We have been looking at Matthew’s Genealogy of Christ in Matt. 1:1-17 and in this post I want to put forward a suggestion about Matthew’s inclusion of two, somewhat surprising, references (verse 2 and 11) to “brethren” – those of Judah and of Jechonias (who was one of the last kings of Judah, and also known as Jehoiachin and Coniah in the Old Testament references). The eleven brothers of Judah are well known – together they comprise the 12 sons of Jacob (Israel), but no brethren for Jechonias are recorded in the OT – with one exception: at one point, Jechonias’ uncle, King Zedekiah is referred to as his brother. The mention of these brothers is all the more surprising since, on any normal reckoning, none of them are in the genealogical line from Abraham to Jesus Christ. But there are, as we know, some interesting inclusions and exclusions from Matthew’s table, and so we are perhaps also here also being encouraged to look more closely at these two sets of “brothers” . . .
Perhaps Matthew is alerting us to a common feature in this double reference to brothers for Judah and Jechonias, and in this extended post, I attempt to track down a possible connection. The article is quite long so I have presented it as a word document which can be accessed by clicking on the link below:
Judah and Jechonias and Their Respective Brothers
I hope you will find it interesting – though perhaps not entirely persuasive! Please let me know what you think!
Categories: Matthew's Genealogy of Christ
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