APPENDIX ONE
Some explanatory notes on Luke 3.23.
In my translation of Luke 3:23, etc., I have placed an asterisk before each person’s name from that of Heli onwards. This also occurs in Matthew’s list and elsewhere. The asterisk is to indicate that the Greek uses the definite article in these cases, but it is not required in English. Such use of the definite article before proper names is quite common in Greek. In this case the reason for its use may well be to point out the case of the noun. In Greek the names of persons are usually indeclinable, and so the article may here be placed before the name it qualifies to indicate its case.
Throughout the list in Luke, the Greek article is tou, which is genitive case. Hence the names read ‘of the Heli, ‘ of the Matthat’, etc., thus indicating the genitive case. However, this is not a hard and fast rule.
In many other places the definite article is not used before an indeclinable name to indicate its case. Indeed there are many places where the genitive is meant, but the article is not thought to be necessary. For example Luke 4:22 and John 6:42 have the same Greek words, huios iOsEph. Here the meaning is clearly ‘house of Joseph’, but the definite article is not used. In such cases I would not use an asterisk.
The ‘genitive of origin’ is the term applied to the genitive as used here. As such it denotes someone, or something, as coming from some person or thing. Here then Jesus is regarded (wrongly) as having come from, or descended from Joseph. And Joseph was regarded (correctly) as having come from Heli.
The word ‘supposed’ – AV.
This represents the Greek nomizO, a verb related to the noun nomos, ‘a law, rule, standard’. As Vine states, “This noun is the established name for ‘law’ as directed by a state.” In the lexicons nomizO is defined by a number of English words such as ‘to own as settled and established’, ‘to sanction by law’; ‘to acknowledge, deem, consider’, ‘to reckon, recognise, presume’ etc. To retain its association with ‘law’ I have used to be legally regarded.
