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Of David's Lineage

Data

Texts

(1) Pauline tradition

(1a) Rom 1:3

/3/ the gospel concerning his Son, who was descended from David according to the flesh

(1b) 2Tim 2:8

/8/ Remember Jesus Christ, raised from the dead, a descendant of David--that is my gospel,

 

(2) Matthew

(2a) Matt 1:1,6

/1/ An account of the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah, the son of David, the son of Abraham. ... /6/ and Jesse the father of King David. And David was the father of Solomon by the wife of Uriah

(2b) Matt 2:1-12

1/ In the time of King Herod, after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, /2/ asking, "Where is the child who has been born king of the Jews? For we observed his star at its rising, and have come to pay him homage." /3/ When King Herod heard this, he was frightened, and all Jerusalem with him; /4/ and calling together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Messiah was to be born. /5/ They told him, "In Bethlehem of Judea; for so it has been written by the prophet: /6/ 'And you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for from you shall come a ruler who is to shepherd my people Israel.'" /7/ Then Herod secretly called for the wise men and learned from them the exact time when the star had appeared. /8/ Then he sent them to Bethlehem, saying, "Go and search diligently for the child; and when you have found him, bring me word so that I may also go and pay him homage." /9/ When they had heard the king, they set out; and there, ahead of them, went the star that they had seen at its rising, until it stopped over the place where the child was. /10/ When they saw that the star had stopped, they were overwhelmed with joy. /11/ On entering the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother; and they knelt down and paid him homage. Then, opening their treasure chests, they offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. /12/ And having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they left for their own country by another road.

(2c) Matt 9:27-31

/27/ As Jesus went on from there, two blind men followed him, crying loudly, "Have mercy on us, Son of David!" /28/ When he entered the house, the blind men came to him; and Jesus said to them, "Do you believe that I am able to do this?" They said to him, "Yes, Lord." /29/ Then he touched their eyes and said, "According to your faith let it be done to you." /30/ And their eyes were opened. Then Jesus sternly ordered them, "See that no one knows of this." /31/ But they went away and spread the news about him throughout that district.

(2d) Matt 12:23

/23/ All the crowds were amazed and said, "Can this be the Son of David?"

(2e) Matt 15:22

/22/ Just then a Canaanite woman from that region came out and started shouting, "Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David; my daughter is tormented by a demon."

(2f) Matt 21:9,15

/9/ The crowds that went ahead of him and that followed were shouting, "Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest heaven!" ... /15/ But when the chief priests and the scribes saw the amazing things that he did, and heard the children crying out in the temple, "Hosanna to the Son of David," they became angry /16/ and said to him, "Do you hear what these are saying?" Jesus said to them, "Yes; have you never read, 'Out of the mouths of infants and nursing babies you have prepared praise for yourself'?"

 

(3) Luke/Acts

(3a) Luke 2:1-20

/1/ In those days a decree went out from Emperor Augustus that all the world should be registered. /2/ This was the first registration and was taken while Quirinius was governor of Syria. /3/ All went to their own towns to be registered. /4/ Joseph also went from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to the city of David called Bethlehem, because he was descended from the house and family of David. /5/ He went to be registered with Mary, to whom he was engaged and who was expecting a child. /6/ While they were there, the time came for her to deliver her child. /7/ And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in bands of cloth, and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn. /8/ In that region there were shepherds living in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. /9/ Then an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. /10/ But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid; for see--I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people: /11/ to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is the Messiah, the Lord. /12/ This will be a sign for you: you will find a child wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger." /13/ And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying, /14/ "Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace among those whom he favors!" /15/ When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, "Let us go now to Bethlehem and see this thing that has taken place, which the Lord has made known to us." /16/ So they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the child lying in the manger. /17/ When they saw this, they made known what had been told them about this child; /18/ and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds told them. /19/ But Mary treasured all these words and pondered them in her heart. /20/ The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.

(3b) Luke 3:31-32

/23/ Jesus was about thirty years old when he began his work. He was the son (as was thought) of Joseph son of Heli, ... /31/ son of Melea, son of Menna, son of Mattatha, son of Nathan, son of David, /32/ son of Jesse, son of Obed, son of Boaz, son of Sala, son of Nahshon, ... /38/ son of Enos, son of Seth, son of Adam, son of God.

