How the Great Stemma Adapts Luke

Notes

Whose Gospels? The Great Stemma would seem to have been drawn up using a Latin gospel book containing a different text from the Vulgate. The likely source, as I have discussed elsewhere on this site, is a Vetus Latina compilation of scripture. Many omissions from the canonical text of Luke are evident in the diagram. This page surveys those omissions and will explore whether they might prove anything about the Great Stemma's place and time of origin.

Here is a tabulation comparing the 77 generations set out by the Greek (Nestle-Aland) text of Luke 3:23-38, the omission of eight of those generations by the Great Stemma, and of six generations by the Liber Genealogus. An e (Codex Palatinus Purpureus) and b (Codex Colbertinus) Vetus Latina text as well as the names given in the Vulgate are appended. The discussion uses sigla (single-letter codes) that are conventional in New Testament studies. Wikipedia provides a key to such sigla.[*]The Nestle and e lists are from Heer, Joseph Michael. Die Stammb�ume Jesu nach Matth�us und Lukas, Ihre Urspr�ngliche Bedeutung und Textgestalt und Ihre Quellen: Eine Exegetisch-kritische Studie. Freiburg-im-Breisgau [Germany]: Herder, 1910. pp 60-63. I am grateful to Christophe Guignard for patiently explaining these issues to me.

