Pedigree
Pedigree [1]
ped´i - grē ( התילּד , hı̄thyallēdh , "to show one's birth"): The English word "pedigree" occurs only once in the Bible, according to the concordance. In Numbers 1:18 , it is said: "They declared their pedigrees"; that is, they enrolled or registered themselves according to their family connections. The same idea is expressed frequently, employing a different term in the Hebrew, by the common phrase of Chronicles, Ezra and Nehemiah, "to reckon by genealogy," "to give genealogy," etc. (compare 1 Chronicles 7:5 , 1 Chronicles 7:9; Ezra 2:62 ff; Nehemiah 7:64 ). These last passages indicate the importance of the registered pedigree or genealogy, especially of the priests in the post-exilic community, for the absence of the list of their pedigrees, or their genealogical records, was sufficient to cause the exclusion from the priesthood of certain enrolled priests.
