Brothers of Jesus

Biblical Texts

In the synagogue at Nazareth, the people say of Jesus, "Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary, the brother of James, and Joses, and of Juda, and Simon?" (Mark 6:3). In addition to naming the four brothers, this verse also mentions his sisters. Matthew 13:55–56 records the same scene, but in the Greek text followed by most modern translations it gives the name "Joses" as "Joseph." The brothers also appear in the following passages:

• Jesus goes down to Capernaum with his mother and his brothers (John 2:12).
• When his mother and brothers come looking for him, Jesus says that whoever does the will of God is his brother, his sister, and his mother (Mark 3:31–35).
• "For neither did his brethren believe in him" (John 7:5).
• After Jesus' ascension, his brothers gather in prayer with Mary and the disciples (Acts 1:14).
• Paul reports that the risen Jesus appeared to James (1 Corinthians 15:7). He also writes that he met "James the Lord's brother" (Galatians 1:19) and notes that "the brethren of the Lord" took their wives with them on their travels (1 Corinthians 9:5).
• The author of the Epistle of Jude introduces himself as "Jude ... brother of James" (Jude 1:1).

Background

The Greek word adelphos ("brother") ordinarily refers to a sibling born of the same parents. The Hebrew word ach, however, was also used more broadly for relatives. Abram's words to his nephew Lot (Genesis 13:8) are one example: the KJV reads "we be brethren," while the New Korean Revised Version renders the phrase as "kinsmen." This usage is an important piece of evidence in the interpretive debate described below.

Significance in Scripture as a Whole

The brothers, who did not believe in Jesus during his public ministry, appear within the community of the early church after the resurrection. Among them, James became a leader of the church in Jerusalem (Acts 15:13; 21:18; Galatians 2:9). Traditionally, James has been regarded as the author of the Epistle of James and Jude as the author of the Epistle of Jude, though scholars disagree about these attributions. The first-century Jewish historian Josephus records that "the brother of Jesus, who was called Christ, whose name was James" was stoned to death.

Interpretation and Debate

The biblical text does not specify exactly how the brothers were related to Jesus. As a result, three views have been handed down within the church.

• Children of Joseph and Mary: This view is known to have been advanced by Helvidius in the fourth century. Its proponents cite Matthew 1:25, which says that Joseph "knew her not till she had brought forth her firstborn son," and Luke 2:7, which calls Jesus Mary's "firstborn son." Protestants today generally hold this view.
• Children of Joseph from an earlier marriage: This account appears in the second-century apocryphal Protevangelium of James. The Eastern Orthodox Church chiefly holds this view.
• Cousins: This view was advanced by Jerome. He regarded "Mary the mother of James the less and of Joses" in Mark 15:40 as a different person from the mother of Jesus, and he identified James the Lord's brother with James the son of Alphaeus. The Catholic Church accepts this view.

The Catholic and Orthodox churches connect the latter two views with the teaching that Mary remained a virgin throughout her life. They argue that "till" in Matthew 1:25 does not necessarily imply anything about what happened afterward, and that "firstborn" refers to the firstborn son in the legal sense defined by the Law. Early Reformers such as Martin Luther and Huldrych Zwingli are also known to have accepted Mary's perpetual virginity.

On the basis of John 7:5, which states that the brothers did not believe in Jesus, Protestant scholars generally regard James the Lord's brother as a different person from James the son of Alphaeus, one of the Twelve Disciples.

In the Korean Church

In Korean Protestant preaching, the brothers of Jesus are treated mainly in two ways. One approach links John 7:5 with Acts 1:14 to show that even Jesus' closest family members did not believe at first but came to faith after the resurrection. The other draws on Mark 3:35 to describe the church as a family of faith. The topic is also frequently raised when explaining how Catholics and Protestants differ in their understanding of Mary.