, pride themselves on preserving the memory of their noble extraction. Among these are those already mentioned, called Desposyni, on account of their connection with the family of the Saviour. Coming from Nazara and Cochaba, villages of Judea, into other parts of the world, they drew the aforesaid genealogy from memory and from the book of daily records It has been the custom since Valesius, to consider this &#8220;Book of daily records&#8221; (&#946;&#8055;&#946;&#955;&#959;&#962; &#964;&#8182;&#957; &#7969;&#956;&#949;&#961;&#8182;&#957;) the same as the &#8220;private records&#8221; (&#7984;&#948;&#953;&#969;&#964;&#953;&#954;&#8048;&#962; &#7936;&#960;&#959;&#947;&#961;&#945;&#966;&#8364;&#962;) mentioned just above. But this opinion has been combated by Spitta, and that with perfect right. The sentence is, in fact, an exact parallel to the sentence just above, where it is said that a few of the careful, either by means of their memory or by means of copies, were able to have &#8220;private records of their own.&#8221; In the present sentence it is said that &#8220;they drew the aforesaid genealogy (viz., &#8216;the private records of their own&#8217;) from memory, or from the Book of daily records&#8221; (which corresponds to the copies referred to above). This book of daily records is clearly, therefore, something other than the &#7984;&#948;&#953;&#969;&#964;&#953;&#954;&#8048;&#962; &#7936;&#960;&#959;&#947;&#961;&#945;&#966;&#8048;&#962;, but exactly what we are to understand by it is not so easy to say. It cannot denote the regular public records (called the archives above), for these were completed, and would not need to be supplemented by memory; and apparently, according to Africanus&#8217; opinion, these private records were made after the destruction of the regular public ones. The &#8220;Book of daily records&#8221; referred to must have been at any rate an incomplete genealogical source needing to be supplemented by the memory. Private family record books, if such existed previous to the supposed destruction of the public records, of which we have no evidence, would in all probability have been complete for each family. Spitta maintains (p. 101 sq.) that the Book of Chronicles is meant: the Hebrew &#1491;&#1468;&#1460;&#1489;&#1456;&#1512;&#1461;&#1497; &#1492;&#1463;&#1497;&#1468;&#1464;&#1502;&#1460;&#1497;&#1501; , words or records of the days. This is a very attractive suggestion, as the book exactly corresponds to the book described: the genealogies which it gives are incomplete and require supplementing, and it is a book which was accessible to all; public, therefore, and yet not involved in the supposed destruction. The difficulty lies in the name given. It is true that Jerome calls the Books of Chronicles Verba Dierum and Hilary Sermones Dierum, &amp;c.; but we should expect Africanus to use here the technical LXX. designation, &#928;&#945;&#961;&#945;&#955;&#949;&#953;&#960;&#959;&#956;&#8051;&#957;&#969;&#957;. But whatever this &#8220;Book of daily records&#8221; was, it cannot have been the &#8220;private records&#8221; which were formed &#8220;from memory and from copies,&#8221; but was one of the sources from which those &#8220;private records&#8221; were drawn. as faithfully as possible.

15. Whether then the case stand thus or not no one could find a clearer explanation, according to my own opinion and that of every candid person. And let this suffice us, for, although we can urge no testimony in its support, we have nothing better or truer to offer. In any case the Gospel states the truth.&#8221; And at the end of the same epistle he adds these words: &#8220;Matthan, who was descended from Solomon, begat Jacob. And when Matthan was dead, Melchi, who was descended from Nathan begat Eli by the same woman. Eli and Jacob were thus uterine brothers. Eli having died childless, Jacob raised up seed to him, begetting Joseph, his own son by nature, but by law the son of Eli. Thus Joseph was the son of both.&#8221;

17. Thus far Africanus. And the lineage of Joseph being thus traced, Mary also is virtually shown to be of the same tribe with him, since, according to the law of Moses, intermarriages between different tribes were not permitted. For the command is to marry one of the same family and lineage, so that the inheritance may not pass from tribe to tribe. This may suffice here.