Matthew 1:7-10

The next verses continue with the descendants of King David:

7 Σολομών δε εγέννησεν τον Ροβοάμ,
Ροβοάμ δε εγέννησεν τον Αβιά,
Αβιά δε εγέννησεν τον Ασάφ,

8 Ασάφ δε εγέννησεν τον Ιωσαφάτ,
Ιωσαφάτ δε εγέννησεν τον Ιωράμ,
Ιωράμ δε εγέννησεν τον Οζίαν,

9 Οζίας δε εγέννησεν τον Ιωαθάμ,
Ιωαθάμ δε εγέννησεν τον Αχάζ,
Αχάζ δε εγέννησεν τον Εζεκίαν,

10 Εζεκίας δε εγέννησεν τον Μανασσή,
Μανασσής δε εγέννησεν τον Αμώς,
Αμώς δε εγέννησεν τον Ιωσίαν

If we omit the postpositive 'δε' in each phrase, and also omit the definite article before the second individual in each phrase (Solomon fathered the Rehoboam) we have:

7 Solomon fathered Rehoboam,
Rehoboam fathered Abijah,
Abijah fathered Asaph,

8 Asaph fathered Jehoshaphat,
Jehoshaphat fathered Joram,
Joram fathered Uzziah,

9 Uzziah fathered Jotham,
Jotham fathered Ahaz,
Ahaz fathered Hezekiah,

10 Hezekiah fathered Manasseh,
Manasseh fathered Amos,
Amos fathered Josiah


A couple notes on the names. (1) Most of these names are not, of course, typical Greek names. This presents a problem in transliteration: how to represent the sound of a non-Greek name using the Greek alphabet?

(2) Not all the names are inflected for case; in fact, most of them are not. For example, in the two phrases

Solomon fathered Rehoboam,
Rehoboam fathered Abijah

Rehoboam appears first as the object of a verb, and the second time as its subject. In Greek, a proper name is inflected for case like any other noun, and we would normally expect a difference in spelling between the first instance of Rehoboam (which would be in the accusative case) and the second (in the nominative case).

But there is no difference here, presumably because it is a foreign name (foreign to Greek, that is).

On the other hand, in the phrases

Ahaz fathered Hezekiah,
Hezekiah fathered Manasseh

Hezekiah does show inflection: Εζεκίαν in the first instance (accusative case) and Εζεκίας in the second (nominative case).

Why are some names inflected and others not? I'm not sure, other than to say that a name ending in sigma (ς) lends itself easily to a common pattern of noun inflection in Greek, with a standard change to 'ν' in the accusative. Perhaps other names (such as Ροβοάμ, 'Rehoboam') did not fit as easily into a pattern of declension.

I will continue researching this point, and welcome any comments from readers.

Χαίρετε!