G<\/span>enealogies may function \u201ctribally,\u201d that is, to secure the present of the tribe in the past, to hold the present hostage to the past, and to ensure that there is no variation. Change is the enemy; genealogies record change, but record change in a way that displays a continuous passage from past to present. Someone in the present has status\u2014as king, priest, citizen\u2014because of his genealogical connection with the founder, through a trail of descent, fathers begetting and sons begotten. <\/p><\/span> <\/p>\n In the Bible, genealogy doesn\u2019t function this way, or only this way. The key term in the genealogies of Genesis is \u201cgenerations\u201d (toledoth<\/i>), and the placement of this term throughout Genesis indicates that it is forward-looking, not backward-looking. The toledoth<\/i> of Adam doesn\u2019t trace Adam\u2019s past but Adam\u2019s fruit, what he produces or begets. <\/span>This word is used a number of times in the genealogies of Chronicles, describing chiefs and heads according to \u201cgenerations,\u201d that is, according to what they produced.<\/p>\n Chronicles also frequently uses the phrase \u201cheads of the father\u2019s house\u201d or, more startlingly, \u201cheads of the fathers.\u201d That is, sons are described not merely as becoming heads of the house of the fathers after the fathers have passed\u2014heirs of the fathers house\u2014but heads of the fathers themselves. This phrase often appears in conjunction with toledoth<\/i> (<\/span>7:2, 9; 8:28; 9:9, 34). The head of the father\u2019s house is the source of what is generated. They become heads of fathers not because of their fathers but because of what they themselves beget. Sons become heads of fathers by becoming fathers. This is an anti-tribal understanding of genealogy and descent. The sons are not merely extensions of their fathers; they are \u201cheads\u201d of fathers, crowning their fathers with glory as mighty men of valor.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n This can be stated Christologically: Genealogies in the Bible point to the future insofar as they trace a line of descent from the first to the Last Adam. After the genealogies of Jesus in Matthew 1 and Luke 3, there are no genealogies in the New Testament. Fleshly qualification for priesthood (or kingship, or covenant membership) gives way to the power of the indestructible life of the Risen Priest-King after the order of Melchizedek (Hebrews 7). Since the genealogies are oriented toward the Messiah, they are oriented to the future rather than the past. The meaning of the descent of Abraham\u2019s seed is found in the ultimate Seed, Jesus. Biblical genealogies, in short, lean eschatologically, not protologically.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Genealogies may function \u201ctribally,\u201d that is, to secure the present of the tribe in the past, to hold the present hostage to the past, and to ensure that there is no variation. Change is the enemy; genealogies record change, but record change in a way that displays a continuous passage from past to present. Someone […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3021,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1303],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18238","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-genealogy"],"yoast_head":"\n