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We’ve seen that there’s no evidence—of any merit—that the birthright lines of Ephraim and Manasseh (particularly Ephraim, Gen 48.14) migrated northwestward from the Assyrian captivity and became the genealogical forebears of the Anglo-Saxons. Anglo-Israelites add the claim that the kingly line of Judah (Gen 49.10), established in David (2Sam 7), is connected with the British royal house, embodied today in Queen Elizabeth II.
- The kingly line was dethroned with the deportation to Babylon of Jehoiachin (2K 24.6-16) and his uncle Zedekiah (2K 24.17-25.11), the last two kings in the Davidic line. (Nebuchadnezzar’s puppet governor, Gedaliah [2K 25.22ff], was not Davidic.)
- But Jeremiah the prophet was left behind in Jerusalem when the exiles were taken to Babylon (Jer 40.1-6), along with certain members of the royal line (Jer 41.1), including some of the king’s daughters (Jer 41.10).
- After the assassination of Nebuchadnezzar’s puppet governor, Gedaliah (Jer 41.1-3), fearing retribution from Babylon, Judah’s ad hoc leadership decided to go down to Egypt to seek protection there (Jer 41.4-6, as implied in the succeeding passage).
- Though Jeremiah argued strongly against this decision (Jer 42.7-22), the leaders carried out their plan, forcibly taking Jeremiah himself with them (Jer 43.1-7).
The biblical account ends the story with this group of Jews in Egypt, hearing God’s judgment pronounced on them by Jeremiah (Jer 44.24-30). But Anglo-Israelites continue the story by drawing on various alleged ancient traditions.
- Jeremiah eventually left Egypt, taking with him one of King Zedekiah’s daughters, Tea-Tephi by name.
- They arrived in Ireland in 569 BC.
- She married the king of Ireland, whose line continued to Scotland and was eventually embodied in King James VI.
- James VI eventually became King James I of Great Britain, establishing there the House of Stuart. He was also, incidentally, the king who ordered the translation of the King James Version of the Bible.
- With some twists and turns, the line eventuated in Elizabeth II, the current Queen of Great Britain.
- The kings of this line (along with the occasional queen) have been coronated in Westminster Abbey on a throne that encases the Stone of Scone. This is the stone that Jacob used as a pillow (Gen 28.11) when he dreamed of the staircase descending from heaven at Bethel, and where he received the Abrahamic covenant from God.
There are several indisputable points in this sequence. Most obviously, the former bulleted list is in the biblical account, and as a conservative, I would accept all of it. Jeremiah did indeed go to Egypt (Jer 43.8). The Jewish leadership brought a lot of people with them, including the king’s daughters (Jer 43.6).
Second, the accession of James VI of Scotland to the British throne in 1603 is a well-established historical fact. And Queen Elizabeth II is currently on the throne.
But the rest of it is sketchier. A lot sketchier.
Jeremiah visiting Ireland? No mention of it in any of Irish history, despite the repeated claim in Anglo-Israelite writings that the story comes from “the Annals of Ireland.” Time for these folks to produce an original source, rather than just quoting one another.
A daughter of Zedekiah marrying the king of Ireland? Same. No documentation of this either. None. Let’s have an original source.
As to the Stone of Scone, it’s sandstone, of which there is little to none in the region of Bethel, where Jacob found himself in need of a pillow—though it’s common on the Israeli coast and further south, in the Negev and over toward Petra on the Jordanian side. The predominant sedimentary geology around Bethel is limestone. Sandstone, however, is common in Scotland, which is where British tradition places the origin of the Stone of Scone.
As we found with the “evidence” for the northwestward migration of the ten Northern tribes, this evidence is just worthless. I’m happy to see evidence that’s serious, but so far absolutely nothing rises to that standard.
Next time, an idea from outside Anglo-Israelism proper: Noah’s curse on all the black folks. And a lesson in hermeneutics.
Photo by Markus Spiske on Unsplash
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