Wanneer die appels ver van die boom val - Juda se geslagsregister in 1 Kronieke 2:3-4:23

Abstract

This article discusses the production of a genealogical text in Chronicles (1 Chron. 2:3-4:23) which probably served as a key to membership within a collective community in the province of Yehud in the Persian period of the Second Temple era. The article starts with a discussion of how genealogies work in Southern Africa: firstly, within a particular church community ravished by racial tensions, secondly, within the African community during Nelson Mandela's presidential inauguration and thirdly, albeit briefly, within the context of Swazi praise songs, where the ideological role of genealogies serves to bolster traditional values. Because it is accepted that in ancient societies writing directly relates to power in ancient societies, the problem of elite groups in society is discussed before the text of 1 Chronicles 2:3-4:23 is analysed. The latter text is discussed with relation to Joel Weinberg's thesis of the bêt ’abót, the strange women in Ezra and Nehemia, and the influence of the Persian administration on the inhabitants of the Ancient Near East. Finally, the elite community is seen as a group of loyal Persian administrators, despite the fact that they were (the) children of exiles.