Did Jesus have brothers and sisters?
source
We can begin to find our answer about Jesus by reading Matthew 12.
"While He (Jesus) was still talking to the multitudes, behold, His mother and brothers stood outside, seeking to speak with Him. Then one said to Him, 'Look, Your mother and Your brothers are standing outside, seeking to speak with You.'
"But He answered and said to the one who told Him, 'Who is My mother and who are My brothers?' And He stretched out His hand toward His disciples and said, 'Here are My mother and My brothers! . . . " (Matthew 12:46-49, NKJV)
First, to help answer this question about Jesus' family, we need to understand whom James the Less was and his relationship to Jesus. This leads to another question - Is Mary's sister the mother of James the Less or is Mary herself the mother of James the Less? The answers will help us to conclude whether Mary and Joseph had other sons and daughters besides Jesus. John 19:25 is the verse we need to analyze to figure out who James' mother is. When we understand whose mother belongs to James the Less then the verses that refer to the family of Jesus as brothers James, Joses, Simon and Judas as well as at least TWO sisters (one named Salome) become a bit clearer.
It is unclear from Scripture whether the man whose name is Clopas or Cleophas and Alphaeus is the same man or not. James the Less had a father called Alphaeus. When translators translate common names they sometimes do not get the spelling right, which could be the case here. The letters "phas" that end the word Cleophas could be the same as the "phaeus" part of the name Alphaeus. Both endings sound phonetically like each other.
If Alphaeus were the brother of Mary and the son of Heli with the second Mary as his wife who produced James, Joses, Judas, and Simon, then these would be cousins of Jesus. The word brethren would then identify them as close relatives of Jesus.
Consider the following from my Online Bible reference software:
(In the spelling of this word _h_ is inserted by mistake from Latin MSS.), rather Cleopas, which is the Greek form of the word, while Clopas is the Aramaic form. In John 19:25 the Authorized (King James Version) Bible reads, "Mary, the wife of Clopas." Inserted here is the word "wife." If "wife" is rightly inserted, then Mary was the mother of James the Less, and Clopas is the same as Alphaeus (see Matthew 10:3; 27:56)
Matthew or Levi was also the son of Alphaeus according to Mark 2:14. Was he part of the family of Jesus too? On the other hand, does this sentence mean something entirely different when rendered without the insertions by the translators? It would read 'And as he passed by he saw Levi of Alphaeus . . ."
In the other passages that mention the word Alphaeus (Matthew 10:3, Mark 3:18, Luke 6:16, Acts 1:13) it is in relationship to James, and should be rendered "James of Alphaeus" because the words "son of" is in italics (or in brackets) which means they were added by the translators and are not a part of the original text.
If, on the other hand, these four men were actually offspring of Mary and her husband Joseph as other passages seem to indicate then yes, Jesus had brothers and a sister or two. Matthew 13:55 seems to indicate a need to identify who Jesus is. It would not seem very logical for someone to question the identity of cousins to substantiate someone's identification. When Jesus bestowed upon John the responsibility of caring for his mother, could he have been his cousin too? If so, they were a very closely associated family.
"When Jesus therefore saw His mother, and the disciple whom He loved standing by, He said to His mother, 'Woman, behold your son!' " (John 19:26, NKJV)
Matthew 12:46, Mark 3:31 and Luke 8:19 all suggest that Mary and Jesus' other physical family members were all outside waiting to talk to him. If the word for brothers or brethren meant his whole kindred or his fellow citizen, it would have to include the ones who were appealing to him at the door and the ones who were in the crowd. If the word brother meant just the sons of his aunt Mary the wife of Cleophas / Clopas / Alphaeus then why not his mother at the door and why would the door man think that he should want to stop what he was doing to speak to them. The person at the door was indeed his own mother because that would be the only person who would be important enough for any man to stop an important lecture to speak with her. Aunts and cousins could wait until he was finished with whatever he was doing, but only a mother would be bringing some kind of news he needed to know urgently.
