When referring to the brothers of Christ, many people read the ancient writings of the Bible with their modern minds of today. There are some key scriptures to be concerned about that point to the brothers of Jesus Christ. I will be using the King James Version for this article as it is well recognized translation.
Matthew 12:46 (KJV)
While he yet talked to the people, behold, his mother and his brethren stood without, desiring to speak with him.
Matthew 13:55 (KJV)
Is not this the carpenter's son? is not his mother called Mary? and his brethren, James, and Joses, and Simon, and Judas?
Mark 3:31(KJV)
There came then his brethren and his mother, and, standing without, sent unto him, calling him.
Mark 6:3 (KJV)
Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary, the brother of James, and Joses, and of Juda, and Simon? and are not his sisters here with us? And they were offended at him.
Luke 8:19-20 (KJV)
Then came to him his mother and his brethren, and could not come at him for the press.
And it was told him by certain which said, Thy mother and thy brethren stand without, desiring to see thee.
John 2:12 (KJV)
After this he went down to Capernaum, he, and his mother, and his brethren, and his disciples: and they continued there not many days.
John 7:3-10(KJV) His brethren therefore said unto him, Depart hence, and go into Judaea, that thy disciples also may see the works that thou doest.
For there is no man that doeth any thing in secret, and he himself seeketh to be known openly. If thou do these things, shew thyself to the world.
For neither did his brethren believe in him.
Then Jesus said unto them, My time is not yet come: but your time is alway ready.
The world cannot hate you; but me it hateth, because I testify of it, that the works thereof are evil.
Go ye up unto this feast: I go not up yet unto this feast: for my time is not yet full come.
When he had said these words unto them, he abode still in Galilee.
But when his brethren were gone up, then went he also up unto the feast, not openly, but as it were in secret.
Galatians 1:19(KJV)
But other of the apostles saw I none, save James the Lord's brother.
To an ordinary reader, or one that has only scripture as reference, it certainly appears that Jesus had brothers and even sisters. But when reading the Bible one has to take into consideration the ancient languages and customs of the ancient time. Families lived in larger units with many relations under one roof.
Many times cousins, uncles, nephews and even sons were referred to as brothers in Hebrew and Aramaic. Aramaic was the language that Jesus and his Apostles spoke fluently. As Greek became more popular, the old testament was translated into Greek, and many new manuscripts were written in Greek.
This is important due to the fact that the meaning of the Aramaic word for "brother" (aha) not only includes other meanings, but also includes other close relations, such as cousins.
The Old Testament was translated from Hebrew into Aramaic, and then finally into what we call the Septuagint. This translation included more books than the King James Version I am using for this article.
The original thoughts tend to be left in the dust with the translation process. In this case we are talking about an English Bible, KJV, that has been translated from Ancient Hebrew and Aramaic to Greek, and then to English. Certainly the idea of a large family and the closeness of relatives have been lost today in our current culture. This is evident in just a casual examination of scripture and different translations. If the concept of brother truly referred to only blood brothers by birth, as it does today, then all translations would easily agree on the following verses.
Luke 6:13-16 (KJV)
And when it was day, he called unto him his disciples: and of them he chose twelve, whom also he named apostles;
Simon, (whom he also named Peter,) and Andrew his brother, James and John, Philip and Bartholomew,
MatthTestementomas, James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon called Zelotes,
And Judas the brother of James, and Judas Iscariot, which also was the traitor.
This is a list of the Apostles according to Luke. Notice that Judas is referred to as the brother of James in the KJV. Lets take a look at this verse in other well known translations.
Luke 6:16
King James Version (KJV)
And Judas the brother of James, and Judas Iscariot, which also was the traitor.
Douay-Rheims 1899 American Edition (DRA)
And Jude, the brother of James, and Judas Iscariot, who was the traitor.
Good News Translation (GNT)
Judas son of James, and Judas Iscariot, who became the traitor.
Copyright © 1992 by American Bible Society
New International Version (NIV)
Judas son of James, and Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor.
Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by Biblica
New King James Version (NKJV)
Judas the son of James, and Judas Iscariot who also became a traitor.
Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.
And let's look at this verse as well.
Acts 1:13
King James Version (KJV)
And when they were come in, they went up into an upper room, where abode both Peter, and James, and John, and Andrew, Philip, and Thomas, Bartholomew, and Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon Zelotes, and Judas the brother of James.
Douay-Rheims 1899 American Edition (DRA)
And when they were come in, they went up into an upper room, where abode Peter and John, James and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James of Alpheus, and Simon Zelotes, and Jude the brother of James.
