Luke 2: 22-24 and brothers of Jesus?

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22 When the time came for the purification rites required by the Law of Moses, Joseph and Mary took him to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord 23 (as it is written in the Law of the Lord, “Every firstborn male is to be consecrated to the Lord”).

The passage says firstborn male referring to Jesus, if Joseph already had other children from a previous marriage like Orthodox believe( the brothers spoken of in Matthew 13:55-56) Jesus wouldn’t have been the firstborn. Yes, Jesus is Mary’s first(and only) child but not Joseph’s. Joseph’s first son from his first marriage would have been the firstborn, the one consecrated to the Lord.
They lived in a patriarchal society so I guess it didn’t matter if the baby was the mother’s first child, it mattered if it was the father’s first or not(although Jesus isn’t technically Joseph’s son of course).This passage confuses me a little,am I wrong at interpreting it in this way?
Thank you :pray:t3:
 
Try a different Bible translation for v. 23. “Every male that opens the womb …” In other words, it’s the firstborn son of the mother, not of the father. The OT reference is Exodus 13, vv. 2 and 12.

 
When Jesus was on the cross, he gave his mother over to John. He wouldn’t have done that if he had other brothers and sisters.
 
“Firstborn” was a formal term that Jesus was the first child born to Joseph and Mary, regardless of whether or not any other children came afterwards.
 
I dislike using the argument that the children are from a previous marriage. It takes too much away from good Saint Joseph. Plus there are additional difficulties.
There is a better way to to defend Mary’s perpetual virginity.

The Greek word for brothers is “adelphos” . Literally it is a compound word meaning from the same womb. So it is important to show from The Bible how The Bible uses the word in a broader sense

In order to get past the prejudice of to how to interpret the word “adelphos” which is used in reference to Jesus, it is beneficial to consider other Bible passages that also use that word, but
Where it is obvious that it does not mean from the same womb.

For example
John 19:25 And Mark 6:17

See

THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY
https://www.defendingthebride.com/ma2/brothers.html
 
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I dislike using the argument that the children are from a previous marriage
I have no wish to intrude on your personal likes and dislikes, which are no business of mine. But as far as anyone can tell from the surviving records, this – Joseph’s children by an earlier marriage – was the explanation that was universally accepted throughout the Church in the earliest centuries. It was only in the pontificate of Pope Damasus I (366-384) that two novel theories were first put forward: Helvidius thought the “brethren of the Lord” were the offspring of Joseph and Mary, while Jerome proposed that they were their nephews, the sons of Joseph’s brother or of Mary’s sister.
 
From Scripture alone we cannot know if St Joseph was married previously/had other children. And there is no dogmatic pronouncement on the matter. So nothing wrong with your position.
 
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