"... their Heirs and Assigns"

As one whose hobby is genealogy, I was pleased the other day to discover that the TV programme Heir Hunters had returned for a new series.  Compared to most people, I watch very little television, but that is one programme that does command my rapt attention.  After many series now, very little of the actual heir-tracing techniques illustrated is novel, but each story is unique despite the common plot.

‘Common’ is a very appropriate word here because, while the plot (i.e. someone dying with no known family) is common to every programme, I fear that this has become a more common occurrence in our modern world than was the case perhaps as little as fifty years ago. 

It is an acknowledged myth that people only began to move far away from their birthplace in recent years; despite the distances involved, I believe there was far more regular contact within dispersed families a few generations ago than today.  Many and varied are the causes for this change in our behaviour.  While their analysis doesn’t properly belong here, high among these factors are surely the greater number of broken and dysfunctional families, the decreasing popularity of marriage as a spiritual bond, and simply the speed of modern life in general.

I felt somewhat unusual that, by the age of thirty – maybe earlier – I could recite the names of my four grandparents and of all fourteen of my parents’ siblings (even if not in the correct order!).  In biblical times, not only would this be a commonplace ability, but it would rank very low on the scale of such achievements.  I don’t imagine that the gospel writers were accomplished family historians, but Matthew and Luke could recite for us dozens of generations of the forbears of Joseph, a mere carpenter, and Mary his wife.

It wasn’t simply that the fame of Jesus had inspired research into his genealogy.  To all Israelites, the concept of heritage was important.  At the partition of the promised land by Joshua according to the instructions of Moses (Joshua chs. 13-19), it was important to know which family and clan was descended from which of Jacob’s sons, to determine who had the right to settle where.  After the return from exile in the time of Ezra, it became important to distinguish Jews from other nations and stress was laid on establishing descent from returning exiles (Ezra ch. 9).  Genealogy was important, too, to determine the right of certain families to act as priests (Ezra 2, esp. v. 62).

One of the fundamental characteristics of family life that has, to a great extent, disappeared in our modern age is care for our extended families.  For example, many of the deceased ‘stars’ of Heir Hunters are maiden aunts.  When traced, many an heir expresses sadness that they never knew of the deceased’s existence, and how much better it would have been to have known her while alive, rather than share in her wealth now she was dead.

From the earliest days, the Israelites were told to respect their parents.  The fifth Commandment given by God through Moses was that they should honour their fathers and mothers (Ex. 20:12); the instruction that a brother should marry his dead brother’s wife (Deut. 25:5-6) had more to do with the preservation of the family line but was also, nevertheless, an indication of the responsibility to care for other family members.  This duty had been carried down the centuries, for it was referred to by the Sadducees when they questioned Jesus in the Temple (Matt. 22:25).

We all like a good family story, whether it is on TV, like Heir Hunters today, or The Waltons in times past, or in one of a myriad of popular novels.  But is there someone not too distantly related to you, for whom you have an unexercised duty of care?  Although not the best of motives for care, it could result in you being named in a Will; far more importantly, it could bring untold light and richness to a lonely person’s days, and – who knows? – it might help to reverse a sad trend in modern life!