Multiethnic Identity in the New Testament : Genealogies, Myths, and the Politics of Ancestry.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

James Yi McClain, Rubin.

Series:

Biblical Interpretation Series

Biblical Interpretation Series ; v.244

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Ethnicity in the Bible.

Genealogy in the Bible.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (343 pages)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Boston : BRILL, 2026.

Summary:

Ancient identity was never as simple as blood, land, or ancestry.Rubin James Yi McClain demonstrates how the New Testament and Greco-Roman writers imagined peoplehood through stories of descent, genealogies, and ethnic lists.

Contents:

Front Cover

Half Title

Series Information

Title Page

Contents

Acknowledgments

Abbreviations

Key Terms

Introduction

1 The Problem of Ethnicity and Belonging in Antiquity

2 The Central Thesis

3 Scope and Methodology of Monograph

4 Contribution to Scholarship

5 Chapter Overview

Part 1 Ancient Discourses of Ethnicity and Mixed Descent: Multiethnic Identities

Chapter 1 History and Theory: the Myth of Descent, Lists, and Genealogies

1 Defining Terms

1.1 The History of Scientific Racism

1.2 Modern Scholarship

1.3 Race or Ethnicity?

2 Defining Ethnicity in Antiquity

2.1 Multiethnic Identity in Antiquity and the New Testament

2.2 Which Criteria?

3 Jewish and Greek Identity in Comparative Perspective: Ethnic Fluidity

3.1 What Does It Mean to Be Jewish?

3.2 What Does It Mean to Be Greek?

4 Lists, Genealogies, and Catalogues as Literary Structures of Ethnic Identity

4.1 What Are Lists, Catalogues, and Genealogies?

5 Conclusion

Chapter 2 Multiethnic Identities in Greco-Roman Contexts: Demi-Gods, Heroes, and Kings

1 Demi-Gods in Antiquity

1.1 Mesopotamian, Hebrew, and Classical Greek Conceptions of Demi-Gods

1.2 The Problem of Diverging Accounts

1.3 The Good and Bad of Descent

1.4 The Literary Framing of Demi-Gods

2 Cyrus the Great in Herodotus' Histories

2.1 Inherited Traits

2.2 Mixed-Parentage, Social Status, and Destiny

3 Cimon and Themistocles in Plutarch's Lives

3.1 Citizenship in Fifth Century BCE Athens

3.2 Cimon and Themistocles

3.3 Themistocles and Herakles

4 Pallas in the Aeneid

4.1 Pallas Is Disqualified

4.2 Roman Ethnic History

Chapter 3 Intermarriage in Jewish Literature: Customs, Religious Piety, and Compatibility

1 Philo

1.1 Biology and Customs

1.2 Positive Portrayals.

2 Joseph and Aseneth

2.1 Religious Conversion and Ethnicity

2.2 Subverting Ethnic Expectations

3 Zipporah and Tharbis in Josephus

3.1 Moses' Virtue and the Ethiopian Princess

3.2 What Was Josephus Thinking?

3.3 Africans in the Ancient World

4 Conclusion

Chapter 4 Lists, Catalogues, Genealogies, and Kinship in the Ancient World

1 Lists and Catalogues

1.1 The Catalogue of Ships

1.2 Lists in the Aeneid

2 Genealogies

2.1 Greek Mythography

2.2 Biographies

2.3 Ancient Western Asian King Lists

3 Claims of Ancestry or Shared Kinship

3.1 Herodotus

3.2 1 Maccabees, the Jews, and Spartans

3.3 Josephus

3.4 The Aeneid

Part 2 New Testament Revisions of Ethnicity and Kinship: the Gospels and Acts

Chapter 5 Herod, Samaritans, and Jesus

1 Herod the Great

1.1 Josephus's Portrayal of Herod the Great

1.2 Title "King of the Jews"

1.3 Herod's Lineage

1.4 Eusebius' Portrayal of Herod the Great

1.5 Matthew's Portrayal of Herod the Great

2 Samaritans

2.1 Brief History of the Samaritans

2.2 Josephus' Portrayal of the Samaritans

2.3 The Gospel of Luke's Portrayal of the Samaritans

2.4 The Gospel of John Portrayal of the Samaritans

3 Jesus in John's Gospel: John 8:48

Chapter 6 Genealogies in the Gospels

1 Ethnic Implications to Matthew's Genealogy

1.1 Women in the Genealogy

1.2 Abraham and Jesus

2 What about Mary?

2.1 Modern Scholarship

2.2 Jerome's Position

2.3 Elizabeth as Kinswoman

3 Luke's Inverted Genealogy

3.1 Parallel Genealogical Structures

3.2 Sonship

3.3 Empire and Adoption

3.4 The Baptism of Jesus

4 Universal Kinship in Luke's Genealogy

4.1 Reconfiguring Kinship

Chapter 7 Multiethnic Identity in the New Testament: Acts, Lists, and Timothy.

1 Lists in Acts and Multiethnic Identity

1.1 Acts 1:8

1.2 Acts 1:12-14

1.3 Acts 2:5-12

1.4 Acts 6:5

1.5 Acts 13:1

1.6 Acts 20:4-5

2 Timothy in Acts 16

3 2 Timothy 1:5 &amp

Matrilineal Faith

Conclusion

1 A Composite Definition of Ancient Ethnicity

2 New Testament Reconfigurations of Ethnicity and Kinship

3 Theological, Ecclesial, and Contemporary Implications

4 Looking Ahead to Further Aspects for Scholarship

Bibliography

Index of Modern Authors

Index of Ancient Sources

Index of Subjects

Back Cover.

Notes:

Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.

Part of the metadata in this record was created by AI, based on the text of the resource.

ISBN:

9789004775114

OCLC:

1618058307