All the Genealogies of the Bible

Dr. Nancy Dawson joins David Capes to talk about her upcoming book, All the Genealogies of the Bible: Visual Charts and Exegetical Commentary  (Zondervan Academic forthcoming in October 2023).

Who is Nancy Dawson

Nancy has been working on this book for twenty years.  She is not originally a historian or theologian. 

This Oklahoman went the science route and became an expert in plant taxonomy, biology, particularly cell biology.  Her most recent job in the field was at Texas A&M.

Along life’s way she attended Duke Divinity School in North Carolina.  That is when she became interested in the genealogies of the Bible.  And as a scientist, she could not leave them alone.

What do science and genealogies of the Bible have in common?

Scientists like to categorize things. When Nancy found these genealogies, she began to try to make sense of them all. 

Most genealogies are found in the Old Testament, in books like Genesis, Joshua, Ruth, and 1-2 Chronicles. But there are pieces of ancestry throughout the Bible.

Who collaborated on this book?

Nancy knew that she needed some help on this book, so she turned to two well established  scholars. 

For the Old Testament that meant Dr. Eugene Merrill of Dallas Theological Seminary.

For the New Testament that meant Dr. Andreas Köstenberger, currently Research Professor at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. 

They worked carefully with Nancy to make sure these volumes represent the best thinking on these unique parts of the Bible. 

More about the book-

In all there are 280 charts in the book.  But the book also has some wonderful prose in it that discusses these kinship connections that demonstrates how the structure of biblical history is set up.

A nugget of wisdom

Stick around until the end of the podcast because Nancy has some insights into the genealogies of Jesus of Nazareth found in Matthew and Luke.  

Want to hear more about genealogies of the Bible?

Be sure to listen to our earlier podcast with Ann Clements, “Mothers on the Margin?”.  It deals with the wives and mothers listed in Matthew’s genealogy (Matthew 1).

For a transcript of today’s podcast, click here.

For more Stone Chapel Podcasts, click here.

For upcoming lectures at Lanier Theological Library, click here.