"And Mizraim
begat Ludim, and Anamim, and Lehabim, and Napthtuhim, {1:12} And Pathrusim, and
Casluhim, (of whom came the Philistines,) and Caphthorim. {1:13} And Canaan
begat Zidon his firstborn, and Heth, …." (1 Corinthians 1:8)
Straight out of the
King James Bible, this book of
"begats" names those born, but the "begat" construct does
more. It records not only who was born, but also
who these people were born TO. The book of Chronicles, often smilingly referred to as "the book of
begats," spends many of its pages chronicling the lines.
BC/BCE genealogy.
As a 21st century
genealogist, I adore the word "begat" and the world view that it
carries in its definition. While the
letter 'b' in a genealogical context has a knee-jerk expansion into
"birth," that word refers to only one person at a time. Begat speaks to a family relationship. Parent, child and grandchild have 3 birth
dates, but two begats, which form a tree. And what is
the pedigree tree about? Building the
begats backward. A totally green
genealogist (no pun intended) quickly learns that genealogy is all about family
relationships, both vertical (parent/child) and horizontal (sibs).
Current birth
certificates do include more than a birth date, thankfully, and include info on
connections both vertical and horizontal.
Parents of the new child are named, with various personal identifiers
depending on place and time, and most certificates record how many sibs this
new child has - living or dead.
Tombstones, in contrast, tell births, and only rarely include
begats. Historically, often more of a
challenge.
To finish this off
in a Biblical fashion, my dad said (in
regard to sermons) that one often did not need to learn new things as much as
one needed to be reminded.
Hence, "Go
forth, and build your begats!"
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2018 begins with an "ABC-darium," a walk through the alphabet expanding into short comments on matters genealogical. Published on Tuesday and some Fridays, a letter may be visited more than once before moving on.
Copyright 2018, SERoss