# Jesus' half-siblings **URL:** \ **Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\ **Created:** [July 23, 2018, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jesus-half-siblings/818437 "2018-07-23T15:04:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![watchwolf49](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e9c0ed/32.png) [@watchwolf49](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/watchwolf49)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2018, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jesus-half-siblings/818437/1 "2018-07-23T15:04:23Z")
**The Master’s** column [“Did Jesus have siblings?”](https://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/1338/did-jesus-have-siblings/) may have missed a slight bit … > [@](#): > > And behold the angel of the Lord came to him, and said, Zacharias, Zacharias, Go forth and call together all the widowers among the people, and let every one of them bring their rod, and he by whom the Lord shall shew a sign shall be the husband of Mary. > > The Protevangelion 8:6 and > [@](#): > > But Joseph refused, saying, I am an old man, and have children, but she is young, and I fear lest I should appear ridiculous in Israel. > > The Protevangelion 8:13 This is from _The Lost Books of the Bible_ … and there’s a 'Dope on this ["What’s up with the “lost books of the Bible”?](https://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/1016/whats-up-with-the-lost-books-of-the-bible/) … maybe the Apostle James wrote it The Protevangelion, or maybe it was written much later in the Eastern Church just to be different from the Roman Church … who knows … But at face value, this _clearly_ states Jesus had half-siblings … ---
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2018, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jesus-half-siblings/818437/2 "2018-07-23T15:26:52Z")
Aside from being a non-canonical source, at best this only proves that Jesus had _step_-siblings, i.e. siblings through marriage, if you accept the premise that Joseph was not Jesus’ biological father. Usually when people refer to Jesus’ half-siblings they are talking about younger children of Mary and Joseph. ---
**Author:** ![EscAlaMike](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/escalamike/32/4177_2.png) [@EscAlaMike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EscAlaMike)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2018, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jesus-half-siblings/818437/3 "2018-07-23T19:41:46Z")
This assertion from the Protoevangelion would not contradict anything in Church Tradition. The belief that Mary was ever-virgin and had no other children is a dogma. Whether or not Joseph may have had children from a previous marriage is unknown, and the Church does not say definitely one way or the other. ---
**Author:** ![StarvingButStrong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/starvingbutstrong/32/335_2.png) [@StarvingButStrong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StarvingButStrong)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2018, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jesus-half-siblings/818437/4 "2018-07-23T20:26:11Z")
\ God always liked you best… \ ---
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2018, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jesus-half-siblings/818437/5 "2018-07-23T20:45:35Z")
Matthew 13:55 “His brethren James and Joseph and Simon and Jude. And His sisters…” ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2018, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jesus-half-siblings/818437/6 "2018-07-23T21:01:35Z")
The non-canonical books are even iffier than the New Testament on historical matters. OTOH, there’s a somewhat respectable anecdote by Josephus [referring](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Josephus_on_Jesus#James_the_brother_of_Jesus) to “the brother of Jesus, who was called Christ, whose name was James”. Given that Josephus was a contempory and provides names of attested-to people in the same passage, it’s fairly likely that Jesus did have an actual brother named Jesus (who was also the head of the Jerusalem Christians). Now, whether this was a half-brother or a full brother is not known for certain. But given the circumstances and other mentions, the odds on being a full brother seem to be somewhat high. ---
**Author:** ![Doyle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doyle/32/439_2.png) [@Doyle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doyle)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2018, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jesus-half-siblings/818437/7 "2018-07-23T21:10:03Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > Matthew 13:55 “His brethren James and Joseph and Simon and Jude. And His sisters…” My Catholic family tells me the Greek translation for brethren and sisters in that verse is interchangeable for cousin. Won’t swear to that. ---
**Author:** ![aldiboronti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc348/32.png) [@aldiboronti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aldiboronti)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2018, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jesus-half-siblings/818437/8 "2018-07-23T22:38:56Z")
The Greek term is ἀδελφοὶ. It means brothers, not cousins. ---