	Greek		Gt Stemma		L. Geneal.		Codex e		Codex b		Vulgate
1	Jesus	1	Jesus	1	Jesus	1	Ihesus	1	Jesus	1	Jesus
		2	Mary	2	Mary
		3	Joachim	3	Joachim
2	Joseph	4	Joseph	4	Joseph	2	Josef	2	Joseph	2	Joseph
3	Heli			5	Eli	3	Elii			3	Heli
4	Matthat			6	Natha	4	Matthei			4	Matthat
5	Levi	5	Levi	7	Levi	5	Levi	3	Levi	5	Levi
6	Melchi	6	Melchi	8	Melchi	6	Melchi	4	Melchi	6	Melchi
7	Jannai	7	Jannai	9	Jannai	7	Annae	5	Jannai	7	Jannai
8	Joseph	8	Joseph	10	Joseph	8	Joseph	6	Joseph	8	Joseph
9	Mattathias									9	Mattathias
10	Amos									10	Amos
11	Nahum	9	Nahum	11	Nahum	9	Natum	7	Nahum	11	Nahum
12	Hesli					10	Aedi	8	Hesli	12	Hesli
13	Naggai					11	Naggae	9	Naggai	13	Naggai
14	Mahath									14	Mahath
15	Mattathias	10	Mattathias	12	Mattathias	12	Mattatiae	10	Mattathias	15	Mattathias
16	Semein	11	Semein	13	Semein	13	Semein	11	Semein	16	Semein
17	Josech	12	Josech	14	Josech	14	Josec	12	Josech	17	Josech
18	Joda	13	Joda	15	Joda	15	Judae	13	Joda	18	Joda
19	Joanan	14	Joanan	16	Joanan	16	Joannae	14	Joanan	19	Joanan
20	Rhesa	15	Rhesa	17	Rhesa	17	Sarec	15	Rhesa	20	Rhesa
21	Zerubbabel	16	Zerubbabel	18	Zerubbabel	18	Zorobabel	16	Zerubbabel	21	Zerubbabel
22	Shealtiel	17	Shealtiel	19	Shealtiel	19	Salatiel	17	Shealtiel	22	Shealtiel
23	Neri	18	Neri	20	Neri	20	Neri	18	Neri	23	Neri
24	Melchi	19	Melchi	21	Melchi	21	Melchi	19	Melchi	24	Melchi
25	Addi	20	Addi	22	Addi	22	Asdi	20	Addi	25	Addi
26	Cosam	21	Cosam	23	Cosam	23	Caese	21	Cosam	26	Cosam
27	Elmadam	22	Elmadam	24	Elmadam	24	Etmadam	22	Elmadam	27	Elmadam
28	Er	23	Er	25	Er	25	Ier	23	Er	28	Er
29	Joshua	24	Joshua	26	Joshua	26	Jesu	24	Joshua	29	Joshua
30	Eliezer	25	Eliezer	27	Eliezer	27	Eliazar	25	Eliezer	30	Eliezer
31	Jorim	26	Jorim	28	Jorim	28	Jorim	26	Jorim	31	Jorim
32	Matthat	27	Matthat	29	Matthat	29	Matal	27	Matthat	32	Matthat
33	Levi	28	Levi	30	Levi	30	Levi	28	Levi	33	Levi
34	Simeon	29	Simeon	31	Simeon	31	Simeon	29	Simeon	34	Simeon
35	Judah	30	Judah	32	Judah	32	Judeae	30	Judah	35	Judah
36	Joseph	31	Joseph	33	Joseph	33	Josefh	31	Joseph	36	Joseph
37	Jonam	32	Jonam	34	Jonam	34	Jonam	32	Jonam	37	Jonam
38	Eliakim	33	Eliakim	35	Eliakim	35	Eliacim	33	Eliakim	38	Eliakim
39	Melea							34	Melea	39	Melea
40	Menna	34	Menna	36	Menna	36	Enam	35	Menna	40	Menna
41	Mattatha	35	Mattatha	37	Mattatha	37	Mattatiae	36	Mattatha	41	Mattatha
42	Nathan	36	Nathan	38	Nathan	38	Natam	37	Nathan	42	Nathan
43	David	37	David	39	David	39	David	38	David	43	David
44	Jesse	38	Jesse	40	Jesse	40	Eseiae	39	Jesse	44	Jesse
45	Obed	39	Obed	41	Obed	41	Obeth	40	Obed	45	Obed
46	Boaz	40	Boaz	42	Boaz	42	Boos	41	Boaz	46	Boaz
47	Salmon	41	Salmon	43	Salmon	43	Salmon	42	Salmon	47	Salmon
48	Nahshon	42	Nahshon	44	Nahshon	44	Nassem	43	Nahshon	48	Nahshon
49	Amminadab	43	Amminadab	45	Amminadab	45	Aminadab	44	Amminadab	49	Amminadab
50	Admin					46	Aram
51	Ram (Arni)	44	Ram	46	Ram	47	Irram	45	Ram	50	Ram
52	Hezron	45	Hezron	47	Hezron	48	Esrom	46	Hezron	51	Hezron
53	Pharez	46	Pharez	48	Pharez	49	Phares	47	Pharez	52	Pharez
54	Judah	47	Judah	49	Judah	50	Judae	48	Judah	53	Judah
55	Jacob	48	Jacob	50	Jacob	51	Jacob	49	Jacob	54	Jacob
56	Isaac	49	Isaac	51	Isaac	52	Isac	50	Isaac	55	Isaac
57	Abraham	50	Abraham	52	Abraham	53	Abraham	51	Abraham	56	Abraham
58	Terah	51	Terah	53	Terah	54	Jarae	52	Terah	57	Terah
59	Nahor	52	Nahor	54	Nahor	55	Nacor	53	Nahor	58	Nahor
60	Serug	53	Serug	55	Serug	56	Seruth	54	Serug	59	Serug
61	Reu	54	Reu	56	Reu	57	Racau	55	Reu	60	Reu
62	Peleg	55	Peleg	57	Peleg	58	Falec	56	Peleg	61	Peleg
63	Eber	56	Eber	58	Eber	59	Eber	57	Eber	62	Eber
64	Shelah	57	Shelah	59	Shelah	60	Salae	58	Shelah	63	Shelah
65	Cainan					61	Thamon	59	Cainan	64	Cainan
66	Arphaxad	58	Arphaxad	60	Arphaxad	62	Arfaxa	60	Arphaxad	65	Arphaxad
67	Shem	59	Shem	61	Shem	63	Seth	61	Shem	66	Shem
68	Noah	60	Noah	62	Noah	64	Noe	62	Noah	67	Noah
69	Lamech	61	Lamech	63	Lamech	65	Lameth	63	Lamech	68	Lamech
70	Methuselah	62	Methuselah	64	Methuselah	66	Matusalae	64	Methuselah	69	Methuselah
71	Enoch	63	Enoch	65	Enoch	67	Enoc	65	Enoch	70	Enoch
72	Jared	64	Jared	66	Jared			66	Jared	71	Jared
73	Mahalalel	65	Mahalalel	67	Mahalalel	68	Alet	67	Mahalalel	72	Mahalalel
74	Cainain	66	Cainain	68	Cainain	69	Cainan	68	Cainain	73	Cainain
75	Enosh	67	Enosh	69	Enosh	70	Enos	69	Enosh	74	Enosh
76	Seth	68	Seth	70	Seth	71	Seth	70	Seth	75	Seth
77	Adam	69	Adam	71	Adam	72	Adam	71	Adam	76	Adam

