Jesus....His brothers and sisters?

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A close friend and I had a discussion. She stated that it says in the bible that Jesus had brothers and sisters. I said I thought that it meant in the figurative sense that we are all brothers and sisters. She was vehement in that Jesus was not an only child, but rather the oldest of several. Can someone perhaps point me to the correct Bible verse as she conveniently “couldn’t rmember”?
Thanks,
Kathy
 
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Katie1723:
A close friend and I had a discussion. She stated that it says in the bible that Jesus had brothers and sisters. I said I thought that it meant in the figurative sense that we are all brothers and sisters. She was vehement in that Jesus was not an only child, but rather the oldest of several. Can someone perhaps point me to the correct Bible verse as she conveniently “couldn’t rmember”?
Thanks,
Kathy
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Jesus’ “Brothers” (adelphoi)) = Cousins or Kinsmen
Luke 1:36 - Elizabeth is Mary’s kinswoman. Some Bibles translate kinswoman as “cousin,” but this is an improper translation because in Hebrew and Aramaic, there is no word for “cousin.”

Luke 22:32 - Jesus tells Peter to strengthen his “brethren.” In this case, we clearly see Jesus using “brethren” to refer to the other apostles, not his biological brothers.

Acts 1:12-15 - the gathering of Jesus’ “brothers” amounts to about 120. That is a lot of “brothers.” Brother means kinsmen in Hebrew.

Acts 7:26; 11:1; 13:15,38; 15:3,23,32; 28:17,21 - these are some of many other examples where “brethren” does not mean blood relations.

Rom. 9:3 - Paul uses “brethren” and “kinsmen” interchangeably. “Brothers” of Jesus does not prove Mary had other children.

Gen. 11:26-28 - Lot is Abraham’s nephew (“anepsios”) / Gen. 13:8; 14:14,16 - Lot is still called Abraham’s brother (adelphos") . This proves that, although a Greek word for cousin is “anepsios,” Scripture also uses “adelphos” to describe a cousin.

Gen. 29:15 - Laban calls Jacob is “brother” even though Jacob is his nephew. Again, this proves that brother means kinsmen or cousin.

Deut. 23:7; 1 Chron. 15:5-18; Jer. 34:9; Neh. 5:7 -“brethren” means kinsmen. Hebrew and Aramaic have no word for “cousin.”

2 Sam. 1:26; 1 Kings 9:13, 20:32 - here we see that “brethren” can even be one who is unrelated (no bloodline), such as a friend.

2 Kings 10:13-14 - King Ahaziah’s 42 “brethren” were really his kinsmen.

1 Chron. 23:21-22 - Eleazar’s daughters married their “brethren” who were really their cousins.

Neh. 4:14; 5:1,5,8,10,14 - these are more examples of “brothers” meaning “cousins” or “kinsmen.”

Tobit 5:11 - Tobit asks Azarias to identify himself and his people, but still calls him “brother.”

Amos 1: 9 - brotherhood can also mean an ally (where there is no bloodline).
 
I would say it is up to her to give a specific name and biblical proof that that person is in utero from Mary. The burden of proof is on her because we know two of the people listed as “brothers” are in fact not blood brothers.

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Mark 6:3
“Where did this man get these things?” they asked. “What’s this wisdom that has been given him, that he even does miracles! Isn’t this the carpenter? Isn’t this Mary’s son and the brother of James, Joseph, Judas and Simon? Aren’t his sisters here with us?” And they took offense at him.

Matthew 13:55
"Isn’t this the carpenter’s son? Isn’t his mother’s name Mary, and aren’t his brothers James, Joseph, Simon and Judas?

Ok, here are their proof texts,
 
At the foot of the cross it mentions the mother of James and Joseph:

Mt. 27:56 “Among whom was Mary Magdalen, and Mary the mother of James and Joseph, and the mother of the sons of Zebedee”.

Mark 15:40 There were also women looking on from afar, among whom were Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James the younger and of Joseph, and Salome,
Mk 15:47 “And Mary Magdalen, and Mary the mother of Joseph, beheld where he was laid.”

Earlier in the Gospels, we see these same men mentioned with the names of their father:

Mark 3:18 Andrew, and Philip, and Bartholomew, and Matthew, and Thomas, and James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus, and Simon the Cananaean,
Matt.10**:3 Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus;
Luke.6:**15 and Matthew, and Thomas, and James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon who was called the Zealot,

The name, Clopas, is thought by many to be the Greek transliteration of an Aramaic Alphaeus. This view is based on the identification of Mary, the mother of James etc. (Mark 15:40) with Mary, the wife of Clopas, and the consequent identity of Alphaeus, father of James (Mark 3:18), with Clopas.
 
The word for brother is the same as the word for cousin in Hebrew. I am thinking the same for female gender as well i.e sister and female cousin just as brother and male cousin are the same word. So when it was translated into other languages obviously, it was translated to brother and sister not cousin.
 