Douay-Rheims 1899 American Edition (DRA)
Good News Translation (GNT)
They entered the city and went up to the room where they were staying: Peter, John, James and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James son of Alphaeus, Simon the Patriot, and Judas son of James.
Copyright © 1992 by American Bible Society
New International Version (NIV)
When they arrived, they went upstairs to the room where they were staying. Those present were Peter, John, James and Andrew; Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew; James son of Alphaeus and Simon the Zealot, and Judas son of James.
Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by Biblica
New King James Version (NKJV)
And when they had entered, they went up into the upper room where they were staying: Peter, James, John, and Andrew; Philip and Thomas; Bartholomew and Matthew; James the son of Alphaeus and Simon the Zealot; and Judas the son of James.
Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.
Notice how some text refer to Judas as the son of James, and typically tend to be the more modern translations. Even when comparing the NKJV with KJV. Interesting that the KJV tends to agree with the DRA, in this example.
Here is a good explanation on a Baptist site called,”Learn the Bible”,
Now, I will say something that could be misunderstood but I believe it needs to be said: the Greek phrase can be honestly translated either way. You see, the Greek phrase that is translated either "Judas the brother of James" or "Judas the son of James" comes from only two words in the Greek. The first is Judas and second is James. The declension of the nouns clearly shows the phrase to mean, "Judas of James." That means that the relationship is a close one and that Judas is related to James in a close family kinship. Therefore, Judas is almost certainly either a brother of James or a son of James. However, the phrase in and of itself does not make that distinction. In fact, the King James Bible indicates this uncertainty by putting "brother of" in italics both in Luke 6:16 and in Acts 1:13. This means that there is no corresponding word in Greek to match the words "the brother." - David Reagan
This certainly explains the loss of meaning in the translations from one language to another. However, I feel that the misunderstanding goes deeper than that. In ancient times people were considered brothers even in extended families, as this would include cousins. Take a look at this:
Genesis 11:27 (KJV)
Now these are the generations of Terah: Terah begat Abram, Nahor, and Haran and Haran begat Lot.
Notice that Abram, Nahor, and Haran are brothers by birth. Haran then had a son name Lot. Lot by today's standards would be considered a nephew, and Abram would be Lots Uncle. Now lets take a look at the next verse.
Genesis 14:14-16(KJV)
And when Abram heard that his brother was taken captive, he armed his trained servants, born in his own house, three hundred and eighteen, and pursued them unto Dan.
And he divided himself against them, he and his servants, by night, and smote them, and pursued them unto Hobah, which is on the left hand of Damascus.
And he brought back all the goods, and also brought again his brother Lot, and his goods, and the women also, and the people.
Here is another example: Genesis 29:10 (KJV)
And it came to pass, when Jacob saw Rachel the daughter of Laban his mother's brother, and the sheep of Laban his mother's brother, that Jacob went near, and rolled the stone from the well's mouth, and watered the flock of Laban his mother's brother.
Genesis 29:15 (KJV)
And Laban said unto Jacob, Because thou art my brother, shouldest thou therefore serve me for nought? tell me, what shall thy wages be?
Clearly by today's standards Laban in not the brother of Jacob.
Clearly Lot is not Abram's brother, however, that is how brother is used in this example. Also, another frequently used form of brother, brothers, or brethren is to signify association. From these scriptures you can see that the term brother can not be used in the same manner as in modern English.
Acts 9:17( KJV )
And Ananias went his way, and entered into the house; and putting his hands on him said, Brother Saul, the Lord, even Jesus, that appeared unto thee in the way as thou camest, hath sent me, that thou mightest receive thy sight, and be filled with the Holy Ghost.
2 Corinthians 2:13 (KJV)
I had no rest in my spirit, because I found not Titus my brother: but taking my leave of them, I went from thence into Macedonia.
Ephesians 6:21(KJV)
But that ye also may know my affairs, and how I do, Tychicus, a beloved brother and faithful minister in the Lord, shall make known to you all things:
Philippians 2:25 (KJV)
Yet I supposed it necessary to send to you Epaphroditus, my brother, and companion in labour, and fellowsoldier, but your messenger, and he that ministered to my wants.
Colossians 4:9 (KJV)
With Onesimus, a faithful and beloved brother, who is one of you. They shall make known unto you all things which are done here.
1 Thessalonians 3:2 (KJV)
And sent Timotheus, our brother, and minister of God, and our fellowlabourer in the gospel of Christ, to establish you, and to comfort you concerning your faith:
Philemon 1:1 ( KJV )
Paul, a prisoner of Jesus Christ, and Timothy our brother, unto Philemon our dearly beloved, and fellowlabourer,
Hebrews 13:23 (KJV)
Know ye that our brother Timothy is set at liberty; with whom, if he come shortly, I will see you.