(3c) Acts 2:25-31

/25/ For David says concerning him, 'I saw the Lord always before me, for he is at my right hand so that I will not be shaken; /26/ therefore my heart was glad, and my tongue rejoiced; moreover my flesh will live in hope. /27/ For you will not abandon my soul to Hades, or let your Holy One experience corruption. /28/ You have made known to me the ways of life; you will make me full of gladness with your presence.' /29/ "Fellow Israelites, I may say to you confidently of our ancestor David that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. /30/ Since he was a prophet, he knew that God had sworn with an oath to him that he would put one of his descendants on his throne. /31/ Foreseeing this, David spoke of the resurrection of the Messiah, saying, 'He was not abandoned to Hades, nor did his flesh experience corruption.'

(3d) Acts 13:22-23

/22/ When he had removed him, he made David their king. In his testimony about him he said, 'I have found David, son of Jesse, to be a man after my heart, who will carry out all my wishes.' /23/ Of this man's posterity God has brought to Israel a Savior, Jesus, as he promised;

 

(4) John 7:41-42

/41/ Others said, "This is the Messiah." But some asked, "Surely the Messiah does not come from Galilee, does he? /42/ Has not the scripture said that the Messiah is descended from David and comes from Bethlehem, the village where David lived?"

 

(5) Synoptics

(5a) Mark 10:47=Matt 20:30=Luke 18:38

Mark 10:47
/47/ When he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to shout out and say, "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!" /48/ Many sternly ordered him to be quiet, but he cried out even more loudly, "Son of David, have mercy on me!"

=Matt 20:30
/30/ There were two blind men sitting by the roadside. When they heard that Jesus was passing by, they shouted, "Lord, have mercy on us, Son of David!"

=Luke 18:38
/38/ Then he shouted, "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!"

(5b) Mark 12:35-37a=Matt 22:41-46=Luke 20:41-44

Mark 12:35-37a
/35/ While Jesus was teaching in the temple, he said, "How can the scribes say that the Messiah is the son of David? /36/ David himself, by the Holy Spirit, declared, 'The Lord said to my Lord, "Sit at my right hand, until I put your enemies under your feet."' /37/ David himself calls him Lord; so how can he be his son?"

=Matt 22:41-46
/41/ Now while the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them this question: /42/ "What do you think of the Messiah? Whose son is he?" They said to him, "The son of David." /43/ He said to them, "How is it then that David by the Spirit calls him Lord, saying, /44/ 'The Lord said to my Lord, "Sit at my right hand, until I put your enemies under your feet"'? /45/ If David thus calls him Lord, how can he be his son?" /46/ No one was able to give him an answer, nor from that day did anyone dare to ask him any more questions.

=Luke 20:41-44
/41/ Then he said to them, "How can they say that the Messiah is David's son? /42/ For David himself says in the book of Psalms, 'The Lord said to my Lord, "Sit at my right hand, /43/ until I make your enemies your footstool."' /44/ David thus calls him Lord; so how can he be his son?"

 

(6) Revelation

(6a) Rev 3:7

/7/ "And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write: These are the words of the holy one, the true one, who has the key of David, who opens and no one will shut, who shuts and no one opens:

(6b) Rev 5:5

/5/ Then one of the elders said to me, "Do not weep. See, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has conquered, so that he can open the scroll and its seven seals."

(6c) Rev 22:16

/16/ "It is I, Jesus, who sent my angel to you with this testimony for the churches. I am the root and the descendant of David, the bright morning star."

 

(7) Ignatius

(7a) IgnSmyr 1:1a

I glorify God, even Jesus Christ, who has given you such wisdom. For I have observed that ye are perfected in an immoveable faith, as if ye were nailed to the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, both in the flesh and in the spirit, and are established in love through the blood of Christ, being fully persuaded with respect to our Lord, that He was truly of the seed of David according to the flesh, and the Son of God according to the will and power of God; that He was truly born of a virgin, was baptized by John, in order that all righteousness might be fulfilled by Him; and was truly, under Pontius Pilate and Herod the tetrarch, nailed [to the cross] for us in His flesh. Of this fruit we are by His divinely-blessed passion, that He might set up a standard s for all ages, through His resurrection, to all His holy and faithful [followers], whether among Jews or Gentiles, in the one body of His Church. [ANF]

