Michael Kruse

Genealogies…

My 8th great-grandfather was John Cotton (1585-1652). In 1640, at age 55 he had my 7th grandfather John Cotton (1640-1699). If a Hebrew writer writing a genealogy wanted to emphasize my 8th great grandfather and me in the genealogy he could write:

“John Cotton, in his 55th year begat (became the ancestor of ) Michael Kruse. He lived 67 years and had other sons and daughters (lines of descent).â€

This may sound odd to us but because of the use and purposes of genealogies in Hebrew culture, this was a legitimate use. The term for father in Hebrew can mean father, grandfather, or ancestor. Hebrew is a very limited language with same word having many meanings that have to be determined by context.

Two Genealogies covering 430 years:

1. Joseph to Joshua
2. Levi to Moses.

(Joseph and Levi were brothers, and Moses and Joshua were contemporaries.)

Joshua’s Ancestors:

1 Chron 7:20-27 (Ephraim was Joseph’s son)
20 The descendants of Ephraim: …
23 Then he lay with his wife again, and she became pregnant and gave birth to a son. He named him Beriah, because there had been misfortune in his family. 24 His daughter was Sheerah, who built Lower and Upper Beth Horon as well as Uzzen Sheerah.
25 Rephah was his son, Resheph his son,
Telah his son, Tahan his son,
26 Ladan his son, Ammihud his son,
Elishama his son, 27 Nun his son
and Joshua his son.

Summary

Joseph
Ephraim
Beriah
Rephah
Resheph
Telah
Tahan
Ladan
Ammihud
Elishama
Nun
Joshua (Hoshea)

Moses’ Ancestors:

Ex 6:16-20
16 These were the names of the sons of Levi according to their records: Gershon, Kohath and Merari. Levi lived 137 years.
17 The sons of Gershon, by clans, were Libni and Shimei.
18 The sons of Kohath were Amram, Izhar, Hebron and Uzziel. Kohath lived 133 years.
19 The sons of Merari were Mahli and Mushi.
These were the clans of Levi according to their records.
20 Amram married his father’s sister Jochebed, who bore him Aaron and Moses. Amram lived 137 years.

Moses Summary

Levi
Kohath
Amram
(Eight Generations Missing)
Moses

We use genealogies in our culture to organize a comprehensive tabulation of our ancestors. The ancients used genealogies to establish origins and tribes for legal and religious purposes. Comprehensiveness was not their agenda.

There several more less stark examples throughout scripture. When we read our culture back into the Word we have it saying things that are foreign to the text.