Once we can identify whom James the Less truly was and who his father and mother were we can see that the scripture aligns him with Jude or Judas, Simon, and Joses as well as at least one sister Salome. The next two scriptures identify Salome as the child of one of the Mary's who attended to Jesus' burial rites and stood afar off during his crucifixion. She and another brother Joses were with her on the hill overlooking the crucifixion. Could they have been too young at the time to understand the situation?
"There were also women looking on from afar, among whom were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James the Less and of Joses, and Salome, . . . " (Mark 15:40, NKJV)
"Now when the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices, that they might come and anoint Him." (Mark 16:1, NKJV)
If Salome and James were with their mother, and their mother Mary was in fact Mary the aunt of Jesus, they could technically be his brothers and sisters.
"And many women who followed Jesus from Galilee, ministering to Him, were there looking on from afar, among whom were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and Joses, and the mother of Zebedee's sons." (Matthew 27:55-56, NKJV)
"There were also women looking on from afar, among whom were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James the Less and of Joses, and Salome, who also followed Him and ministered to Him when He was in Galilee, and many other women who came up with Him to Jerusalem. " (Mark 15:40-41, NKJV)
"Now when the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices, that they might come and anoint Him." (Mark 16:1, NKJV)
"It was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the other women with them, who told these things to the apostles." (Luke 24:10, NKJV)
"Now there stood by the cross of Jesus His mother, and His mother's sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. " (John 19:25, NKJV)
The only scripture verse which includes all three people named Mary into one is the last one and this would indicate that Jesus' mother had a sister-in-law or sisters, one of whom is named Mary whose husband was Cleophas / Clopas, but it does not say that she is the mother of James the Less.
So then we come to a passage in Acts 1:14 which says :
"These all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication, with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with His brothers." (Acts 1:14, NKJV)
Why would the mother of Jesus be here with the rest of the church if she had not been the same one who cared for the body and watched from afar? Her other two sons Jude and James were also disciples of the first apostolic church and wrote epistles to the brethren that are in the canonized Scripture. In Matthew 12:46-50 Jesus is contrasting his physical family who people knew versus those he considered to be his SPIRITUAL family members - those who had been called out of this world by his heavenly Father.
Nowhere does it say that Mary and the men called Simon, James, Judas, and Joses cannot be the mother and brothers of Jesus.In fact, one other scripture lists ALL the physical family members of Jesus by name and lets us know that He had a sister or two. During his ministry, Jesus and the disciples traveled from Capernaum to Nazareth (where he grew up and lived until the age of thirty). When the Sabbath day came, Jesus taught in the local synagogue. Those who heard his preaching KNEW his earthly family and some no doubt actually saw him grow up from a boy to a man! Their responses to his words are both revealing and a bit sad:
"Then He went out from there and came to His own country, and His disciples followed Him. And when the Sabbath had come, He began to teach in the synagogue.
"And many hearing Him were astonished, saying, 'Where did this Man get these things? And what wisdom is this which is given to Him, that such mighty works are performed by His hands! IS THIS NOT THE CARPENTER, THE SON OF MARY, AND BROTHER OF JAMES, JOSES, JUDAS, AND SIMON? AND ARE NOT HIS SISTERS HERE WITH US?' So they were offended at Him.
"But Jesus said to them, 'A prophet is not without honor except in his own country, AMONG HIS OWN RELATIVES, and in his own house.' " (Mark 6:1-3, emphasis added, see also Matthew 13:54-57)
Those in Nazareth did not accept Jesus' words strictly in the light of scripture. Instead, they reasoned that somebody they lived near and whose family they knew quite well COULD NOT possibly be special or closer to God than they were! They rejected his message because they FIRST found reasons to reject HIM! Though a sad testament to human nature, these verses do show that the MANY locals who heard our Savior teach in Nazareth were quite knowledgeable about the composition of his earthly family.
In conclusion, Jesus DID have brothers and sisters --- in fact, several of them! Including him, Mary gave birth to FIVE boys and at least TWO girls, for a family of SEVEN children!
source
We can begin to find our answer about Jesus by reading Matthew 12.