(7b) IgnEph 18:2c

Let my sprat be courted as nothing for the sake of the cross, which is a stumbling-block" to those that do not believe, but to us salvation and life eternal. "Where is the wise man? where the disputer?" Where is the boasting of those who are styled prudent? For our God, Jesus Christ, was, according to the appointment of God, conceived in the womb by Mary, of the seed of David, but by the Holy Ghost. He was born and baptized, that by His passion He might purify the water. [ANF]

(7c) IgnTrall 9:1a

Stop your ears, therefore, when any one speaks to you at variance with Jesus Christ, who was descended from David, and was also of Mary; who was truly born, and did eat and drink. He was truly persecuted under Pontius Pilate; He was truly crucified, and [truly] died, in the sight of beings in heaven, and on earth, and under the earth. He was also truly raised from the dead, His Father quickening Him, even as after the same manner His Father will so raise up us who believe in Him by Christ Jesus, apart from whom we do not possess the true life. [ANF]

 

(8) Epistle of Barnabas 12:10-11

/10/ See again Jesus, not as son of man, but Son of God, but manifested in a type in the flesh. Since therefore they are going to say that the Christ is David's son, David himself prophesies, fearing and understanding the error of the sinners, "The Lord said to my Lord, sit thou on my right hand until I make thy enemies thy footstool." /11/ And again Isaiah speaks thus, "The Lord said to Christ my Lord, whose right hand I held, that the nations should obey before him, and I will shatter the strength of Kings." See how "David calls him Lord" and does not say Son. [Loeb]

 

Notes Texts | Top of Page

Lectionary

RCL: Year A, Proper 25 (read with 201. The Chief Commandment)
ECUSA: Year A, 23 after Pentecost (Proper 25)
RC: Year A, 30 Sunday in Ordinary Time

advanceWord: Proper25A

John Dominic Crossan

Item: 7
Stratum: I (30-60 CE)
Attestation: Multiple
Historicity: ±

Jesus Seminar

Text	Item	Source	JS Mtg	%Red	%Pink	%Gray	%Black	W Avg	Color
Luke 20:41b-44	308	Mark	90Mk	0	5	21	74	0.11	Black
Mark 12:35b-37a	308	Mark	89Mk	0	5	21	74	0.11	Black
Matt 22:43b-45	308	Mark	89Mk	0	5	31	74	0.11	Black
Barn 12:10b, 11b	308	Mark	89Mk	0	0	6	94	0.02	Black
Matt 22:42	308	Matthew	90Cin	0	0	0	100	0.00	Black
Matt 9:27-31	503	Matthew	90Cin	0	0	0	100	0.00	Black
The genealogies of Jesus are legitimating fictions.			94Fall	92	0	4	4	0.93	Red
After Jesus was born, magi guided by a star or some other astral phenomenon sought and visited him.			94Fall	0	0	0	100	0.00	Black
Jesus was of davidic descent			94Fall	4	36	48	12	0.44	Gray
There was a census of Jews while Quirinius was governor of Syria.			94Fall	58	16	5	21	0.70	Pink
Jesus was born during a universal Roman census.			94Fall	0	0	4	96	0.08	Black
Jesus was descended from David.			94Fall	4	16	32	48	0.25	Gray

Gerd Luedemann

Luedemann (Jesus, 280f) finds the genealogies in both Matthew and Luke to be theological creations with no historical basis. In similar vein he finds no historical value in the dispute over the davidic lineage of the Messiah (Mark 12:35-37 and parallels), finding it instead to be the product of "a learned scribal" effort to demonstrate that Jesus is "more than son of David, namely son of God." (Jesus, 87)

John P. Meier

Meier [Marginal Jew I,216-219] notes that the "affirmation of Jesus' descent from David might easily be placed alongside his birth at Bethlehem as a theologoumenon (a theological insight narrated as a historical event) if it were not for the fact that numerous and diverse streams of NT tradition also affirm Jesus' Davidic lineage." Meier suggests that the belief that Jesus was "son of David" may have been held by Jesus' followers prior to his death, with his resurrection then being understood as a form of enthronement. However, he notes that such messianic views, whatever their provenance, cannot prove Jesus was "literally, biologically of Davidic stock."

 

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