Wierwille, V.P.-The Genealogy of Jesus Christ
The Genealogy of Jesus Christ
Another Study in Abundant Living by VICTOR PAUL WIERWILLE This book is in the public domain. For more teachings by V. P. Wierwille, E. W. Bullinger and others, go to: www.eternallyblessed.org The Scripture used throughout this study is quoted from the King James Version unless otherwise noted. Any explanatory insertions by the author within a Scripture verse are enclosed in brackets [ ]. The record of the birth of Christ is clearly given in the Word of God. Matthew chapter 1, verse 1 says, The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham. The word "generation" is "offspring." Jesus was the offspring of David, the son of Abraham, the royal line of Mary. Was Abraham a Jew? No. He wasn’t a Hebrew either. He was Gentile. The Hebrews and Judeans came much later. The record in Matthew gives the genealogy of believers preceding Mary. The legality of the claims for Jesus Christ are confirmed in Matthew because this Gospel presents the genealogy of Jesus Christ through Mary. She must be the direct descendant of the House of David, or Christ’s claims fail on legal grounds. If Matthew 1:1 is true then its record must of necessity be that of Mary, who was the only human parent of Jesus Christ. At the close of the genealogical record Matthew gives the following explanation:
Matthew 1:22,23:
Now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet [Isaiah], saying, Behold, a virgin shall be with child...
Matthew very carefully records the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of Mary. Matthew cannot be giving the genealogy of Joseph, the husband of Mary, which theologians have maintained throughout the years, when this Gospel states so clearly that Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit (verse 20). The translation in Matthew 1:16 giving Joseph as the husband of Mary is an error, not on the part of the original writer, Matthew, but the subsequent translators. When we examine the Matthew record in detail it is evident that God placed a safeguard to enable us to avoid such a misunderstanding. Matthew numbered the genealogical lineage of Jesus Christ and divided it into three groups of 14 generations. This is the safeguard.
Matthew 1:17: So all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations; and from David until the carrying away into Babylon are fourteen generations; and from the carrying away into Babylon unto Christ are fourteen generations.
Counting carefully in the record of the Gospel of Matthew, we note that the first two groupings each contain fourteen generations, but the third group lists only thirteen generations because the King James Version states that Joseph was the husband of Mary. Furthermore, Luke 3:23 declares the father of Joseph to be Heli, while Matthew 1:16 declares the father of Joseph to be Jacob. How do you reconcile the apparent discrepancy? The two Josephs certainly cannot be the same if the Word of God is the will of God and means what it says and says what it means.
Comparing the records as given by Matthew and Luke, it is only logical and reasonable that they must be speaking of two different Josephs. The error in Matthew is due to the mistranslation of the Greek word andra as "husband," instead of "father." In Matthew 1:16 the Greek word andra is the accusative singular of the root word anēr. Anēr is a male person of full age and stature as opposed to a child or female.
I Corinthians 13:11: When I was a child, I spake as a child, 1 understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man [anēr], I put away childish things.
Men [anēr] and brethren, this scripture must needs have been fulfilled, which the Holy Ghost by the mouth of David spake before concerning Judas, which was guide to them that took Jesus.
Watch ye, stand fast in the faith, quit you like men [anēr], be strong.
Likewise, ye wives, be in subjection to your own husbands [anēr]; that, if any obey not the word, they also may without the word be won by the conversation of the wives.
Acts 17:5: But the Jews which believed not, moved with envy, took unto them certain lewd fellows [anēr] of the baser sort, and gathered a company, and set all the city on an uproar, and assaulted the house of Jason, and sought to bring them out to the people.
Acts 7:26: And the next day he shewed himself unto them as they strove, and would have set them at one again, saying, Sirs [anēr], ye are brethren; why do ye wrong one to another?
Luke 24:19: And he said unto them, What things? And they said unto him, Concerning Jesus of Nazareth, which was a [anēr] prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people.
Acts 3:14: But ye denied the Holy One and the Just, and desired a [anēr] murderer to be granted unto you.