1 Peter 5:12 (KJV)
By Silvanus, a faithful brother unto you, as I suppose, I have written briefly, exhorting, and testifying that this is the true grace of God wherein ye stand.
2 Peter 3:15 (KJV)
And account that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation; even as our beloved brother Paul also according to the wisdom given unto him hath written unto you;
Clearly, every time the word brother is used, it can not be interpreted as a blood brother by birth. You can draw you own conclusions by reading the above scriptures. It is self evident that brother may be used in this manor to show close association. One thing comes to mind here, either Paul the Apostle had a lot of blood brothers or the word brother signifies a different kind of close relationship.
Even Jesus refers to his followers as brothers or brethren.
John 20:17-18 (KJV)
Jesus saith unto her, Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father: but go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God.
Mary Magdalene came and told the disciples that she had seen the LORD, and that he had spoken these things unto her.
OK, lets go back to the real topic, Who are these brothers mentioned in Matt 13:55, and Mark 6:3? Well they are named for one, James, Joses, Simon, and Judas. One explanation that is simple is that they are his followers.
We know for a fact that his Mother Mary also followed Jesus as described in;
John 2:12,
“After this he went down to Capernaum, he, and his mother, and his brethren, and his disciples: and they continued there not many days. “
and in Luke 23:49 and 55 it says,
”And all his acquaintance, and the women that followed him from Galilee, stood afar off, beholding these things.”
And the women also, which came with him from Galilee, followed after, and beheld the sepulchre, and how his body was laid.
It is apparent that Mother Mary was a loyal follower of her son. So we could simply offer the explanation that this verse refers to Mother Mary and the disciples. I think that is somewhat true, however, it is clear by the surrounding context that the relationship is deeper than that of a follower and must be a close relative to our Lord. And I believe that the later is true here. So let's take a deeper look into who these brothers are.
Who is James? To find this out let's look at some more scripture;
Matthew 27:56 (KJV)
Among which was Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James and Joses, and the mother of Zebedees children.
Mark 15:40 (KJV)
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;
John 19:25 (KJV)
Now there stood by the cross of Jesus his mother, and his mother's sister, Mary the wife of Cleophas, and Mary Magdalene
In Luke 23:49, we know that there were many women who stood from afar. Luke gives a better account of some of these women in a later verse. In the above verses, Mary Magdalene is in all three. According to John, Mother Mary stood by the cross, and her sister Mary. Who was Mother Mary's sister? Well, for one she was the wife of Cleophas (Clopas), according to Matthew, she was the mother of James, and Joses, and according to Mark, she is the mother of James the less and Joses. Salome may also have been the mother of Zebedees children, James the Greater, and John The Apostle.
Then the obvious conclusion is that Mary the wife of Cleophas is the mother of James the less and Joses. Given the fact that she is Mother Mary's sister, that would make James the Less and Joses cousins of Jesus. Two of the names mentioned as the brethren of Christ in Matt 13:55.
James the Less was of course an Apostle, part of the original twelve. That would explain why Paul in his letter to the Galatians refers to James as,”Brother of Our Lord”. James was a close cousin to our Lord. That shows us that James The Just, James The Less, and the James in Matt 13:55 are one and the same.
What about Judas in Matt 13:55? We need to go to some other scripture here in order to discover who Judas is. Remember the name for Jude and Judas are the same.
Jude 1:1 (KJV)
Jude, the servant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James, to them that are sanctified by God the Father, and preserved in Jesus Christ, and called:
This explains Luke 6:16 and Acts 1:13 that we talked about earlier, that Judas (Jude) is the brother of James mentioned in Matt 13:55. Both Jude and James are of the original Twelve.
OK, there is one more, and we really don't know who Jose is?
Well Simon is linked to Cleophas the sister of Mother Mary. Well another name for Simon is Symeon and Symeon became a Bishop of Jerusalem in the early church. And according Eusebius of Caesarea in his Church History, after the destruction of Jerusalem in 70AD, Christians of Jerusalem, over 300 years before the inspiration of the Bible was even established.
"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.”- Eusebius of Caesarea- Also it is known that Jesus and Mary traveled to Cana the town of Simon to attend the Wedding at Cana, where Jesus turned water into wine. These folks were obviously close relatives of Jesus, close enough whereby Mother Mary was able to order the servants to obey Jesus. Close enough whereby Mother Mary was concerned about the reputation of the host. Chances are they were close to Simon as well. And we know that the disciples were also invited to this wedding.
Mark 3:18
"Andrew, and Philip, and Bartholomew, and Matthew, and Thomas, and James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus, and Simon the Cananaean..."
