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13 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 27 DECEMBER 2020 OPINION Today, genealogies may bring more awareness of one's family medical history or help uncover lost family members. In the Greco-Roman era, birth stories and genealogical claims were used to establish rights to rule and link individuals with purported ancestral grandeur ple referred to the prophecy which claimed that the messiah would be a descendant of Da- vid and come from Bethlehem. But Jesus according to John's Gospel is never associated with Bethlehem, but with Galilee, and more specifically, Naza- reth. The Gospels of Mark and John reveal that they either had trouble linking Bethlehem with Jesus, did not know his birth- place, or were not concerned with this city. These were not the only ones. Apostle Paul, who wrote the earliest documents of the New Testament, considered Jesus a descendant of David but does not associate him with Bethle- hem. The Book of Revelation also affirms that Jesus was a descendant of David but does not mention Bethlehem. An ethnic identity During the period of Jesus' life, there were multiple per- spectives on the Messiah. In one stream of Jewish thought, the Messiah was expected to be an everlasting ruler from the lineage of David. Other Jewish texts, such as the book 4 Ezra, written in the same century as the Gospels, and the Jewish sectarian Qumran literature, which is written two centuries earlier, also echo this belief. But within the Hebrew Bible, a prophetic book called Micah, thought to be written around B.C. 722, prophesies that the messiah would come from Da- vid's hometown, Bethlehem. This text is repeated in Mat- thew's version. Luke mentions that Jesus is not only genealog- ically connected to King David, but also born in Bethlehem, "the city of David." Genealogical claims were made for important ancient founders and political leaders. For example, Ion, the found- er of the Greek colonies in Asia, was considered to be a descendant of Apollo. Alexan- der the Great, whose empire reached from Macedonia to India, was claimed to be a son of Hercules. Caesar Augus- tus, who was the first Roman emperor, was proclaimed as a descendant of Apollo. And a Jewish writer named Philo who lived in the first century wrote that Abraham and the Jewish priest and prophets were born of God. Regardless of whether these claims were accepted at the time to be true, they shaped a person's ethnic identity, politi- cal status and claims to honor. As the Greek historian Polybi- us explains, the renown deeds of ancestors are "part of the heritage of posterity." Matthew and Luke's inclusion of the city of Bethlehem con- tributed to the claim that Jesus was the Messiah from a Da- vidic lineage. They made sure that readers were aware of Je- sus' genealogical connection to King David with the mention of this city. Birth stories in Beth- lehem solidified the claim that Jesus was a rightful descendant of King David. So today, when the impor- tance of Bethlehem is heard in Christmas carols or displayed in Nativity scenes, the name of the town connects Jesus to an ancestral lineage and the pro- phetic hope for a new leader like King David.