Path: utzoo!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!bcm!dimacs.rutgers.edu!aramis.rutgers.edu!athos.rutgers.edu!christian From: fasano@unix.cis.pitt.edu (Cathy Fasano) Newsgroups: soc.religion.christian Subject: Re: Questions about the Messiah (Off on a Tangent) Message-ID: Date: 7 Mar 91 08:20:13 GMT Sender: hedrick@athos.rutgers.edu Organization: University of Pittsburgh Lines: 47 Approved: christian@aramis.rutgers.edu In article tensmekl@infonode.ingr.com (Kermit Tensmeyer) writes: > > According to Matthew, and Luke, Jesus had claim (distant) on > the throne through both Mary and Joseph, who were direct > descendants of David and thus of Tribe Judua. On the other > hand, John the Baptist (near Kinsman) (supposedly 2nd > cousin) on the other hand, is the son of the (or one of the) > High Priests, (of Tribe Levi.) Matthew makes the point to > claim that John had the priestly authority to baptise and > prepare the way of the Lord. > > So which tribe was he? [Yes, I know! whose son he is. ] From the way I read Matthew and Luke: -- Jesus is of the tribe of Judah because Joseph, the husband of his mother, is the tribe of Judah. -- Mary's tribe is irrelevant; she is only his mother. -- John the Baptist is of the tribe of Levi (class of Abijah) because his father Zechariah is. -- Elizabeth is of the tribe of Aaron, but again this is irrelevant. So if -- Mary is of the tribe of Judah (I'm not sure of your source for this.) Elizabeth is of the tribe of Aaron (Lk 1:5) Mary and Elizabeth are first cousins (Tradition -- Scripture says only that they are kinswomen.) then -- Mary's father and Elizabeth's father are not brothers. but the other three permutations are still possible: Mary's father & Elizabeth's mother are brother & sister Mary's mother & Elizabeth's father are sister & brother Mary's mother & Elizabeth's mother are sisters or perhaps Mary and Elizabeth are not first cousins. (Elizabeth was "advanced in years" and Mary a young woman. Perhaps they are not even of the same generation...) But all of this is irrelevant to Jesus's tribe. Since his mother was married when he was born, he takes Joseph's tribe. cathy :-) -- Cathy Fasano fasano@unix.cis.pitt.edu cathy@gargoyle.uchicago.edu "If this is the way you treat your friends, Lord, no *wonder* you have so few of them!" -- St. Theresa of Avila (after her mule had just dumped her uncermoniously in a river they were crossing)