Did Jesus have sisters and brothers or step brothers/sisters?

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FiveLinden, please keep in mind that you are speaking of the “plain meaning” of the words in modern-day English, not in Hebrew, Aramaic, or Ancient Greek.

When attempting to translate a passage from the Bible, we MUST keep in mind the original language as well as the cultural practices surrounding the writing.
 
ConstantLearner said:
When attempting to translate a passage from the Bible, we MUST keep in mind the original language as well as the cultural practices surrounding the writing.
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Agreed, but it depends what you mean by “the original language.” The gospels were written in Greek, but it is generally assumed that Jesus spoke to his disciples in Aramaic. (He may have spoken Greek when he was being questioned by Pontius Pilate, but that’s not the issue here.) Greek had separate nouns for brother/sister and cousin (male/female), but Hebrew didn’t at that time, and as far as I know Aramaic didn’t either. So whoever originated the Greek text of the Gospels was already translating Christ’s words, which have not been preserved for us in the original language.
 
You are right. That’s where the cultural practices come in. In ancient Palestine, it was customary to call the members of one’s extended family “brother” or “sister,” or the members of the same village, tribe, etc. So, when the Bible talks of Jesus’ brothers and sisters, it does not necessarily mean even the children of Joseph from a wife who predeceased him.

I agree with the poster who said that had Mary had another child, she would have gone to live with him or her rather than John. Mary was, in my belief, always a virgin. I would believe that even if I were not Catholic.

Jesus left behind no writings that we know of, though the Bible indicates he could write, so everything we know about him has to be taken on faith and study of the Gospels.
 
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ConstantLearner said:
In ancient Palestine, it was customary to call the members of one’s extended family “brother” or “sister,” or the members of the same village, tribe, etc.
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How about Galatians 1:19: “James, the brother of the Lord”? I read that as indicating a close degree of kinship.

We are still left with the question, What degree of kinship, exactly? But I’m pretty sure it’s Paul’s intention here to convey something more than just membership of the same village, tribe, etc.
 
BartholomewB said:
We are still left with the question, What degree of kinship, exactly? But I’m pretty sure it’s Paul’s intention here to convey something more than just membership of the same village, tribe, etc.
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We don’t know what degree of kinship, but I feel as you do that it’s meant to signify more than membership in the same village or tribe, though “brother” and “sister” could be used in that case. I’ve always taken it to mean cousins or older step-siblings, though, of course, I don’t know. I do agree with Jon who said Jesus’ words to John from the Cross show us Mary had no other birth children but Jesus.
 
FiveLinden said:
And neither is there any clarification that they are not. If this issue was important to the writer, and your assumption true, it would have been made clear. It was not.
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The clarification is found in context. Did you watch the video upthread (around post 21 or so) from Dr Brent Pitre? In which he discusses the context, especially in terms of the other women named Mary in the Gospels? I recommend you do so.

In any case, I think that the best response to your claim is that, in a sense, you’re correct: the writer didn’t think he needed to explain, since everyone knew that Jesus was the only child of Mary and Joseph. (See the explanation of Jesus giving Mary to John’s care to help you understand what was going on.)
The most likely explanation is that these were brothers and sisters of Jesus, born of Mary.
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“For every problem, there is an answer that is clear, simple… and wrong.” --attributed (somewhat shadily) to H.L. Mencken

I hope you enjoy your clear and simple explanation. 👍
 
ConstantLearner said:
I’ve always taken it to mean cousins or older step-siblings, though, of course, I don’t know.
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You and I seem to be in full agreement, then. Good! Going back to my comment No. 45 on this thread, I would summarize my own conclusions in two points:

(1) I am confident that one of these three views must be correct, though which of the three is the correct one cannot be known for certain. It’s a question of the balance of probabilities, not of certain knowledge.

