Geoff wrote; "Why does Josephus need to tell us who Matthias married? The reason could have been to show how important this ancester Matthias was? But was this marriage to a high priest's daughter recognised by Josephus' ancestors as the route to priesthood?"
The answer to the first question seems to me to be the existence at that time of a widely respected custom - calling for Cohanim, especially High priests - to marry daughters of the Cohanim, and not simply Jewish or Levite women. The very fact of a marriage to a bride of highpriestly descent became thus a proof of the priestly purity of the ancestors of the groom Undoubtedly Josephus had to fight numbers of critics after his treason. The fact that at least some of these critics doubted his claims is no proof whatsoever for him not being a priest, but a strong indication of the paramount importance of lineage at the time, shedding light on the similar obsession in Qumran. I have found absolutely no trace anywhere of lineages derived from the mother´s side, which only establishes the Jewishness of somebody, but never his levitical or priestly statute. There is no reason however to doubt the connection between Priests and the daughters of Rechabim, or viceversa. Interestingly there is a priestly tradition requiring the Cohanim to avoid drinking alcohol. This tradition preserved long after the distruction of the Temple may have been founded not only on the clear Halachic prohibition regarding the service in the Temple, but also on the rechabitic customs recorded by Jer.. Best regards, Peter Janku For private reply, e-mail to "peter janku" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> ---------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe from Orion, e-mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the message: "unsubscribe Orion." Archives are on the Orion Web site, http://orion.mscc.huji.ac.il. (PLEASE REMOVE THIS TRAILOR BEFORE REPLYING TO THE MESSAGE)
