Matthew 1:8

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and Asa begat Jehoshaphat; and Jehoshaphat begat Joram; and Joram begat Uzziah; (ASV)

Pro

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JW: According to 1 Chronicles 3: (ASV)

http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?book_id=13&chapter=3&verse=10&end_verse=12&version=8&context=context

11 "Joram his son, Ahaziah his son, Joash his son, 12 Amaziah his son, Azariah his son, Jotham his son,"

"Ahaziah" was Joram's son.

According to Matthew 1: (ASV)

http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew%201:8-9;&version=8;

8 "and Asa begat Jehoshaphat; and Jehoshaphat begat Joram; and Joram begat Uzziah; 9 and Uzziah begat Jotham; and Jotham begat Ahaz; and Ahaz begat Hezekiah;"

"Uzziah" was Joram's son. "Matthew" appears to have omitted three names that 1 Chronicles has above, "Ahaziah", "Joash", and "Amaziah", if 1 Chronicles "Azariah" is the same person as "Matthew's" "Uzziah" as both are said to be the father of "Jotham". The combinations of original Hebrew, translated Greek, possible name variations/mispelling, genealogy and narrative descriptions make it all potentially very confusing. Keep in mind that at the time "Matthew" likely wrote there probably was no official Canon to go by and there was also no Wickied! computer sight organized by Peter (Kirby) to assist the Semitically blind.

The Greek for "Matthew" here is:

http://www.zhubert.com/bible?book=Matthew&chapter=1&verse=8

"???? ?? ????????? ??? ??????? ??????? ?? ????????? ??? ????? ????? ?? ????????? ??? ?????"

"?????" is "Uzziah" which is the last name on the right. All the major Greek families have "?????".

2 Kings 8:24 gives the narrative version from the Jewish Bible:

"And Joram slept with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the city of David; and Ahaziah his son reigned in his stead." (ASV)

Further potential confusion is caused by the Jews having two Kings at this time. One for Judah and one for Israel. Israel had its own King Ahaziah:

1 Kings 22:51

"Ahaziah the son of Ahab began to reign over Israel in Samaria in the seventeenth year of Jehoshaphat king of Judah, and he reigned two years over Israel."

Now let's look at the Hebrew for "Ahaziah":

1 Chronicles 3:

http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt25a03.htm

?? ?????? ?????? ??????????? ?????, ??????? ??????. " 11 Joram his son, Ahaziah his son, Joash his son;"

" ??????????? " (Ahaziah).

2 Kings 8:

http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt09b08.htm

?? ???????????? ?????? ???-????????, ??????????? ???-???????? ??????? ??????; ??????????? ??????????? ?????, ??????????. {?} " 24 And Joram slept with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the city of David; and Ahaziah his son reigned in his stead. {P} "

" ??????????? " (Ahaziah).

1 Kings 22:52

http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt09a22.htm

?? ??????????? ???-???????, ?????? ???-?????????? ????????????, ????????? ?????? ????????, ???????????? ?????? ????????; ??????????? ???-??????????, ??????????." 52 Ahaziah the son of Ahab began to reign over Israel in Samaria in the seventeenth year of Jehoshaphat king of Judah, and he reigned two years over Israel."

" ??????????? " (Ahaziah).

We can see that the Hebrew spelling for "Ahaziah" in the Jewish Bible is exactly the same.

Now for the LXX spelling (fasten your seat belts, yea!)


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"and Hezron begat Ram, and Ram begat Amminadab," (ASV)

This is further confirmation that "Ram" is likely original. I don't believe that Biblia Hebraica Stutgartensia gives any variation here. Now lets look at the "LXX" (early Christian Greek translations) for 4:19:

"????? ?? ????????? ??? ????? ??? ????? ????????? ??? ????????"

POI: The Septuagint is not "early Christian," but dates to the 3rd century BCE. (Wikipedia) --JustinEiler 22:35, 1 Sep 2005 (CDT)

The relevant word is "?????" which translates as "Arran". This should give the reader some idea of the textual problems facing "Matthew" as he had to deal with name variation in the Greek and presumably could not read the original Hebrew.

1 Chronicles 2:9 provides further potential confusion for "Matthew". According to the Jewish Bible:

"The sons also of Hezron, that were born unto him: Jerahmeel, and Ram, and Chelubai." (ASV)

Hezron had three sons, one of which was "Ram".

According to the LXX though:

"??? ???? ?????? ?? ????????? ???? ? ??????? ??? ? ??? ??? ? ????? ??? ????"

Hezron, had four sons, ??????? (Jerahmeel), ??? (Ram), ????? (Chelubai) and ???? (Aram).

Of course it's possible that the LXX was edited to add "Aram" here to make it agree with "Matthew".

Now let's look at "Ram" and "Aram" in original language Hebrew to see if the Hebrew Bible distinguishes the two. First, 1 Chronicles 2:10:

http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt25a02.htm

? ?????, ??????? ???-???????????; ????????????? ??????? ???-?????????, ??????? ?????? ????????. 10 And Ram begot Amminadab; and Amminadab begot Nahshon, prince of the children of Judah;

Note that the first word on the right for the Hebrew is the Hebrew word for "Ram", " ??? " (Ram), " ?? " (and).

Now 1 Chronicles 1:17:

?? ?????? ????--?????? ??????????, ??????????????? ?????? ???????; ?????? ??????, ??????? ?????????. {?} 17 The Sons of Shem: Elam, and Asshur, and Arpachshad, and Lud, and Aram, and Uz, and Hul, and Gether, and Meshech.

Note that the fifth word from the left for the Hebrew is the Hebrew word for "Aram", " ????? " (Aram), " ?? " (and).