Colossians 4:10 (King James Version)

Aristarchus my fellowprisoner saluteth you, and Marcus, sister’s son to Barnabas,

NIV

My fellow prisoner Aristarchus sends you his greetings, as does Mark, the cousin of Barnabas.

in Col 4:10 denotes a “cousin” rather than a nephew (AV, “sister’s son”). “Cousin” is its meaning in various periods of Greek writers. In this sense it is used in the Sept., in Num 36:11. In later writings it denotes a nephew; hence the AV rendering. As Lightfoot says, there is no reason to suppose that the Apostle would have used it in any other than its proper sense. We are to understand, therefore, that Mark was the cousin of Barnabas. See SISTER. 2 Strong’s Number: 4773 Greek: sungenis

in Luk 1:36 (so in the most authentic mss.) and sungenes in Luk 1:58 (plural), AV, “cousin” and “cousins,” respectively signify “kinswoman” and “kinsfolk,” (RV); so the RV and AV in Luk 2:44; 21:16. The word lit. signifies “born with,” i.e., of the same stock, or descent; hence “kinsman, kindred.” See KIN, KINSFOLK, KINSWOMAN.

blueletterbible.org/tmp_dir/choice/1142268778-7616.html
 
I also like Genesis 14:14:

Which when Abram had heard, to wit, that his brother Lot was taken, he numbered of the servants born in his house, three hundred and eighteen well appointed: and pursued them to Dan.

Here’s a perfect example of “brother” not meaning blood brother.

Lot was Abraham’s nephew.
 
Thanks everyone for the help. Sometimes it pays to ask for help. I am a revert, and need lots of it.
Thanks,
Kathy
 
I come from the Middle East, and we call any older person “Uncle” and “Aunt” that DOES NOT mean they are in any way, shape or form related to us. The Chinese use “brother” even with non-relatives. It’s a special bond. In the Middle East, women who breast feeds children NOT her own, these children are considered brother and CANNOT marry…

Let the GREATEST biblical scholar, St. Jerome, respond to this accusation. I will give you a link it will have much of St. Jerome’s writings whic you can download PDF. On the left you have a table of contents. Choose Treatise and choose: PERPETUAL VIGINITY of MARY. Here you’ll have your answer from the MASTER.

ccel.org/ccel/schaff/npnf206.html
 
Maybe Jesus did have brothers and sisters. Do we know for sure that Joseph was not married before and had children from a previous marriage.
 
Tony C brings up a good and perfectly valid point, given that some of the early Church Fathers (St. Jerome, for one, I believe) also looked into this.

As Tony correctly indicates, these would be half-brothers, and their existence would not affect the Church’s teaching on the perpetual virginity of Mary, since they would not be Mary’s sons.

The Church has never officially ruled out this half-brother theory.
 
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BlestOne:
The word for brother is the same as the word for cousin in Hebrew. I am thinking the same for female gender as well i.e sister and female cousin just as brother and male cousin are the same word. So when it was translated into other languages obviously, it was translated to brother and sister not cousin.
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Hold up my brothers and sisters we can’t have this both ways. I was told that Jesus spoke Aramaic not Hebrew or am I wrong? :confused:
 
I am working on another post but cannot resist. Catholic apologists go to town on this but ignore history
Here is what Eusebius writes on this subject;

Book
Two
“There was James, who was known as the brother of the Lord; for he too, was called Joseph’s son”

Eusebius quoting Hegesippus

“Control of the church passed to the apostles, together with the Lord’s brother James”

Hegesippus
" there still survived of the Lord’s family the grandsons of Jude, who was said to be his brother, humanly speaking"
 
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stanmaxkolbe:
Hold up my brothers and sisters we can’t have this both ways. I was told that Jesus spoke Aramaic not Hebrew or am I wrong? :confused:
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You’re not wrong–Christ spoke Aramaic.

But Aramaic is derived from Hebrew; it is often referred to as the Syro-Chaldaic derivative of Hebrew.

So the same rule applies: there was no word in Hebrew, or Aramaic, for cousin.
 
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Fredricks:
I am working on another post but cannot resist. Catholic apologists go to town on this but ignore history
Here is what Eusebius writes on this subject;

Book Two
“There was James, who was known as the brother of the Lord; for he too, was called Joseph’s son”

Eusebius quoting Hegesippus

“Control of the church passed to the apostles, together with the Lord’s brother James”

Hegesippus
" there still survived of the Lord’s family the grandsons of Jude, who was said to be his brother, humanly speaking"
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How are we ignoring history? All of this has been addressed in numerous previous posts.
 
I don’t think that enough emphasis can be placed on the fact that Jesus gave Mary over to the care of John just before His death. This would have been impossible, inconceivable, if Mary had other children. In the first place, the other children would simply have forbidden it, but we know from Scripture that Mary did indeed go live with John. In the second place, would Jesus have forced His mother to live out the rest of her life away from her other children, or alternately, put her in the position of disobeying Him? Of course not.
 
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tony_c:
Maybe Jesus did have brothers and sisters. Do we know for sure that Joseph was not married before and had children from a previous marriage.
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Some early Fathers thought that was a possibility BUT WHERE were these Half brothers when St. Joseph took Mary to Bethlehem, or when he took Mary and Jesus to Egypt, or when they settled back in Nazareth?

Conclusion: Joseph did not have any children.
 
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VociMike:
I don’t think that enough emphasis can be placed on the fact that Jesus gave Mary over to the care of John just before His death. This would have been impossible, inconceivable, if Mary had other children. In the first place, the other children would simply have forbidden it, but we know from Scripture that Mary did indeed go live with John. In the second place, would Jesus have forced His mother to live out the rest of her life away from her other children, or alternately, put her in the position of disobeying Him? Of course not.
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The scripture indicates the children were not believers prior to his resurrection. Mary had relatives, I do not think anyone denies that. She traveled with them scripture shows. Why Christ gave Mary’s care to John is known only to Christ himself but Mary had family, and early Christian tradition and scripture clearly support that.
A friend of mine is also fond of saying that only John was there, which while literally true, no one else could have had the care of Mary, should not detract from the special place John was in for Christ to have done so.
 
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