**Author:** ![watchwolf49](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e9c0ed/32.png) [@watchwolf49](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/watchwolf49)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2018, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jesus-half-siblings/818437/9 "2018-07-23T23:55:42Z")
If this helps, the full title is _The Protevangelion; or, An Historical Account of the Birth of Christ, and the Perpetual Virgin Mary, his Mother, by James the Lessor, Cousin and Brother of the Lord Jesus, chief Apostle and first Bishop of the Christians in Jerusalem_ … > [@aldiboronti](#): > > The Greek term is ἀδελφοὶ. It means brothers, not cousins. This was written in Hebrew originally, then translated into Latin, or so says the modern commentary in my edition … not sure where Greek comes into this … ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2018, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jesus-half-siblings/818437/10 "2018-07-24T02:17:27Z")
> [@watchwolf49](#): > > This was written in Hebrew originally, then translated into Latin, or so says the modern commentary in my edition … not sure where Greek comes into this … I’m pretty sure the “Greek word” that **aldiboronti** was referring to was in the verse that **Rick Kitchen** quoted from Matthew. Matthew, like the rest of the canonical New Testament, was written in Greek. ---
**Author:** ![Flyer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/flyer/32/7298_2.png) [@Flyer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flyer)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2018, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jesus-half-siblings/818437/11 "2018-07-25T13:47:59Z")
> [@ftg](#): > > The non-canonical books are even iffier than the New Testament on historical matters. > > OTOH, there’s a somewhat respectable anecdote by Josephus [referring](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Josephus_on_Jesus#James_the_brother_of_Jesus) to “the brother of Jesus, who was called Christ, whose name was James”. Given that Josephus was a contempory and provides names of attested-to people in the same passage, it’s fairly likely that Jesus did have an actual brother named Jesus (who was also the head of the Jerusalem Christians). > > Now, whether this was a half-brother or a full brother is not known for certain. But given the circumstances and other mentions, the odds on being a full brother seem to be somewhat high. If you’re going to take the Bible at anything remotely resembling face value, it’s flat-out impossible for Jesus to have had FULL siblings. > [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > I’m pretty sure the “Greek word” that **aldiboronti** was referring to was in the verse that **Rick Kitchen** quoted from Matthew. Matthew, like the rest of the canonical New Testament, was written in Greek. It’s true that the copies we currently have are in Greek. But Matthew was a Jew, writing to other Jews about a Jewish Messiah. (That’s the theme of the whole book – “Here is the Messiah; examine His credentials.”) It is very likely indeed that he wrote in either Hebrew or Aramaic. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2018, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jesus-half-siblings/818437/12 "2018-07-25T15:28:44Z")
What word is used for the relationship between Mary and Elizabeth? Is it the same as the word for the _adelphoi_ of Jesus? Because while I’ve seen Mary and Elizabeth translated as “sisters”, that’s highly unlikely: They conceived at close to the same time, when Elizabeth was already thought barren, but when Mary was just entering her childbearing years. For them to be sisters would require that their mother had a similarly miraculously-late-in-life pregnancy. If Mary and Elizabeth were referred to using the same word , it lends credence to the notion that that word could mean “kin”, rather than specifically “siblings”. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2018, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jesus-half-siblings/818437/13 "2018-07-25T15:44:34Z")
> [@Flyer](#): > > It’s true that the copies we currently have are in Greek. But Matthew was a Jew, writing to other Jews about a Jewish Messiah. (That’s the theme of the whole book – “Here is the Messiah; examine His credentials.”) It is very likely indeed that he wrote in either Hebrew or Aramaic. Got a cite for that last sentence? It’s not a claim I remember seeing before (though I agree with the rest of what you wrote); and Matthew (i.e. whoever wrote the gospel) seems to have [used Greek sources](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gospel_of_Matthew#Authorship_and_sources). ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2018, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jesus-half-siblings/818437/14 "2018-07-25T17:04:25Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > Got a cite for that last sentence? It’s not a claim I remember seeing before (though I agree with the rest of what you wrote); and Matthew (i.e. whoever wrote the gospel) seems to have [used Greek sources](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gospel_of_Matthew#Authorship_and_sources). It was mentioned in religion class at Catholic High that the disciples wrote in Greek, and it was pretty crummy Greek with long run on sentences. ---
