BF&Q pp 121-182
19/5/06
4:11 pm
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FAMILY TIES
Facts 2 Paul tells fathers not to embitter their children or they will become discouraged. In Bible times betrothal to be married was as binding as marriage itself. Naomi is the first person to be called a mother-in-law in the Bible (Ruth 1:14). Naamah is the first sister mentioned in the Bible (Genesis 4:22). Adam, Eve and Jesus are the only people in the Bible who did not have human fathers. In the Old Testament, wives would sometimes allow their husbands to have children by their servants in order to carry on the family line. If a husband died, his brother was obliged to marry his widow in order to continue the family line. A genealogy is a list of names linking ancestors or descendants of particular individuals. Jesus had four half-brothers and an unknown number of half-sisters (Mark 6:3).
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Jesus was born in Bethlehem because Joseph had returned to his family home for a census (Luke 2:1-3).
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