Theological Term of the Week: Genealogy

genealogy

A list of ancestors; a line of descent traced from an ancestor.

• Jesus’s genealogy found in Matthew:

[1] The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.

[2] Abraham was the father of Isaac, and Isaac the father of Jacob, and Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers, [3] and Judah the father of Perez and Zerah by Tamar, and Perez the father of Hezron, and Hezron the father of Ram, [4] and Ram the father of Amminadab, and Amminadab the father of Nahshon, and Nahshon the father of Salmon, [5] and Salmon the father of Boaz by Rahab, and Boaz the father of Obed by Ruth, and Obed the father of Jesse, [6] and Jesse the father of David the king.

And David was the father of Solomon by the wife of Uriah, [7] and Solomon the father of Rehoboam, and Rehoboam the father of Abijah, and Abijah the father of Asaph, [8] and Asaph the father of Jehoshaphat, and Jehoshaphat the father of Joram, and Joram the father of Uzziah, [9] and Uzziah the father of Jotham, and Jotham the father of Ahaz, and Ahaz the father of Hezekiah, [10] and Hezekiah the father of Manasseh, and Manasseh the father of Amos, and Amos the father of Josiah, [11] and Josiah the father of Jechoniah and his brothers, at the time of the deportation to Babylon.

[12] And after the deportation to Babylon: Jechoniah was the father of Shealtiel, and Shealtiel the father of Zerubbabel, [13] and Zerubbabel the father of Abiud, and Abiud the father of Eliakim, and Eliakim the father of Azor, [14] and Azor the father of Zadok, and Zadok the father of Achim, and Achim the father of Eliud, [15] and Eliud the father of Eleazar, and Eleazar the father of Matthan, and Matthan the father of Jacob, [16] and Jacob the father of Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom Jesus was born, who is called Christ.

[17] So all the generations from Abraham to David were fourteen generations, and from David to the deportation to Babylon fourteen generations, and from the deportation to Babylon to the Christ fourteen generations. (Matthew 1:1-17 ESV)

• From Literary Study Bible, page 1889:

The genealogies of the Bible serve as many as five purposes: they reflect the interest of biblical cultures in family and individual origins or roots; they express the continuity of generations (for either good or evil); they show the importance God places on individuals (named individuality is important in the genealogies); they root biblical faith in space-time history; they embody theological meaning (as, for example, in the genealogies that trace the messianic line).

Related terms:

• biblical hermeneutics
• literary genres of the Bible

Learn more:

1. Got Questions: What is the relevance of the genealogies in the Bible?
2. James Bejon: The Bible’s Family Trees
3. Mike Leake: Why Should We Bother to Read Biblical Genealogies?
4. The Bible Project: Jesus and Genealogies
5. Guy Richard: What’s in a Genealogy?
6. T. Desmond Alexander: The Royal Genealogy of Jesus

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Theological Term of the Week: Farewell Discourse

farewell discourse

A address given by a leader to their followers close to the time of their death.

• From Jesus’s farewell discourse found in John 14-17:1

“Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also (John 14:1–3 ESV).

• From Moses’s farewell discourse, found in the whole book of Deuteronomy:

See, I have taught you statutes and rules, as the LORD my God commanded me, that you should do them in the land that you are entering to take possession of it. [6] Keep them and do them, for that will be your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the peoples, who, when they hear all these statutes, will say, ‘Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.’ [7] For what great nation is there that has a god so near to it as the LORD our God is to us, whenever we call upon him? [8] And what great nation is there, that has statutes and rules so righteous as all this law that I set before you today? (Deuteronomy 4:5-8 ESV).

• From Joshua’s farewell discourse found in Joshua 23:1-24:28:

“And now I am about to go the way of all the earth, and you know in your hearts and souls, all of you, that not one word has failed of all the good things that the LORD your God promised concerning you. All have come to pass for you; not one of them has failed. [15] But just as all the good things that the LORD your God promised concerning you have been fulfilled for you, so the LORD will bring upon you all the evil things, until he has destroyed you from off this good land that the LORD your God has given you, [16] if you transgress the covenant of the LORD your God, which he commanded you, and go and serve other gods and bow down to them. Then the anger of the LORD will be kindled against you, and you shall perish quickly from off the good land that he has given to you” (Joshua 23:14–16 ESV).