So we can see that Hebrew had two separate names for the English "Ram" and "Aram". I already mentioned that I don't believe there is any evidence in Biblical Hebrew that the two names were used to refer to the same person. Having an aleph, ?? , "a" at the beginning gives the name a different meaning in Hebrew.

Keep in mind that Raymond Brown referred to "Matthew's" use of "Aram" as "a variant form of "Ram". Since Justin is now an Administrator I'll just say that I think Brown was expressing Christian kindness towards "Matthew's" translation.

Now let's consider differences and similarities between the Hebrew names for "Ram" and "Aram". According to:

http://www.ccel.org/bible_names/title.html

Aram = highness, magnificence, one that deceives; curse

Ram = elevated; sublime

so the names have differences and similarities.


Here's famed Internet Apologist JP Holding's defense against the original abbreviated version of my claimed error (apparently he's reading this and was alerted to the problem at his site):

http://www.tektonics.org/uz/wally01.html

"Behind this contorted complaint there lies a host of idiocies. "Ram" and "Aram" are nothing more than legitimate variations of spelling on the same name -- much like "Joe" and "Joseph" or "James" and "Jim." The LXX does indeed use Aram and this is an acceptable, non-erroneous spelling variation, of the sort we also find in Josephus. The idea that Matthew was not fluent in Hebrew flounders on the simple fact that Matthew regularly uses the Hebrew version of the OT text; it is simply a ridiculous and unsupported assertion to make based on a spelling variation, which appears in the LXX -- composed by persons who were themselves fluent in Hebrew! The "LXX was changed" idea is a throwaway without substantiation, of the sort that Wally loves to throw out without documentation or critical examination, much less showing relevance."


JW: Let me say in general that Holding's brief response primarily consisting of assertions rather than evidence such as examples, authority and detailed reasoning wouldn't carry much weight against my detailed article here with examples, appeal to authority and detailed reasoning. Holding does mention "acceptable, non-erroneous spelling variation" and "spelling variation" seems to be the most popular "defense" here so I'll address that.

1) The first consideration for possible "spelling variation" is was there spelling variation in the original language of Hebrew for "Ram"? My detailed article above indicates no evidence for this in the Jewish Bible, in contemporary Jewish writings and from Biblical Hebrew language experts. If Holding wants to make an argument here he's reduced to the secondary argument of demonstrating that similar but different names in the Jewish Bible had this type of variation and still referred to the same person. Good luck.

2) The second consideration for possible spelling variation is was there spelling variation in the translated language of Greek for "Ram"? Consider that Greek had no existing equivalent of "Ram" as a Greek name. When it was used in Greek it was transliterated. Therefore, the only potential spelling variation would be based on letters which had the same sound. Let's look at the related sounds in tortuous detail (read right to left):

Hebrew Masoretic: ?? ?

English Sound: M Ra

Greek (1:4): ? ?? ?

English Sound: M Ra A


Note that the Greek transliteration used by "Matthew" is a different sound ("A" at the start) and not simply a spelling variation for the same sound. I levy it to Mr. Holding to prepare a convincing analysis based on examples that this type of sound variation in a transliterated name from the Hebrew Bible would likely not be an error.

In any case Holding is still stuck with the problem that the last time I checked, the Jewish Bible was still part of the Christian Bible and most Christian English translations have "Ram" for this genealogy place in the Jewish Bible while I've likely demonstrated that "Matthew" used "Aram". According to the Christian Bible then, at a minimum this would be a mistransliteration of not just the same name but the name of the same person. Error.


So in Summary, the evidence that "Matthew's" use of "Aram" at 1:4 is an Error, ranked by weight of evidence is:

1) According to the Masoretic text "Ram" was the correct name for the genealogy "Matthew" was trying to present.

2) The detailed narrative from the Jewish Bible also confirms "Ram" as correct.

3) The original Hebrew name "Ram" was transliterated into Greek. "Matthew's" "Aram" would be an incorrect transliteration based on sound.

4) The LXX has "Aram" here in the genealogy which would explain "Matthew's" error. He copied it from the LXX.

5) "Aram" and "Ram" are two different names in the original Hebrew used to refer to different people in the Jewish Bible.

6) There is no evidence in the Jewish Bible that "Ram" and "Aram" were anything other than two distinct names.

7) A one letter difference is a big difference in the compact and small word Biblical Hebrew.

8) The LXX of Chronicles lists "Ram" and "Aram" as sons of Hezron indicating they were two separate names in Greek as well.

9) There are many more examples of "Matthew's" problems with names in the genealogy.

10) Origen confesses to us that in his time the Greek manuscripts were filled with errors regarding Hebrew names. This would have been well before any extant manuscripts.

11) Some Christian English translations use "Ram" for 1:4 implying that "Aram" was a mistake.

12) The meaning of "Aram" and "Ram" in Hebrew is different.


The evidence that "Matthew's" use of "Aram" at 1:4 is not an Error, ranked by weight of evidence is:

1) "Aram" and "Ram" differ by one letter so it's possible they could refer to the same person.

2) The LXX has "Aram" here in the genealogy which supports "Matthew's" "Aram" as original and the extant LXX is older than the extant Masoretic. This weight is reduced by the LXX use of "Arran" in the detailed narrative.

3) The meaning of "Aram" and "Ram" in Hebrew is similar.


In my opinion, the weight of the Evidence above is that "Ram" is the correct name at this point in the genealogy and "Matthew's" use of a different name ("Aram") is an Error. Let me also point out something for the benefit of Fundamentalists here. If you want to believe that "Aram" and "Ram" referred to the same person then "Matthew's" use of "Ram" would still have been a better choice and therefore, the existing genealogy by "Matthew" is not "perfect".


Joseph


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