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I realise that the Book of Genealogies was lost a long time ago, perhaps after the Babylonian exile. See this question

Another explores the question as to why the tribe of Judah "was not lost" after the Babylonian exile.

In light of this, my question asking what happened to the genealogical records after Rome sacked Jerusalem and destroyed the temple in 70 A.D. might be superfluous.

Notwithstanding, I have been asked to provide a source for a statement I made that the genealogical records of the tribe of Judah and the house of David were utterly destroyed in 70 A.D.

If that statement is incorrect I need to know so I can rectify it and a link to a reliable source to explain what happened to the genealogical records would be most helpful. Thank you.

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  • Since there have been many people throughout history who trace their genealogy back to David I think your underlying assumption is incorrect.
    – Yehuda
    Commented Aug 15 at 11:29
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    So the genealogical records that existed prior to 70 A.D. were neither lost nor destroyed?
    – Lesley
    Commented Aug 15 at 11:33

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The genealogical records of Jerusalem were not destroyed when the Temple was destroyed. Genealogical records are cited in the Mishnah (for example Yevamot 4:13) and Midrash (Bereshit Rabba 98:8), from the generations following the destruction. Needless to say, the genealogical records in the beginning of the book of Chronicles (which go a few generations after Zerubbabel) were also extant.

This type of record (מגילת יוחסין) might be distinguishable from the Book of Genealogy (ספר יוחסין), which was hidden (according to Pesachim 62b). What the Book of Genealogy actually contained is disputed (it may have been a sort of Midrash on Chronicles; see Rashi there and other sources cited on Hebrew Wikipedia). According to Rav Amram Gaon, the Book of Genealogy contained historical and genealogical information about various families.

At the time of the Mishnah and Talmud, genealogical information was still preserved, but it was transmitted orally. An example of this information is in the Mishnah (Eduyot 8:7) where the positive information is given with the family name, but the negative information is anonymized. This was either because of danger, either on the part of the families involved or the Roman government, or so as not to publicly disparage families whose disqualifications had been forgotten (see Bartenura and Tosafot Yom Tov there). The negative information was only to be transmitted in private once or twice every seven years (Kiddushin 71a).

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  • Your answer has enabled me to correct my error, for which I thank you.
    – Lesley
    Commented Aug 15 at 16:18

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