91. Arimathaea, and Joseph of Arimathaea
"NOW there was a certain man of
Ramathaim-zophim, of mount
Ephraim, and his name was Elkanah, the son of Jeroham, the son of
Elihu, the son of Tohu, the son of Zuph, an
Ephrathite:" ~ Samuel 1:1
Arimathaea is that land region also called Ramathaim in the Old Testament.
It is the land of the birthplace of Samuel (1 Samuel 1:1) the dedicated
son unto God of Hannah who became God's prophet. Samuel's family was a Levite
family of the line of Kohath the second of the three sons of Levi. The
'Kohathites' were the Levites of the highest rank. One such grouping of
Kohathites were assigned to live in the land of Ephraim (1 Chronicles 6:66).
Samuel's family was of such descent from Kohath as variously given in
(1 Chronicles 6:33-38, 1 Samuel 1:1, & 1 Chronicles 6:22-28). Thus Samuel's
family were to minister to the tribe of Ephraim in those things required by
the Levitical Priesthood. Samuel was just such a Levite priest of the temple
while it still resided in the land of Ephraim. And Samuel's father was said
to be an Ephrathite as qouted above. This
meant that Samuel's Levite family pertained unto the tribe of Ephraim living
in one of the cities of the land of Ephraim, and being assigned thereto to
administer unto that tribe as Levite priests. It was common to so stipulate a
Levite priest by which tribe and tribal lands they were called upon to
administer to, as exemplified by the following reference.
"And there was a young man out of
Bethlehem-judah of the family of Judah,
who was a Levite, and he sojourned there."
~ Judges 17:7
Arimathaea, Ramathaim, the birth place of Samuel and the land of his Levite
family was also called by the shorter form of the name of
Ramah. It was the hill country of Ephraim
northwest of Jerusalem also generally referred to as Mount
Ephraim as alluded to in the qoute from 1 Samuel 1:1 prior given.
The significance of this that Jeremiah the prophet and Matthew the apostle
of the Lord further associate Ramah to Rachel and her children in the coasts
round about Benjamin in the hill country of Ephraim.
"Thus saith the LORD; A voice was heard in
Ramah, lamentation, and bitter weeping;
Rahel [Rachel] weeping for her children refused to be comforted for her
children, because they were not." ~ Jeremiah 31:15
"Then Herod, when he saw that he was mocked of the wise men, was exceeding
wroth, and sent forth, and slew all the children that were in Bethlehem,
and in all the coasts thereof, from two years
old and under, according to the time which he had diligently enquired of the
wise men.
"Then was fulfilled that which was spoken by Jeremy [Jeremiah] the Prophet,
saying, In Rama [Ramah] was there a voice heard, lamentation, and weeping,
and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children, and would not be
comforted, because they are not." ~ Matthew 2:16-18
That the 'coast thereof' referenced Ramah, that is Mount Ephraim, the
land of Ephraim of Arimathaea, Ramathaim, the birth place of Samuel, and
the land assigned to the Levite families of Kohath who ministered unto
Ephraim can be secondarily established by the reference to such assignment
of the Kohath Levites found in 1 Chronicles 6:66 where it also states that
land as being 'the cities of their coasts out of the tribe of Ephraim.'
Now we have already discussed that Rachel is the true mother of Israel and
that it was Rachel who did mourn for the children killed by King Herod of
the House of David. In that discussion it was also pointed out that the
'coasts thereof' in Matthew's account of the slaughter of the children
needs be associated with being that of Ramah, as that was from whence Rachel
was mourning and weeping for them. The tie in that the coasts of the cities
of Ephraim where the Ephraimite administering Levites of Kohath were placed
in Ramah now truely can be seen to be also that which 'all the coasts thereof
in Matthew's account must be refering to.
This further gives credence to the fact that John the Baptist was of the
same age range as was Jesus. Joseph was warned to take Jesus into Egypt to
escape the murder of the babies by Herod. John the Baptist was taken by
his mother into the wilderness to be raised to also escape that murder
commanded by Herod. Zacharias, John's father was he who was killed between
porch of the temple and the altar of sacrifice of the temple and counted by
Jesus as amoung the murders of the prophets performed by the Jews
(Matthew 23:35, Luke 11:51, ToPJS p. 261 & 222). It seems that Zacharias
continued to perform his duties at the Temple and would not reveal the hiding
place of his son John when pressured to do so by Herod's armies so that John
might be killed also. This was just how thorough Herod's order was carried
out.
Now tradition has that Joseph of Arimathaea was relatie of Mary, the mother
of Jesus. He was also a rich and wealthy man, a counsellor of the Sadhedrin.
He it was who begged the body of Jesus to be buried in his own tomb, which
give added meaning of significance if he was so providing a 'family related
burial site' for his great nephew kinsman, Jesus Christ. He and Nicodemus,
also a follower of Jesus though a Pharisee of the Sanhedrin, properly
prepared the body of Jesus for burial (John 19:38-42).
