Matthew 1:4

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and Ram begat Amminadab; and Amminadab begat Nahshon; and Nahshon begat Salmon; (ASV)

Pro

JW: According to 1 Chronicles 2:10:

"And Ram begat Amminadab, and Amminadab begat Nahshon, prince of the children of Judah;"

it was Ram that begat Aminadab. The earliest extant Greek manuscripts though have the Greek equivalent of the English "Aram" for Matthew 1:4. In the big picture UBS has "Aram" as likely original. Raymond Brown confirms in "The Birth Of The Messiah" that "Aram" was likely original. The International Critical Commentary also confirms "Aram". This apparent error by "Matthew" can be relatively easily explained by the observation that the early Christian Greek translations of the Jewish Bible (often referred to as "LXX") have "Aram" in the genealogy instead of "Ram" so "Matthew" likely copied an error that already existed in the Greek.

Here is an interesting genealogy chart from Chris Weimer.

"Aram"/"Ram" is the seventh name on the list (coincidence?). An observation which ranks relatively low on the evidence scale is that Peshitta Old has "Ram" and Peshitta New has "Aram" (Judge, look out!).

I think most Apologists would agree here that "Aram" is likely original so the question becomes is using "Aram" instead of "Ram" an error? First let me say that if this is an error it certainly isn't a serious error. Even if they are different names they only differ by one letter and it's possible that they were variants of the same name so either could be used to refer to the same person. On the other hand minor errors like this aren't commonly discussed so most people don't even realize that there is an issue here or consider that this is evidence that "Matthew" was not fluent in Semitics and therefore not the best person to be explaining Semitics to non-Semitics.

I think though that "Ram" and "Aram" were two different names in Biblical Hebrew for the following reasons:

1) Both names are used in the Jewish Bible.

2) There is nothing explicit or implied outside of "Matthew" that "Ram" and "Aram" were anything other than two distinct names.

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

4) The LXX of Chronicles lists "Ram" and "Aram" as sons of Hezron.

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

6) Origen testifies that in his time the Greek manuscripts were filled with errors regarding Hebrew names:

http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/text/origen-john6.html

Quote: 24. "THE NAME OF THE PLACE WHERE JOHN BAPTIZED IS NOT BETHANY, AS IN MOST COPIES, BUT BETHABARA. PROOF OF THIS. SIMILARLY "GERGESA" SHOULD BE READ FOR"GERASA," IN THE STORY OF THE SWINE. ATTENTION IS TO BE PAID TO THE PROPER NAMES IN SCRIPTURE, WHICH ARE OFTEN WRITTEN INACCURATELY, AND ARE OF IMPORTANCE FOR INTERPRETATION."

"In the matter of proper names the Greek copies are often incorrect, and in the Gospels one might be misled by their authority. The transaction about the swine, which were driven down a steep place by the demons and drowned in the sea, is said to have taken place in the country of the Gerasenes. Now, Gerasa is a town of Arabia, and has near it neither sea nor lake. And the Evangelists would not have made a statement so obviously and demonstrably false; for they were men who informed themselves carefully of all matters connected with Judaea. But in a few copies we have found, "into the country of the Gadarenes; "and, on this reading, it is to be stated that Gadara is a town of Judaea, in the neighbourhood of which are the well-known hot springs, and that there is no lake there with overhanging banks, nor any sea. But Gergesa, from which the name Gergesenes is taken, is an old town in the neighbourhood of the lake now called Tiberias, and on the edge of it there is a steep place abutting on the lake, from which it is pointed out that the swine were cast down by the demons. Now, the meaning of Gergesa is "dwelling of the casters-out," and it contains a prophetic reference to the conduct towards the Saviour of the citizens of those places, who "besought Him to depart out of their coasts." The same inaccuracy with regard to proper names is also to be observed in many passages of the law and the prophets, as we have been at pains to learn from the Hebrews, comparing our own copies with theirs which have the confirmation of the versions, never subjected to corruption, of Aquila and Theodotion and Symmachus."


Joseph

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Genealogy in Matthew

The Matthean genealogies are definitely a difficulty for inerrancy arguments. However, it should be noted that GoMatthew structured his genealogies in three groups of fourteen--this provides an almost poetic balance to the chapter, and while the poetry isn't necessarily pleasing to the modern reader, it's possible that the "balanced structure" fulfilled some literary convention of the time.

However, that's modern speculation on my part: I'd like to see some input on whether or not there are similar "balanced structures" in other Greek texts of this period--especially texts from Antioch in Asia Minor.

--JustinEiler 21:04, 21 Aug 2005 (CDT)

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