Anēr is used of an adult male person in various relations where the context must determine its true meaning. As indicated in the above verses the usage of aner in its relationship is as follows:
1. Man4. Sir 2. Husband5. A man as a prophet 3. Fellow6. A man as a murderer
There is therefore no basis for translating aner "husband" in Matthew 1:16, and every reason from the genealogy to translate it "father." This is further authenticated from the Aramaic. Anēr in Matthew 1:16 is gbra in Aramaic, meaning "mighty man." The Aramaic word for "husband" is bāla, used in Matthew 1:19, "Joseph the husband [bāla] of Mary...."
Biblical and oriental customs further verify this truth. The father who is the head of the household is the "mighty man." The son, even though a husband, is always under subjection to the father, the "mighty man," who is the superior over the whole household, until he, the father, dies. Then the son, who is a husband and father, becomes the head of the household, the "mighty man." The son would never be referred to as the head of the household, the "mighty man," while his father is alive. Thus according to Biblical and oriental customs, a husband, even though he may be a husband and father, can never be the "mighty man" while his father is living.
Matthew 1:16 should read, "And Jacob begat Joseph, the father of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ." This translation makes the Word of God in Matthew and Luke fit perfectly, and deprives every Bible critic of every argument relating to the subject.
It is certainly acceptable and easily understood that Mary could have a father having the same name as her husband, namely, Joseph. Working the Matthew record in detail from genealogy, the Greek word usage, the Aramaic word usage, and Biblical and oriental customs, we discover from all four conclusively that it must be translated "Joseph the father of Mary."
Luke 3:23 becomes a ringing reality in the light of the foregone conclusion: 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.
* The King James Version failed to include huios, the son, from the original text; a very grave oversight or deliberate omission. The purpose in setting Luke’s genealogy of Joseph as the supposed father of Jesus as reckoned by Judean laws, was simply to establish Jesus, whom Joseph subsequently adopted in every legal way as his son, with complete legal standing in the House of David.
Nothing is so dynamically thrilling as the inherent accuracy of God’s wonderful, matchless Word. How truly wonderful it is to know that the Bible is the inspired Word of God and, as originally given when holy men of God recorded it as moved by the Holy Spirit, is absolute truth. The Book of the Generation of Jesus Christ. Matthew 1:1-17. (The ancestral line of Mary the mother of Jesus.) Abraham to David (14 generations) 1. Abraham8. Aminadab 2. Isaac9. Naasson 3. Jacob10. Salmon 4. Judas11. Booz 5. Phares12. Obed 6. Esrom13. Jesse 7. Aram14. David (the King) David to Carrying away to Babylon (14 generations) 1. Solomon8. Joatham 2. Roboam9. Achaz 3. Abia10. Ezekias 4. Asa11. Manasses 5. Josaphat12. Amon 6. Joram13. Josias 7. Ozias14. Jechonias Carrying away to Babylon until Christ (14 generations) 1. Salathiel (born after8. Eliud carrying away)9. Eleazar 2. Zorobabel10. Matthan 2. Abiud11. Jacob 4. Eliakim12. Joseph (father 5. Azorof Mary) 6. Sadoc13. Mary 7. Achim14. Jesus The Genealogy of Joseph, the husband of Mary, Luke 3:23-38. (The ancestral line of Joseph – the legal male side.) God26. Esrom 1. Adam27. Aram 2. Seth28. Aminadab 3. Enos29. Naasson 4. Cainan30. Salmon 5. Maleleel31. Booz 6. Jared32. Obed 7. Enoch33. Jesse 8. Mathusala34. David (the King) 9. Lamech35. Nathan 10. Noe36. Mattatha 11. Sem37. Menan 12. Arphaxad38. Melea 13. Cainan39. Eliakim 14. Sala40. Jonan 15. Heber41. Joseph 16. Phalec42. Juda 17. Ragau43. Simeon 18. Saruch44. Levi 19. Nachor45. Matthat 20. Thara46. Jorim 21. Abraham47. Eliezer 22. Isaac48. Jose 23. Jacob49. Er 24. Juda50. Elmodam 25. Phares51. Cosam 52. Addi65. Esli 53. Melchi66. Naum 54. Neri67. Amos 55. Salathiel68. Mattathias 56. Zorobabel69. Joseph 57. Rhesa70. Janna 58. Joanna71. Melchi 59. Juda72. Levi 60. Joseph73. Matthat 61. Semei74. Heli (father of 62. MattathiasJoseph) 63. Maath75. Joseph (husband 64. Naggeof Mary)