Now the alignment of Samuel and Levites being of Arimathaea or Ramah, of
Ephraimites being of Arimathaea or Ramah, of the House of David in that
Rachel mourned her children of Ramah or Arimathaea, of Joseph of
Arimathaea of the Sanhedrin, a proposed relative of Mary the mother of Jesus,
being of Ramah or Arimathaea, and the fact that Zarcharias the priest of the
temple and his wife Elisabeth were Levites and cousins of Mary the mother of
Jesus; does present a number of interesting possiblilities. If Joseph of
Arimathaea were so related to Mary, mother of Jesus, the question comes, was
he of the House of David as was Mary or was he a Levite of Mount Ephraim
and associated with Elisabeth's side of the family? Not all Levites are
priests. Not all members of the Sanhedrin are Priests, Pharisees or Sadducees.
Some are numbered amoung the 'Elders of Israel'. Were Joseph of Arimathaea is
not prescribed by any other afiliation than that of the Sanhedrin, it is
difficult to tell whether he would be of the House of David or a Levite.
In either case he would be a Jew by association with the Jewish nation but
he, as per this discussion of Messiah ben Joseph, would not be of the tribe
of Judah, but either of the tribe of Joseph or the tribe of Levi. Perhaps
his name's sake suggests his rightful place as being of the House of David,
an Ephrathite of the tribe of Ephraim by the same association as is Jesus.
But the point that he is both rich and associated with being of Ramah, seem
to leave open his possible association with the Levites of Ephraim.
Now Ramah is Hebrew for hill or hill country. When Mary went to see Elisabeth,
she 'went into the hill country'
(Luke 1:39). And though it is stated as a city of Juda, all about Jerusalem
in the days of Christ was of Juda unto the borders with Samaria and
Arimathaea though specifically 'lying in the hill country of Ephraim
northwest of Jerusalem, its cities would typically be considered as being
of Juda, as the Jews where the only recognized tribe, outside the priest
of Levi, that had prevailed in the land of Jerusalem. Therefore, Zacharias,
whose home Mary did travel to in the 'hill country', could vary well be in
that same 'hill country' as was Joseph of Arimathaea, the hills of Ramah.
Certainly the correlation of Rachel weeping in 'Ramah', the 'hill country'
for her children contributes to the possibility. Even when it states that
the fame of the child John first proceeds out, that it was 'noised abroad
throughout all the hill country of Jedaea' (Luke 1:65), only seems to add
to the context that these were 'hill country' people or 'Ramah' people.
Bethlehem itself has been shown to be on the southern fringe of this hill
lands of Ramah and deeply associated with Rachel, the House of David and
the professions of the hill people of being shepherds. Who was it that came
to see the Christ the night of his birth in Bethlehem but shepherds from
the surrounding hills who had been tending their sheep by night?
That the concept of Joseph of Arimathaea being relative to Jesus through
his mother Mary, does open further the possiblitlies and in nowise
detracts from the concept of Christ being of the House of David associated
strongly with the regions of Mount Ephraim and the House of Joseph. There
is nothing of Joseph of Arimathaea's relationship to Christ which detracts
from the consideration of Jesus being Messiah ben Joseph as well as Messiah
ben David. In fact there is much which suggests and does associated itself
with all likelihood that it is the case.
Joseph of Arimathaea being from Ramah of Mount Ephraim associates him
well with Ephraim and consideration of Messiah ben Joseph being his
relative Jesus Christ. In death, it was Joseph of Arimathaea, of Mount
Ephraim, who claims the body of the Christ. His being the relative
through the mother of Mary only solidifies this even more, in that it
associates Christ's one genetic parent of mortality with the hill country of
Ramah and Ephraim, Arimathaea. Though Joseph the carpenter is also closely
relative to Mary, it is Mary who is also cousin to Elisabeth the Levite
wife of Zacharias, the priest of the temple. All stated about Zacharias'
dwelling place in the 'hill country' does nothing to remove the associate
of the House of David from the hills or Ramah, but only speaks of that
families close association with it. Even Zacharias being of the order or
course of Abia (Luke 1:5), does only place him even more tightly associated
with the Kohath Levites of the hill country of Arimathaea, Ephraim and
possibly Bethlehem.
In close cross-examination, Arimathaea, and Jospeh of Arimathaea bring
nothing upon the table which mars the concept of the dual descent of
the Messiah, being of the blood of Judah, but legally and rightfully of
the House of Joseph, through those Ephrathites and associated Ephrathite
or Ephraimite priests of the land of Ramah and Bethlehem the burial place
of Rachel the mother of Joseph by whom that rightful descent does come.
In fact all so associated does seem but to coroborate it to be so as it
fits the picture with additional pieces of the puzzle most perfectly.