Smoodock's Blog

Previously, we left off in our study with Jeconiah and his sons being castrated in Babylon and made eunuchs in captivity. How could the royal line from David reach Jesus? The Jews’ and scholars’ position, which says God forgave Jeconiah and reversed the curse, doesn’t work in this context. Simple forgiveness doesn’t change the damage done through castration. So, how does Matthew get from Jeconiah to Jesus?

There is a tradition that Jeconiah adopted Pedaiah and Shealtiel, who were sons in David’s line through Nathan, the brother of Solomon and next in line to the throne, if Solomon had died childless. Although Solomon didn’t die childless, the royal line through him became childless, when his royal descendant, Jeconiah and his sons were made eunuchs in Babylon. Adoption would have been legal in such a case, for there is the precedent of Sheshan who had no sons, only daughters (1Chronicles 2:34). He gave one of his daughters to his Egyptian servant, and the sons of his Egyptian servant inherited what was Sheshan’s. Something like this had to have occurred in the matter of Jeconiah, the eunuch king, in exile, because the royal line continues from him to Salathiel and Zerubbabel, the sons of Neri in Nathan’s line (Luke 3:27; cp. Matthew 1:12).

So, Matthew continues listing the royal line through Jeconiah and his adopted sons, which he took from Neri, who was of Nathan’s line that went back to David. If all this is so and legal, the problem of the royal line’s life meets another catastrophic event, when we come to Joseph. Jesus is not his son (Matthew 1:18). While he may, indeed, have been the legal father of Jesus through adoption, Joseph had sons of his own (Matthew 13:55). The royal line doesn’t **need** adoption in Joseph’s case. So, why would he choose Jesus as his heir?

Of course, we do have the testimony in Joseph’s dream that Jesus’ birth was of the Spirit of God, and, being a righteous man (Matthew 1:19), Joseph could have adopted Jesus and made him his heir. Therefore, adoption works for Jesus being the heir to the throne of David, as long as adoption works to keep David’s royal line alive after it died in Jeconiah, while he was in Babylon. Moreover, the argument that Jesus’ birth made him a mamzer or a bastard, according to the Law and, therefore, couldn’t inherit (Deuteronomy 23:2), doesn’t work, because Judah’s mamzer son through Tamar inherited over his legitimate son through his wife, the daughter of Shuah, the Canaanite (Bathshua; Genesis 38:2-5 cp. 2Chronicles 2:4-15). A point to be noted is that, when listing the genealogy of Judah in 2Chronicles chapter four, Pharez is, indeed, listed as his son, but his genealogy isn’t listed there. The point is that Judah’s son Shelah/Shobal inherited whatever wealth Judah had (see 1Chronicles chapter four), but being a mamzer didn’t affect Pharez inheriting the royal line that came through Judah through to Er, his first born, and then through an illicit affair between Judah and Er’s wife, Tamar, that gave Er’s line a son.

Thus, no matter which argument we choose to prevent Jesus from inheriting the royal line, vis-à-vis he was adopted but Joseph had natural sons to inherit, or that Jesus, according to the Law, was a mamzer and couldn’t inherit, each argument fails to prevent Jesus from inheriting the royal line through David. So, does this ultimately solve the problem? Can Jesus, now, become David’s greater son who inherits the throne? No! The Jeconiah problem is greater than what can be solved through the Law. His line was cursed by God (Jeremiah 22:28-30). No matter how one tries to word the Law, either to reject Jesus as heir or accept him, the line was cursed and no son of Jeconiah, whether natural born or through adoption could ever reign on David’s throne. The royal line is dead, and in the best of cases Jesus inherits a dead line—no one from this line would ever sit upon the throne of David (Jeremiah 22:24-30)! Not even Jesus was able to reign upon David’s throne, although it was his, according to the blessing of Jacob (Genesis 49:10)! So, how is the problem solved? Does it get solved or is God unable to keep his promise to David (cp. 2Samuel 7:12-13)? Well, it does get solved, and Matthew shows us how in Jesus’s genealogy, which comes after Jesus, and we’ll come to this in our next few studies.