Expert: Sal - 9/29/2009

Question
I have friends that have cited in the Bible(maybe in Mark not certain) that Jesus had more brothers and sisters. I told them that in that era cousins were referred to as brothers. I don't know enough about the Bible so when they sprung this on me I was caught off guard. Had you heard this too? and if so how did you answer?
thanks

Answer
Dear Barb:

Thanks for the question. It's a faily common one from non-Catholics.

The term for brother in Greek is “adelphos”. It has a wide range of meanings as used in the Bible. The same holds true for sister (Gk: adelphe). Protestants try to restrict the use to only blood brothers and sisters. Such a restriction is unknown in the Bible. Old Testament examples of the usage of brothers are: David said of his friend, “I grieve for you, Jonathan my brother!” (2 Samuel 1:26). The king of Tyre said of his ally, “What are these cities you have given me, my brother?” (1 Kings 9:13; cf. Amos 1:9). Abraham’s nephew is referred to as his brother (Genesis 14:14). Likewise, Laban says of his nephew, “Should you serve me for nothing just because you are a brother of mine?” (Genesis 29:15). When the daughters of Eleazer married their cousins we read, “their brothers married them” (1 Chronicles 23:22). Even distant relatives were referred to as brothers (Deuteronomy 23:8; 2 Kings 10:13; Nehemiah 5:7; Jeremiah 34:9). Also non-relatives were called brothers (Numbers 8:26; 1 Samuel 30:23; 2 Chronicles 29:34). These examples should alert one to the wide differences in the meaning of brother as used in the Old Testament. The main reason for this kind of usage is that neither Hebrew nor Aramaic (the language of the common man in the time of Jesus) has a word for cousin. Therefore, brother was used for all types of relations.

The New Testament was written in Greek which does have a word for cousin. However, the New Testament writers continued the Old Testament usage of brother to express all types of relations. They probably did this because that is what everyone was used to reading in the Scriptures. Some New Testament examples of the continued use of brothers to mean more than blood brothers are: After the Resurrection, Jesus told Mary Magdalene to “go to my brothers and tell them” (John 20:17). Yet Mary went immediately to tell his disciples (v. 18). Jesus gives us the clearest meaning of brothers as used in the Bible. “Whosoever does the will of God is brother and sister and mother to me” (Mark 3:35). St. Paul also used brother to refer to other Christians. “…after that he was seen by 500 brothers…” (1 Corinthians 15:6; also see 1 Corinthians 5:11). St. Luke referred to other Christians as brother. “At one point during those days, Peter stood up in the center of the brothers; there must have been 120 gathered together” (Acts 1:15). Peter likewise recognized brothers to refer to more than just blood brothers. “After much discussion, Peter took the floor and said to them: ‘Brothers…’” (Acts 15:7; also see Acts 1:16). St. James also was aware of this usage (Acts 15:13).

As any honest Bible student can plainly see the word brother has a wide range of meanings in the Bible. Unfortunately, anti-Catholics still use brothers as if it exclusively means blood brothers whenever it refers to “brothers” of Jesus. It is the context of a passage that determines what meaning a word has not one’s prejudices. Also the fact that there is no evidence in the early church that anyone believed Mary had any other children besides our Lord is strong, though not definitive, evidence that the “brothers” of Jesus were not blood brothers.

In the early church there was a belief that the brothers and sisters of the Lord were half-brothers and half-sisters. It was believed that St. Joseph had been married previously and had children from his first marriage. This would help explain why supposedly younger brothers told Jesus what to do in John 7:3-4. This was never done in Jewish society. We know that Jesus was the first born of Mary & Joseph (Luke 2:7). However, if he had older half-brothers they could legitimately tell him what he should do and it would not be a scandal.

I hope this is some help to you. Let me know if I can be of further help.

God Bless You,
Sal