There you have it, Simon is a Son of Clopas and related to our Lord Jesus Christ.
Now as for Joses, also same as Joseph, this harder to determine. It could very well have been Jesus step father Joseph. Because as we have already established from Luke 6:16 that the Greek for son or brother could be the same word. It's possible but I think there are better explanations.
Oh yes, there may be other explanations for Jose in Matt 13:55. One could be Barnabas? Barnabas real name was Joses. It seems strange that Barnabas comes out of nowhere in the Book of Acts.
We also know that Alphaeus whom we already established as the same person as Clopas, Father of James, Jude, and Simon. Clopas also was one of the disciples that met the Risen Jesus on the road to Emmaus.
Luke 24:18 (KJV)
18And the one of them, whose name was Cleopas, answering said unto him, Art thou only a stranger in Jerusalem, and hast not known the things which are come to pass there in these days?
We know that Alphaeus also had another son mentioned in scripture. Could this be Barnabas who was a Levite? Whose name was Joses? Whom was also referred to as an Apostle by Paul the Apostle? Acts 4:36 (KJV)
And Joses, who by the apostles was surnamed Barnabas, (which is, being interpreted, The son of consolation,) a Levite, and of the country of Cyprus,
Acts 14:14 (KJV)
Which when the apostles, Barnabas and Paul, heard of, they rent their clothes, and ran in among the people, crying out,
Mark 2:14 (KJV)
And as he passed by, he saw Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting at the receipt of custom, and said unto him, Follow me. And he arose and followed him.
In the "Clementine Recognitions" he is said to be preaching in Rome even during Jesus' lifetime, and Clement of Alexandria makes him one of the Seventy Disciples that are mentioned in the . Gospel of Luke
If Barnabas is not this Levi, son of Alphaeus, then there is another cousin running around somewhere that is not mentioned in Matt 13:55. There is not enough evidence to back up this theory and for that matter it is just a theory that has yet to be proven.
There is another conjecture that Joses is really another Disciple mentioned in the Book of Acts.
Acts 1:23
And they appointed two, Joseph called Barsabas, who was surnamed Justus, and Matthias.
The name Joseph is the same as Joses. This Joses was surnamed Justus and was in consideration for the vacancy left by Judas Iscariot. They then drew lots as it was customary to choose a Hebrew Priest. Matthias won and became the 12th Apostle. But what happened to Justus, (Joses)?
In the ,Legenda Aurea he is identified with Joses, one of the brothers of Jesus According to Church Tradition, Justus went on to become Bishop of Eleutheropolis, where he died a martyr and is venerated as Saint Justus of Eleutheropolis. This village was slain and enslaved in 68 AD by Titus Flavius Vespasianus, the Roman Emporer. Also over 300 years before the books of the Bible were authorized as scripture. There is no real conclusion here as to who Joses was. We don't know what happened to him. Just that he was probably related to the other cousins who were also Apostles in Matt 13:55.
Interesting that there is another man named Judas with the last name Barsabas. Maybe this is the same person. Again there is not evidence to back it up.
Acts 15:22 (KJV) Then pleased it the apostles and elders with the whole church, to send chosen men of their own company to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas; namely, Judas surnamed Barsabas and Silas, chief men among the brethren:
In Conclusion, it is apparent that the early Christians who were closest to the time of Jesus, some who knew Jesus well, as they were the original Apostles, or were followers of the original Twelve Apostles, that Jesus had no blood brothers by birth. The early Christians were more familiar with the language and knew the customs too well to jump to conclusions that brother meant blood brother. They knew that word brother, in Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek had other implications such as cousin, relative, or another close bond.
One more point needs to be made here, in regard to scripture and how it relates to the story of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and his relations.
John 19 :26-27 KJV
When Jesus therefore saw his mother, and the disciple standing by, whom he loved, he saith unto his mother, Woman, behold thy son!
Then saith he to the disciple, Behold thy mother! And from that hour that disciple took her unto his own home.
Oh wait a minute, does this mean John was also a brother of Christ? Is Mary also the real mother of John the Apostle? Of Course not! But it does explain the lack of real blood brother whom under ancient custom would have taken on the responsibility to watch their Mother.
Jesus would not have given his Mother to the care of the Disciple he loved, John, if he had other brothers to intrust her with. He would have allowed James, Jude, Simon, or Joses to take care of Mother Mary. This would have been simple since James the Less, Jude the Apostle, and Simon the Apostle were all active followers. No, Jesus handed his Mother over to John. John took care of her as his own, in Ephesus until her death, her tomb is located in the Kidron Valley of Jerusalem at the Church of All Nations, where the Apostle Thomas witnessed her missing body and Assumption into Heaven.
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