(2) I incline to the Epiphanian view, for two reasons:
(a) I once read Jerome’s argument rejecting the Epiphanian view and proposing his own view instead, and it frankly didn’t seem to make a lot of sense. I should add that that was many years ago and I wouldn’t be able, after all this time, to give a detailed explanation, from memory, of what I found wrong with it.
(b) What I find wrong with the Helvidian view can be easily stated. The belief in Mary’s perpetual virginity is very ancient (though I couldn’t quote you, offhand, an exact date). If she had borne other children besides Jesus, people would have known about it.
 
BartholomewB said:
If she had borne other children besides Jesus, people would have known about it.
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More to the point, we can go full-blown “Dan Brown” on the notion: if Jesus ascended to heaven without leaving children behind, wouldn’t his “brother” become ‘heir’ to him and His Church? 😉
 
Gorgias said:
if Jesus ascended to heaven without leaving children behind, wouldn’t his “brother” become ‘heir’ to him and His Church? 😉
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James the Just, “the brother of the Lord,” held a position of authority in the Jerusalem church after Peter fled the city to avoid being rearrested. And after James came Simeon. All in the family!
 
Im wondering what verses point out that Jesus had siblings.
I know there are some that may sound like it.
But if you want to point out the exact Verse that is confusing anyone then just post it and as a family we can explain to you what it means.
 
Jesus did not have Uterine Siblings. Paul would refer to people as " my brothers and sisters" in his letters but he was referring them as my spiritual siblings and not uterine siblings. St.Paul did not have over 1,000 brother and sisters
 
I would still maintain that none of the Biblical verses are conclusive in telling us that Mary had other children other than Jesus especially since the usage of the term brother in that era can mean a person who is not blood brother.

Even today, usage of the word ‘brothers and sisters’ can be similarly found in Christian community to denote brothers and sisters in Christ.

I can say to a wife of, say a fellow cell group member, who I met in a church gathering, “where is my brother John?” though John is not my blood brother.

Perhaps a thousand years from now, when someone would read this excerpt from my conversation with his wife, readers would be thinking that John was my brother.
 
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HarryStotle.

Great reference in post 22.

I am just now re-reading the thread (as a whole) and I missed you directed that post to me.

Again many thanks for the excellent reference video.

In my opinion, Dr. Pitre is one of the absolute best theologians out there.

Great work HarryStotle.
 
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BartholomewB said:
You and I seem to be in full agreement, then. Good! Going back to my comment No. 45 on this thread, I would summarize my own conclusions in two points:
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Yes, I think we agree completely. Thank you for the very informative post.
 
Who does Jesus say His brothers and sisters are?

Matthew 12:47-50 New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (NRSVCE)

47 Someone told him, “Look, your mother and your brothers are standing outside, wanting to speak to you.”

48 But to the one who had told him this, Jesus replied, “Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?”

49 And pointing to his disciples, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers!

50 For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.”
 
Cathoholic said:
HarryStotle.

Great reference in post 22.

I am just now re-reading the thread (as a whole) and I missed you directed that post to me.

Again many thanks for the excellent reference video.

In my opinion, Dr. Pitre is one of the absolute best theologians out there.

Great work HarryStotle.
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I agree on Dr Pitre, but there are a number of other very good, but young(ish) theologians, Scripture scholars and philosophers around.

Seems to me that if a claim about Jesus having brothers is based entirely upon a verse or two where they are purportedly named, and then those so named turn out to be his cousins, the children of a brother of Joseph named Clopas and HIS wife Mary, who is elsewhere called the “sister” of Jesus’ mother Mary (Who would name two of their daughters with the same name, Mary?) the entire edifice of the claim including the foundation gets blown apart.

Anyone who simply ignores all that and goes on making the claim is, thereby, shown to have had another agenda for pushing the claim to begin with with.
 
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dann said:
No. The approved narratives are set in stone
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The approved narrative is clearly that He had no brothers and sister from the Blessed Virgin’s womb, approved in scripture, and in the history of the Church, including the leaders of the various Reformation era movements: Luther, Calvin and Zwingli.
 
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