• From Paul’s farewell discourse found in Acts 20:17-37:

And now, behold, I am going to Jerusalem, constrained by the Spirit, not knowing what will happen to me there, [23] except that the Holy Spirit testifies to me in every city that imprisonment and afflictions await me. [24] But I do not account my life of any value nor as precious to myself, if only I may finish my course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God. [25] And now, behold, I know that none of you among whom I have gone about proclaiming the kingdom will see my face again. [26] Therefore I testify to you this day that I am innocent of the blood of all, [27] for I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole counsel of God. [28] Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood. [29] I know that after my departure fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; [30] and from among your own selves will arise men speaking twisted things, to draw away the disciples after them. [31] Therefore be alert, remembering that for three years I did not cease night or day to admonish every one with tears. [32] And now I commend you to God and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up and to give you the inheritance among all those who are sanctified. [33] I coveted no one’s silver or gold or apparel (Acts 20:22-33 ESV).

• From The Literary Study Bible, page 1889 :

The aim of the [farewell] discourse is to prepare followers for the loss of their leader. Customary motifs include the following: the leader’s summoning of followers; announcement of impending death; review of the leader’s past relations with his or her followers; exhortations to remain faithful to the leader’s teachings; revelations about the future, including difficulties that the followers will face in the absence of their leader; warnings; predictions of woes and controversies; words of comfort and promise; prayers and blessings pronounced on the followers; appointment of a successor.

Related terms:

• biblical hermeneutics
• literary genres of the Bible

 1Some include John 13:31-38 in Jesus’s Farewell Discourse.

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Theological Term of the Week: Inspiration of Scripture

inspiration of scripture

The truth that the Bible is a divine product; it is breathed out by God. Even though the text of scripture was written by human authors, those writers were superintended by God in such a way that the words of scripture are not only the words of the human author, but also the words of God. 

• From scripture:

And we have something more sure, the prophetic word, to which you will do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts, knowing this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone’s own interpretation. For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit (2 Peter 1:19-21 ESV).

• From The New Hampshire Baptist Confession, 1833:

We believe that the Holy Bible was written by men divinely inspired, and is a perfect treasure of heavenly instruction; that it has God for its author, salvation for its end, and truth without any mixture of error for its matter; that it reveals the principles by which God will judge us; and therefore is, and shall remain to the end of the world, the true center of Christian union, and the supreme standard by which all human conduct, creeds, and opinions should be tried.

• From Concise Theology by J. I. Packer, page 5:

What Scripture says, God says; for, in a manner comparable only to the deeper mystery of the Incarnation, the Bible is both fully human and fully divine. So all its manifold contents—histories, prophecies, poems, songs, wisdom writings, sermons, statistics, letters, and whatever else—should be received as from God, and all that Bible writers teach should be revered as God’s authoritative instruction. Christians should be grateful to God for the gift of his written Word, and conscientious in basing their faith and life entirely and exclusively upon it. Otherwise, we cannot ever honor or please him as he calls us to do.

Learn more: 

1. Aaron Armstrong: What Do We Mean When We Say Scripture Is Inspired?
2. Simply Put: The Inspiration of Scripture
3. Got Questions: What does it mean that the Bible is inspired?
4. Blue Letter Bible: In What Sense Is the Bible the Inspired Word of God?
5. Steven Yuille: What Does the Inspiration of Scripture Mean?
6. Herman Ridderbos: The Inspiration and Authority of the Holy Scripture 
7. Allen S. Nelson IV: The Holy Spirit and the Scriptures: The Meaning and Method of Inspiration
8. Loraine Boettner: The Inspiration of Scripture

Related terms:

• authority of scripture
• autographs
• inerrancy of scripture
• infallibility of scripture

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Clicking on the Theological Terms button above the header will take you to an alphabetical list of all the theological terms.