"While He (Jesus) was still talking to the multitudes, behold, His mother and brothers stood outside, seeking to speak with Him. Then one said to Him, 'Look, Your mother and Your brothers are standing outside, seeking to speak with You.'
"But He answered and said to the one who told Him, 'Who is My mother and who are My brothers?' And He stretched out His hand toward His disciples and said, 'Here are My mother and My brothers! . . . " (Matthew 12:46-49, NKJV)
First, to help answer this question about Jesus' family, we need to understand whom James the Less was and his relationship to Jesus. This leads to another question - Is Mary's sister the mother of James the Less or is Mary herself the mother of James the Less? The answers will help us to conclude whether Mary and Joseph had other sons and daughters besides Jesus. John 19:25 is the verse we need to analyze to figure out who James' mother is. When we understand whose mother belongs to James the Less then the verses that refer to the family of Jesus as brothers James, Joses, Simon and Judas as well as at least TWO sisters (one named Salome) become a bit clearer.
It is unclear from Scripture whether the man whose name is Clopas or Cleophas and Alphaeus is the same man or not. James the Less had a father called Alphaeus. When translators translate common names they sometimes do not get the spelling right, which could be the case here. The letters "phas" that end the word Cleophas could be the same as the "phaeus" part of the name Alphaeus. Both endings sound phonetically like each other.
If Alphaeus were the brother of Mary and the son of Heli with the second Mary as his wife who produced James, Joses, Judas, and Simon, then these would be cousins of Jesus. The word brethren would then identify them as close relatives of Jesus.
Consider the following from my Online Bible reference software:
(In the spelling of this word _h_ is inserted by mistake from Latin MSS.), rather Cleopas, which is the Greek form of the word, while Clopas is the Aramaic form. In John 19:25 the Authorized (King James Version) Bible reads, "Mary, the wife of Clopas." Inserted here is the word "wife." If "wife" is rightly inserted, then Mary was the mother of James the Less, and Clopas is the same as Alphaeus (see Matthew 10:3; 27:56)
Matthew or Levi was also the son of Alphaeus according to Mark 2:14. Was he part of the family of Jesus too? On the other hand, does this sentence mean something entirely different when rendered without the insertions by the translators? It would read 'And as he passed by he saw Levi of Alphaeus . . ."
In the other passages that mention the word Alphaeus (Matthew 10:3, Mark 3:18, Luke 6:16, Acts 1:13) it is in relationship to James, and should be rendered "James of Alphaeus" because the words "son of" is in italics (or in brackets) which means they were added by the translators and are not a part of the original text.
If, on the other hand, these four men were actually offspring of Mary and her husband Joseph as other passages seem to indicate then yes, Jesus had brothers and a sister or two. Matthew 13:55 seems to indicate a need to identify who Jesus is. It would not seem very logical for someone to question the identity of cousins to substantiate someone's identification. When Jesus bestowed upon John the responsibility of caring for his mother, could he have been his cousin too? If so, they were a very closely associated family.
"When Jesus therefore saw His mother, and the disciple whom He loved standing by, He said to His mother, 'Woman, behold your son!' " (John 19:26, NKJV)
Matthew 12:46, Mark 3:31 and Luke 8:19 all suggest that Mary and Jesus' other physical family members were all outside waiting to talk to him. If the word for brothers or brethren meant his whole kindred or his fellow citizen, it would have to include the ones who were appealing to him at the door and the ones who were in the crowd. If the word brother meant just the sons of his aunt Mary the wife of Cleophas / Clopas / Alphaeus then why not his mother at the door and why would the door man think that he should want to stop what he was doing to speak to them. The person at the door was indeed his own mother because that would be the only person who would be important enough for any man to stop an important lecture to speak with her. Aunts and cousins could wait until he was finished with whatever he was doing, but only a mother would be bringing some kind of news he needed to know urgently.
