Adopted son and King of the Jews
I was recently reading Christ the Lord out of Egypt by Anne Rice (suprisingly well done by the "vampire" author). We were all talking about the Christmas story and the blood line of Jesus. At first it was said it was just Joseph who was from the blood line of David. But, to me, that didn't make sense because Joseph was not his biological father. I started googling and asking a few people who are scholarly. It is interesting that the arabs still marry within the family. and that's what happened then - Joseph and Mary were both from the line of David. But, throughout these discussions it was brought up and I even read about it in many books. You COULD deny one of your own children in those days legally but you COULD NOT legally deny an adopted child. Once that child was adopted (like Jesus was "adopted" by Joseph) Everything was due them from your lineage. You were "grafted" into the vine of the family. Their lineage and forefathers were yours.
1 comment:
That's very interesting about how adoption was viewed in biblical times. And I find it very human. Being the mom to an adopted and a bio daughter, I can't get over the extra accountability I feel toward Emma. E and her family are counting on us. Rationally, this makes no sense. Allison is counting on us, too.
I think that I knew that Mary was from the line of David, but that must just be because I'm Catholic. Joseph, while noble and good, was out of the bloodline picture for me.
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