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kgerber20
Guest
I didn’t know where to put this, sorry if it’s in the wrong category…
Did Jesus have any BIOLOGICAL brothers/sisters?
Did Jesus have any BIOLOGICAL brothers/sisters?
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Aelred_Minor
Guest
No. The people the Bible records as brothers or sisters of Christ must have either been chidren of Joseph from an earlier marriage or more remote relatives such as cousins.
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sousley
Guest
No. The one’s usually attributed as being Jesus’s biological brothers (James, Jude, etc.) were children of Mary and Clopas (Adelpheus supposedly the same). According to Eusebius of Cesarea, in Book 3 of The History of the Church (AD early 300s), St. Joseph and Clopas are brothers, each marrying a Mary, making the “brothers” cousins. He cites in CH 11 V.2:
2. They all with one consent pronounced Symeon, the son of Clopas, of whom the Gospel also makes mention; to be worthy of the episcopal throne of that parish. He was a cousin, as they say, of the Saviour. For Hegesippus records that Clopas was a brother of Joseph.
This was when Symeon was appointed to succeed James after his martyrdom in Jerusalem.
2. They all with one consent pronounced Symeon, the son of Clopas, of whom the Gospel also makes mention; to be worthy of the episcopal throne of that parish. He was a cousin, as they say, of the Saviour. For Hegesippus records that Clopas was a brother of Joseph.
This was when Symeon was appointed to succeed James after his martyrdom in Jerusalem.
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fkjuliano
Guest
No. The Aramaic language did not distinguish between a “brother” and a “cousin”. When the context was not clear (and it was clear in this case until some Protestants created a controversy), a phrase like my “uncle’s son” was used for a cousin. My understanding is that in Arabic, which is a related language, that is still the case.
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Aelred_Minor
Guest
The primary problem with this theory is that Greek, the language the New Testament is written in, does have a word for cousin. If these individuals were cousins, then the use of “brothers and sisters” in the New Testament would be a Semitism that survived the switch between the two languages. That is certainly a possibility, especially if “brother of the Lord” had become a title of honor for people like St. James, but it is still a point to remember when considering whether the cousins theory or the step-brothers theory is more likely to be correct.
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Della
Guest
Just to add another dimension to the great answers you’ve received, Mary is never called the mother of anyone other than Jesus. She is not named as the mother of his “brothers and sister” because, as others have pointed out, they were his cousins, of the same tribe as he, but not biological brothers and sisters. Mary only had one child, Jesus, and no others because the Holy Spirit overshadowed her at the Annunciation, just as the Spirit overshadowed the Tabernacle of Moses, thus making both Mary and the Tabernacle sacred to God alone. Mary was betrothed to Joseph, but they were not going to consumate their marriage. We know this because Mary asked how she would bear a child since she had no relations with a man. If she knew she was shortly going to be having relations, she wouldn’t have asked the question because she would have assumed Joseph was to be the father, just as other woman who were promised children by special messages from God, such as Samuel and John the Baptist, had human fathers.
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bzkoss236
Guest
In the NT too, Jesus is referred to as THE son of Mary, not A son of Mary, or even one of the sons of Mary. Then there is also the fact that Jesus’ supposed brothers and sisters were not at his crucifixion, and that Jesus gave his mother over to St. John to take care of in his absence.
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capablanca911
Guest
Matthew 13:55
Is not this the carpenter’s son? is not his mother called Mary? and his brethren, James, and Joses, and Simon, and Judas?
Brethern is adelphoi which can mean blood brother **or **kinsmen.
This gives us a big clue.
Consider:
And many women were there beholding afar off, which followed Jesus from Galilee, ministering unto him:
Among which was Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James and Joses, and the mother of Zebedee’s children.
AND
There were also women looking on afar off: among whom was Mary Magdalene, and** Mary the mother of James the less and of Joses**, and Salome;
AND
Now there stood by the cross of Jesus his mother, and** his mother’s sister, Mary** the wife of Cleophas, and Mary Magdalene.
Mary has a sister named Mary? That doesn’t sound right. So Mary wife of Cleophas is probably a sister in law, making Joses and James **kinsmen **of Jesus, but not blood brothers.
Is not this the carpenter’s son? is not his mother called Mary? and his brethren, James, and Joses, and Simon, and Judas?
Brethern is adelphoi which can mean blood brother **or **kinsmen.
This gives us a big clue.
Consider:
And many women were there beholding afar off, which followed Jesus from Galilee, ministering unto him:
Among which was Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James and Joses, and the mother of Zebedee’s children.