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2018, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jesus-half-siblings/818437/15 "2018-07-25T18:22:14Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > What word is used for the relationship between Mary and Elizabeth? Is it the same as the word for the _adelphoi_ of Jesus? Because while I’ve seen Mary and Elizabeth translated as “sisters”, that’s highly unlikely: They conceived at close to the same time, when Elizabeth was already thought barren, but when Mary was just entering her childbearing years. For them to be sisters would require that their mother had a similarly miraculously-late-in-life pregnancy. > > If Mary and Elizabeth were referred to using the same word , it lends credence to the notion that that word could mean “kin”, rather than specifically “siblings”. Wasn’t Elizabeth her mother’s sister? ---
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2018, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jesus-half-siblings/818437/16 "2018-07-25T18:55:59Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > It was mentioned in religion class at Catholic High that the disciples wrote in Greek, and it was pretty crummy Greek with long run on sentences. Very few of the disciples wrote anything. Two gospels are attributed to disciples, Matthew and John, and John’s gospel having appeared much later than the others is often attributed to _his_ disciples. I don’t recall any of the Gospel writers being accused of having crummy Greek. (Other books attributed to Jesus’ disciples include the two epistles of Peter, possibly one from Jude, and then three epistles and the book of Revelation from John who wrote the Gospel. I think the book of James was written by Jesus’ (half-) brother James, who is not counted among the original twelve. The bad writer in my mind is Paul, or at least the author of some of his epistles such as Ephesians. IIRC pretty much the entire first chapter of Ephesians is one long run-on sentence in Greek, and he was also known to coin his own words when he couldn’t find the right one. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2018, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jesus-half-siblings/818437/17 "2018-07-25T19:06:53Z")
> [@](#): > > Wasn’t Elizabeth her mother’s sister? Plausibly, though I don’t think it’s explicitly stated. But I’m not asking what the relationship actually was; I’m asking what word was used for the relationship. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2018, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jesus-half-siblings/818437/18 "2018-07-25T19:55:24Z")
> [@Flyer](#): > > If you’re going to take the Bible at anything remotely resembling face value, it’s flat-out impossible for Jesus to have had FULL siblings. Taking it at face full, which the column discussed, actually means he _did_ have full siblings. _Nowhere_ in the New Testament is there _any_ reference to Mary and Joseph _not_ having other children. * * * Oh, there’s also an early Gnostic [gospel](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Book_of_Thomas_the_Contender) that says that the Apostle Thomas was the twin of Jesus. And that’s not the only such reference. Jesus not having full siblings is a quite late … development. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2018, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jesus-half-siblings/818437/19 "2018-07-25T20:05:31Z")
> [@Flyer](#): > > If you’re going to take the Bible at anything remotely resembling face value, it’s flat-out impossible for Jesus to have had FULL siblings. > [@ftg](#): > > Taking it at face full, which the column discussed, actually means he _did_ have full siblings. _Nowhere_ in the New Testament is there _any_ reference to Mary and Joseph _not_ having other children. Taking the Bible at face value, other children of Mary and Joseph wouldn’t have been Jesus’s full biological siblings, since Joseph wasn’t Jesus’s bio-dad. However, I think Joseph would have been considered Jesus’s “legal” father, and people who knew the family would have just considered any other children that Joseph and Mary had together to be Jesus’s (full) brothers and sisters. ---
**Author:** ![Flyer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/flyer/32/7298_2.png) [@Flyer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flyer)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2018, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jesus-half-siblings/818437/20 "2018-07-25T22:56:39Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Plausibly, though I don’t think it’s explicitly stated. But I’m not asking what the relationship actually was; I’m asking what word was used for the relationship. Strong’s Concordance gives the word as _suggenes_ (#4773 in Strong’s Greek dictionary). Luke 1:36 & 1:58 are the only two places in the Bible where this word is used. He defines it as “a relative (by blood); by extens. a fellow countryman:–cousin, kin (-sfolk, -sman).” Here’s a comparison of how the various English-language versions handle Luke 1:36. It’s a far cry from Matt. 13:55. > **[Luke 1:36 - Bible Gateway](https://www.biblegateway.com/verse/en/Luke%201:36)** Incidentally, I was refreshing my memory as to what Matthew actually says about the matter, and I noticed this: “Then Joseph being raised from sleep did as the angel of the Lord had bidden him, and took unto him his wife: and knew her not till she had brought forth her firstborn son: and he called his name Jesus” (Matt. 1:24, 25). I think that’s a pretty clear message that they did have normal marital relations after Jesus’ birth. Of course it doesn’t necessarily mean that they had children together, (although they probably did), but it certainly puts paid to the theory of Mary’s perpetual virginity. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jesus-half-siblings/818437.md?page=2)