The final-row totals representing the two Joachimite documents reflect a gain of two because of the inclusion of the extra two non-evangelical generations, those of Mary and Joachim. The inclusion of a second Joshua in the Clementine Vulgate, the Roman Catholic text (after number 29 in the above Vulgate series), will be left out of this discussion. The various omissions of names are conveniently listed online by Wieland Willker in his compilation of variants in Luke at TVU 40. (Warning: this is a large pdf file.)

Several points stand out from my comparison:

The omission of Heli and Matthat (Luke 3:23-24) is shared with the Codex Colbertinus. However the Liber Genealogus (section 38) does not omit these two. This omission overlaps with an oddity in Julius Africanus's treatment of the topic: he omitted Levi and Matthat, but included Heli.[*]Christophe Guignard argues in his 2011 edition of the Letter to Aristides that Julius Africanus ostentatiously omitted the two names to demonstrate that he had had access to a word-of-mouth tradition. Guignard rejects the view that Julius Africanus was simply misled by a corrupted gospel manuscript.
The collective omission of Mattathias and Amos (Luke 3:25) in the phrase Naum genuit Iose is common to Epsilon, Alpha and Delta and the Liber Genealogus (section 38) and is also characteristic of the Vetus Latina.
The collective omission of Hesli, Naggai and Mahath (Luke 3:25-26) in the phrase Matati genuit Naum is shared by Epsilon, Alpha and Delta and is repeated in the Liber Genealogus (section 38), which I argue to be an ekphrasis of our diagram, but is not found in any Vetus Latina manuscript. The Vetus Latina (sigla c and e) generally only omits Maath, but includes Nagga and Esli.
The omission of Melea (Luke 3:31) in the phrase Enam genuit Eliacim (third roundel after Nathan) is shared by the Epsilon, Alpha and Delta recensions and matches a broader Vetus Latina tradition that is common to the manuscripts a, b, e, l and r1, but is not shared by the Codex Colbertinus.[*]The sigla refer to: Codex Vercellensis, Codex Veronensis, Codex Palatinus (the “African Old Latin”) and copies, Codex Legionensis and Codex Usserianus Primus.
The omission of the second Kenan (placed by Luke between between Arfaxat and Sale) is probably not an issue that would have arisen through the use of a defective Vetus Latina text, but rather through a conscious editorial choice by the Great Stemma author to continue in a chronographic tradition that had been established by Julius Africanus and Eusebius of Caesarea and was later to be confirmed by Jerome. The second Kenan's omission is a widespread tradition however: this Kenan was absent in the Codex Bezae (d: a bilingual Greek and Vetus Latina text) and in a single surviving unilingual Greek source, the Bodmer Papyrus P75 in the Vatican. In addition, George Syncellus observed in the early ninth century that the second Kenan was missing from multiple Greek manuscripts. [*]Wallraff, Chronographiae, T16i, 37. Wieland Willker's commentary on Luke TVU 40 (link above). More detail.

Other evidence that a "low-count" Lucan genealogy list was in wide circulation at an early date can be found in Irenaeus's observation:

Luke points out that the pedigree which traces the generation of our Lord back to Adam contains seventy-two generations. [*]Irenaeus, Adversus haereses, 3.22.3. Heer (above) argues that Irenaeus was reporting the oldest and least-corrupt tradition.

It would be conceivable that Irenaeus was using a version of Luke such as that offered by e.

It is entirely plausible from the omissions to assume that the Great Stemma was drawn up using a Vetus Latina version of Luke (though none of the versions of the Vetus Latina which are extant today entirely match all of these omissions) and that the Liber Genealogus faithfully followed the diagram with the exception of one amendment, the re-insertion of Heli and "Natha".

One might advance an alternative hypothesis that the author of the Great Stemma tampered with the Lucan list to provide greater credibility for his inclusion of two extra generations (Joachim and Mary), but I cannot at the present time see any positive argument for such a hypothesis.

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