Once we can identify whom James the Less truly was and who his father and mother were we can see that the scripture aligns him with Jude or Judas, Simon, and Joses as well as at least one sister Salome. The next two scriptures identify Salome as the child of one of the Mary's who attended to Jesus' burial rites and stood afar off during his crucifixion. She and another brother Joses were with her on the hill overlooking the crucifixion. Could they have been too young at the time to understand the situation?
"There were also women looking on from afar, among whom were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James the Less and of Joses, and Salome, . . . " (Mark 15:40, NKJV)
"Now when the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices, that they might come and anoint Him." (Mark 16:1, NKJV)
If Salome and James were with their mother, and their mother Mary was in fact Mary the aunt of Jesus, they could technically be his brothers and sisters.
"And many women who followed Jesus from Galilee, ministering to Him, were there looking on from afar, among whom were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and Joses, and the mother of Zebedee's sons." (Matthew 27:55-56, NKJV)
"There were also women looking on from afar, among whom were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James the Less and of Joses, and Salome, who also followed Him and ministered to Him when He was in Galilee, and many other women who came up with Him to Jerusalem. " (Mark 15:40-41, NKJV)
"Now when the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices, that they might come and anoint Him." (Mark 16:1, NKJV)
"It was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the other women with them, who told these things to the apostles." (Luke 24:10, NKJV)
"Now there stood by the cross of Jesus His mother, and His mother's sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. " (John 19:25, NKJV)
The only scripture verse which includes all three people named Mary into one is the last one and this would indicate that Jesus' mother had a sister-in-law or sisters, one of whom is named Mary whose husband was Cleophas / Clopas, but it does not say that she is the mother of James the Less.
So then we come to a passage in Acts 1:14 which says :
"These all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication, with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with His brothers." (Acts 1:14, NKJV)
Why would the mother of Jesus be here with the rest of the church if she had not been the same one who cared for the body and watched from afar? Her other two sons Jude and James were also disciples of the first apostolic church and wrote epistles to the brethren that are in the canonized Scripture. In Matthew 12:46-50 Jesus is contrasting his physical family who people knew versus those he considered to be his SPIRITUAL family members - those who had been called out of this world by his heavenly Father.
Nowhere does it say that Mary and the men called Simon, James, Judas, and Joses cannot be the mother and brothers of Jesus.In fact, one other scripture lists ALL the physical family members of Jesus by name and lets us know that He had a sister or two. During his ministry, Jesus and the disciples traveled from Capernaum to Nazareth (where he grew up and lived until the age of thirty). When the Sabbath day came, Jesus taught in the local synagogue. Those who heard his preaching KNEW his earthly family and some no doubt actually saw him grow up from a boy to a man! Their responses to his words are both revealing and a bit sad:
"Then He went out from there and came to His own country, and His disciples followed Him. And when the Sabbath had come, He began to teach in the synagogue.
"And many hearing Him were astonished, saying, 'Where did this Man get these things? And what wisdom is this which is given to Him, that such mighty works are performed by His hands! IS THIS NOT THE CARPENTER, THE SON OF MARY, AND BROTHER OF JAMES, JOSES, JUDAS, AND SIMON? AND ARE NOT HIS SISTERS HERE WITH US?' So they were offended at Him.
"But Jesus said to them, 'A prophet is not without honor except in his own country, AMONG HIS OWN RELATIVES, and in his own house.' " (Mark 6:1-3, emphasis added, see also Matthew 13:54-57)
Those in Nazareth did not accept Jesus' words strictly in the light of scripture. Instead, they reasoned that somebody they lived near and whose family they knew quite well COULD NOT possibly be special or closer to God than they were! They rejected his message because they FIRST found reasons to reject HIM! Though a sad testament to human nature, these verses do show that the MANY locals who heard our Savior teach in Nazareth were quite knowledgeable about the composition of his earthly family.
In conclusion, Jesus DID have brothers and sisters --- in fact, several of them! Including him, Mary gave birth to FIVE boys and at least TWO girls, for a family of SEVEN children!
