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NASB | Matthew 1:6 Jesse was the father of David the king. ¶ David was the father of Solomon by Bathsheba who had been the wife of Uriah. |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | Matthew 1:6 Jesse was the father of David the king. David was the father of Solomon by Bathsheba who had been the wife of Uriah. [Ruth 4:18-22; 1 Chr 2:13-15] |
Subject: Uriah the Hittite in Christ's lineage? |
Bible Note: Dear Ed, I have no interest in entering into your discussion with Brent. I was thinking about the assumption that Uriah was a Gentile. The consensus in Rabbinic thinking is that Uriah was a Jew. They look at it from four points of view: (1) Uriah was a proselyte, taking on the name of God is Light. (2) Uriah was born a Jew, his father was one David's mighty men. (3) Uriah was not a Hittite, but the title came from his having lived amongst them as some point. (4) Uriah may have been one of the original Jebusites who lived in Jerusalem, perhaps originally in the lineage of the King. All agree that Uriah would necessarily have had to be a Jew in order to marry a Jewess. Eliam would never have given her hand to a Gentile. Furthermore, although mercenaries were sometimes used by Israel, it would be very problematic for a Gentile to be a high officer in the King's military. Gentiles were inherently unclean -- Jews would pass by a Gentile by going to the opposite side of the road. Furthermore, it would have been quite an issue for a Gentile to live so near David's palace. His father and grandfather were from Giloh, a town in the mountains of Judah. That town was a Jewish town, mentioned a number of times in the Scriptures. Finally, his name is a highly Hebraized -- recognized by Rabbinic Scholars as a Jewish name. I've checked my own books, I've checked the Midrash -- Josephus affirms that Uriah was a convert, as does John Trapp, John Gill, Robert Jamieson, Charles Whitaker, etc. In fact, the only people that I found who seem to take an opposing view to the Jewish and Christian Scholars are ones who focus entirely on the phrase "the Hittite." They seem to believe that that settles the matter, without need of deeper research and thought. However, I am certain that even with this agreement that Uriah was a Jew, I have not read all possible commentaries. In Him, Doc |