Page:Ecclesiastical History of Eusebius Pamphilus, 1842.djvu/64

32 down to  us. We refer  to  the  history  which  has  been  handed down on  these  passages  by  Africanus,  in  an  epistle  to  Aristides, respecting the  harmony  of  the  genealogy  of  the  gospels. After having refuted  the  opinions  of  others  as  forced  and  fictitious,  he sets  forth  the  account  that  he  had  ascertained  himself,  in  the  following words. " It  was  customary  in  Israel  to  calculate  the names  of  the  generations,  either  according  to  nature,  or  according to  the  law;  according  to  nature,  by  the  succession  of  legitimate offspring;  according  to  the  law,  when  another  raised  children  to the  name  of  a  brother  who  had  died  childless.  For  as  the  hope of  a  resurrection  was  not  yet  clearly  given,  they  imitated  the  promise which  was  to  take  place  by  a  kind  of  mortal  resurrection, with  a  view  to  perpetuate  the  name  of  the  person  who  had  died. Since  then,  there  are  some  of  those  who  are  inserted  in  this  genealogical table,  that  succeed  each  other  in  the  natural  order  of father  and  son,  some  again  that  were  born  of  others,  and  were  ascribed to  others  by  name,  both  the  real  and  reputed  fathers  have been  recorded.  Thus,  neither  of  the  gospels  has  made  a  false statement, whether  calculating  in  the  order  of  nature,  or  according to  law. For the  families  descended  from  Solomon,  and  those from Nathan,  were  so  intermingled,  by  substitutions  in  the  place of those  who  had  died  childless,  by  second  marriages  and  the  raising up  of  seed,  that  the  same  persons  are  justly  considered,  as  in one  respect,  belonging  to  the  one  of  these,  and  in  another  respect belonging to  others. Hence it  is,  that  both  of  these  accounts  being true, viz. of those  who  were  reputed  fathers,  and  those  who  really were fathers,  they  come  down  to  Joseph  with  considerable  intricacy, it  is  true,  but  with  great  accuracy. That this,  however, may be  made  evident,  I  will  state  the  series  of  generations. If (in the  genealogy  of  Matthew,)  you  reckon  the  generations  from David through  Solomon,  Matthan,  who  begat  Jacob  the  father  of Joseph,  is  found  to  be  the  third  from  the  end. But if,  with  Luke, you reckon  from  Nathan  the  son  of  David,  in  like  manner,  Melchi, whose son  was  Eli,  the  father  of  Joseph,  will  be  found  to  be  the third. As Joseph,  then,  is  our  proposed  object,  we  are  to  show how it  happened  that  each  is  recorded  as  his  father;  both  Jacob, as deduced  from  Solomon,  and  Eli  from  Nathan;  also,  how  it  hap-