January is the month of reading plans and genealogies. Many of us are reading from both Matthew and Genesis, and although the expectation is that I think genealogies are boring, I don't.
I have an upcoming paper for a biography of anyone in the book of Matthew. Technically, Judah (the son of the patriarch Jacob) is listed as an ancestor of Jesus. And this is important to the book of Matthew. Important in ways that I want to explore.
I could pump out a paper about John the baptist that is identical to thousands of others, but before I do that, I want to investigate the possibility of tweaking this assignment to allow me to discover the role Judah plays in the book of Matthew.
I don't know what I don't know. Can anyone point me in a direction? Maybe I should just drop this, but I am not quite ready to do that. I never noticed that it is Leah, not Rachel, that is the line of Jesus. I am following along in a reading plan with a church and the Pastor's comments about Leah and Judah have set off a fireworks of thoughts in my head that were not there in previous readings of Matthew and Genesis.
This is a 4 credit class, and the paper is not due until the end. I have time to read and research this topic and I want to read as diversely as possible. Are there recognized "experts" on Judah? I know to look for the recommended commentaries on specific books and I will do that. But if there is something special that I would likely miss in basic searching, could someone point me in the right direction. I feel like there might be something big that I am clueless about.
