IT WAS NOTED A VERY LONG TIME AGO [AT LEAST IN 1847 WHEN ALBERT BARNES' COMMENTARY WAS PUBLISHED] THAT THE 14,14,14 GENERATIONS OF JESUS' BIRTH CHRONOLOGY, WAS....WELL NOT EXACTLY SO.
SOME WOULD USE THIS TO SAY THE BIBLE WAS NOT INSPIRED, BUT SOME MEN WROTE THINGS JUST OUT OF THEIR OWN MIND, FOR WHATEVER PURPOSE WAS IN THEIR MIND AT THE TIME.
THERE ARE A FEW ANSWERS TO THIS ARGUMENT AND TO THE QUESTION OF THE 14, 14, 14 USED BY MATTHEW.
FIRST, WE SHALL SEE HOW ALBERTA BARNES ANSWERED THE ISSUE.
"In counting these divisions, however, it will be seen that there is some difficulty in making out the number fourteen in each division. This may be explained in the following manner: In the first division, Abraham is the first and David is the last, making together 14. In the second series, David would naturally be placed first, and the fourteen was completed in Josiah, about the time of the captivity, as sufficiently near for the purpose of convenient computation, 2 Chr. xxxv. In the third division Josiah would naturally be placed first, and the number was completed in Joseph; so that
David and Josiah would be reckoned twice......
17. So all the generations, etc. This division of the names of the genealogical tables was doubtless adopted for the purpose of aiding the memory. It was common among the Jews; and other similar instances are preserved. The Jews were destitute of books other besides the Old Testament, and they had but few copies of that among them, and those chiefly in their synagogues. They would therefore naturally devise plans to keep up the remembrance of the principal facts in their history. One method of doing this to to divide the tables of genealogy into portions of equal length, to be committed to memory. This greatly facilitated the remembrance of the names. A man who wished to commit to memory the names of a regiment of soldiers would naturally it into companies and platoons, and this would greatly facilitate his work. This is doubtless the reason in the case before us. And though it is not strictly accurate, yet it was the Jewish way of keeping their records, and answered their purpose. There were three leading persons and events that nearly, or quite, divided their history into equal portions; Abraham, David, and the Babylonish captivity. From one to the other there was ABOUT fourteen generations, and by omitting a few names it was sufficiently accurate to be made a GENERAL guide or directory in recalling the principal events in their history...."
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THE NUMBER FOURTEEN IS ALSO THE NUMBER THAT GOD USES FOR SALVATION. THIS IS SHOWN UNDER THE STUDY ON THIS WEBSITE CALLED "GOD'S NUMBERS."
AND FURTHER WHAT ALBERT BARNES HAS BROUGHT OUT IS ANOTHER EXAMPLE OF GENERAL STATEMENTS USED IN THE BIBLE, OF WHICH THERE ARE DOZENS, ESPECIALLY IN THE BOOK OF PROVERBS. THERE IS A FULL IN-DEPTH STUDY ON MY WEBSITE CALLED "AN IMPORTANT KEY TO BIBLE UNDERSTANDING - GENERAL STATEMENTS."
WITH ALL THAT HAS NOW BEEN SAID ABOVE, WE CAN SEE THAT MATTHEW WAS NOT JUST PULLING RABBITS OUT OF THIN AIR, AND PLANTING HIS OWN IDEAS INTO THE SACRED SCRIPTURES.
GOD DOES USE IN HIS WORD PATTERNS OF SPEECH WRITING, HISTORY WRITING, GENERAL STATEMENTS, FIGURES OF SPEECH [BULLINGER WROTE A 1,000 PAGE BOOK CALLED "FIGURES OF SPEECH IN THE BIBLE" - I HAVE IT IN MY HOME LIBRARY], AS USED BY PEOPLE, OR THE CUSTOMS OF THE JEWS ETC. WHY SOME PARTS OF THE BOOK OF DANIEL ARE IN NOT JUST HEBREW BUT CHALDEE.
SO THE ARGUMENT OF MATTHEW'S 14, 14, 14 CANNOT BE USED TO SAY THE WRITTEN BIBLE WAS ONLY THE IDEAS OF MEN, AND NOT INSPIRED.
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