AND
There were also women looking on afar off: among whom was Mary Magdalene, and** Mary the mother of James the less and of Joses**, and Salome;
AND
Now there stood by the cross of Jesus his mother, and** his mother’s sister, Mary** the wife of Cleophas, and Mary Magdalene.
Mary has a sister named Mary? That doesn’t sound right. So Mary wife of Cleophas is probably a sister in law, making Joses and James **kinsmen **of Jesus, but not blood brothers.
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PJM
Guest
***Brothers & Sisters?***www.agapebiblestudy.com [John 2:1]
“We will discover in verse 12 that Jesus’ brothers (and perhaps sisters) also attend this wedding: After this he went down to Capernaum with his mother and his brothers and his disciple. The Greek word “brothers”, adelphoi (meaning from the womb, plural) can be used to refer to both kinds of siblings, brothers and sisters, when used in the plural form. This however, does not mean that Jesus had brothers and sisters born of the marriage between Mary and Joseph. It has always been the tradition of the Church from the time of the Apostles that Mary remained a virgin all of her life [CCC# 496-7; 499; 502-507]. In Hebrew and in Aramaic (the common language spoken at the time of Jesus) there is no single word for cousin or stepbrother or stepsister. All of these relationships were expressed with the Aramaic word “brother”, which we would translate as “kinsmen”. Even though there are words in Greek for “cousin” or stepbrother, etc., the sacred writers used the Aramaic/Hebrew tradition. This is obvious in Acts 1:16 where Peter addresses the 120 believers of the New Covenant Church in the Upper Room, both men and women, as Adelphoi’“brothers.” In the Western Rite Catholic tradition these kinsmen are assumed to be cousins but in the Eastern Rite tradition they are believed to be both cousins and stepbrothers and stepsisters from Joseph’s earlier marriage (see the ancient document The Protoevangelium of James). Since Joseph, the legal father of Jesus, is not mentioned it is assumed that he is already dead. [For more information on Jesus’ “brothers” and the use of the word “brother” for kinsmen in Scripture there is a good article in This Rock magazine, September 2003 issue, entitled “Bad Aramaic Made Easy: there is no word for cousin;” and CCC# 500].” End Quote
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kgerber20
Guest
Wow, thank you for all these fantastic answers, very helpful!
Happy Advent/Merry Christmas everyone!
Happy Advent/Merry Christmas everyone!
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jsharp
Guest
I have struggled with this topic very much. A couple of nights ago I read came across a verse in Isaias in my DR that specifically uses the word “cousin” (sorry, I don’t remember which ch:vs). So why wasn’t this used by the NT writers (and translators ever since) if for no other reason than to avoid confusion?
(ps- I am currently going through RCIA and I have read convincing thoughts from both Catholic and Protestant. I thought I had settled this once and for all in my head but now I’m confused again so thanks in advance for your help).
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sousley
Guest
The word “cousin” appears 9 times in my 1914 DR. It doesn’t concern me. The question is, was it in 1st century greek documents? We don’t know, the earliest we have only gets us to about 5th century. What we do have is centuries of writings from prominent Church fathers that have been dealing with many of the same issues we face today even in their time. Languages evolve and word usages change over time. It isn’t really something I get worked up over. When 20th century self-interpretations jump up and contradict 20 centuries of theologians and biblical scholars, take it with a grain of salt. Sometimes it’s like a teenager with a magazine article telling a veteran plumber how to sweat a pipe!
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Hasire
Guest
Jesus had half-brothers, sons and daughters of St. Joseph’s previous marriage. Yes, he was a widower.
fisheaters.com/protoevangelium.html
orthodoxwiki.org/Protoevangelion_of_James
fisheaters.com/protoevangelium.html
orthodoxwiki.org/Protoevangelion_of_James
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PJM
Guest
ARE you saying Jesus was married and widowed? What’s Your Proof?
God Bless you,
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PJM
Guest
Whew!=Hasire;10159816]Not Jesus, but St. Joseph
We agree,
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inkaneer
Guest
Short answer: No. Long answer: The idea of sibing brothers comes about through the strict interpretation of the Greek word for brother which is adelphos [singular] or adelphoi [plural]. But these words are used in a much broader meaning than that of a family relationship. Jesus calls the apostles Peter’s brothers but only one, Andrew, was actually his brother. Jesus also calls the Apostles His brothers in Mt 28:10. We see the same use of the Greek adelphos in Luke as well as John 20:17 and John 21:23. So obviously adelphos was not restricted to mean a sibling brother and to do so is terrible exogesis.
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