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Jesus and His siblings

A

AnnaH

New Member
Hi all,I would greatly appreciate a more learned input on the topic of Jesus and His brothers and sisters.Atleast my translation of the Bible mentions He had half/stepbrothers,and presumably sisters.Does this mean what exactly?Did Joseph have a levirate marriage,a previous marriage or plural marriage?
Does the Bible mention somewhere if Mary had more children?
This is a hot topic in our household at the moment,and me and my husband would love to have an input from the scholars here.Are we missing something or is this all expalined somewhere but we haven't noticed? :?
Blessings to all,AnnaH
 
Jesus had at least four brothers and at least two sisters: James (author of the biblical book of James), Joses (also known as Joseph), Simon, Judas (also known as Jude and author of the biblical book of Jude), a sister named Salome, with his second sister unnamed.

Matthew 13:55 Is not this the carpenter's son? is not his mother called Mary? and his bretheren James, and Joses, and Simon, and Judas?

Mark 3:31 There came then His Brethren and His Mother, and standing without, sent unto Him calling Him.

Mark 6:3 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.

Mark 16:1 And when the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene and Mary the Mother of James, and Salome, had brought sweet spices, that they might come and anoint Him.

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.

Galatians 1:19 But other of the apostles saw I none, save James the Lord's brother.
 
my study has lead me to the understanding that joseph had more wives than most people believe.
i have no proof, though.

one big indicater is when Yeshua put his mother in the hands of john while he was hanging on the cross. "woman behold thy son. son behold thy mother."
it is what an only son would do to take care of his mother, not trusting his half brothers to care fairly for her. joseph probably having passed away by this time as he was older.
 
steve wrote:
my study has lead me to the understanding that joseph had more wives than most people believe.
i have no proof, though.

one big indicater is when Yeshua put his mother in the hands of john while he was hanging on the cross. "woman behold thy son. son behold thy mother."
it is what an only son would do to take care of his mother, not trusting his half brothers to care fairly for her. joseph probably having passed away by this time as he was older.
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Have you been reading my dissertation? That is the exact reasoning I used as evidence that Joseph had other wives besides Mary!

According to Josephus, polygyny was common among the Jewish people. And according to early Christian writers, it was common among the Jewish people long after the time of Christ. The Roman government outlawed polygamy, but made an exception for Jews. Then, along came an emperor who hated the Jews and he made the monogamy-only law apply to them as well, which the Jews found ways to ignore. (Sometimes at the cost of their lives.) In my dissertation, I document a chain of evidence showing that polygyny has been practiced by the Jews from Abraham all the way down to today - even in Brooklyn, NY!

It is my belief that James, Joses, Simon, and Judas were brothers of another mother (or more than one other mother) which would make them Jesus' step-brothers, not half-brothers. (Remember, Joseph was Jesus' step-father.) It is possible that one or more of Jesus' sisters were daughters of Mary, making them half-sisters, but they also, of course, could be daughters of another mother (or more than one other mother) as well.

blugrniz4u:
Why do you think that the Salome named in Mark 16:1 is a sister of Jesus? I've not heard that before. (Which doesn't mean it isn't true, of course! There's far more truth that I have not heard than truth that I have heard. :mrgreen: )
 
Have you been reading my dissertation? That is the exact reasoning I used as evidence that Joseph had other wives besides Mary!
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no, brother, i have not had time but i will at some point.
i realized the truth about what Yeshua had done in that exchange quite a few years ago and am not even sure whether someone else had mentioned it or if i saw it myself.
good point about the half/step brother thing.
 
Pluralfamilies.net asked:
where can i read this at.
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Right now, it has been temporarily withdrawn pending some changes. A few months ago, I posted a link to it in order to get some feedback.

If/when I ever get the updates done, I'll post it again. It's just some minor changes, so once I start on those it won't take long; and if/when it is again available, I'll post the link somewhere in the BF Forum.

But I might just make a book out of it for commercial publication...that's still undecided. Or I might rework it if I can convince Liberty University to allow me to write on that topic for the Dissertation for my PhD in a few more years.
 
Jesus siblings would have to be half siblings or less, if Mary was not impregnated up by Joseph until after Jesus was born.

If Joseph married another woman Jesus would not be a half-sibling by the woman because he does not have Joseph as his father.
 
dtt wrote:
Some want to believe Mary was a perpetual virgin. So they are uncomfortable with Jesus having brothers and they try to change the meaning.
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That is Roman Catholic false doctrine, and it is a direct contradiction of what the Bible says:
Matthew 1:24-25 NKJV Then Joseph, being aroused from sleep, did as the angel of the Lord commanded him and took to him his wife, (25) and did not know her till she had brought forth her firstborn Son. And he called His name JESUS.
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Matthew very plainly says that Joseph and Mary had normal marital relations, but not until after Jesus' birth. Were he any plainer in what he said, that verse would be X-rated. If Matthew meant to say that Mary was a perpetual virgin, he would have said, "...and did not know her as long as she lived" or something similar. So the RCC doctrine of perpetual virginity is false regardless of whether or not Mary ever had any more children.

Since the RCC says that polygyny is a sin and Mary was a perpetual virgin, then they must also say that pore ol' Saint Joseph was celibate his whole life... :o

IMHO, none of Jesus' brothers (James, Joses, Simon, and Judas) were half-brothers, but were step-brothers, having a different mother (or different mothers.) My reasoning is as was said by Steve - He gave the care of His mother into the hands of His most beloved disciple, John. If He had even one half-brother (a son of Mary) then that brother would automatically take on the responsibility of caring for his mother and it would have been unnecessary to tell John to care for her. Also, none of the brothers was at the crucifixion scene to give moral support to Mary; it is quite unreasonable to think that at least one of her sons would not be there with her, if she had sons other than Jesus.

But one or more of Jesus' sisters could very well be half-sisters. (Daughter of Mary.)
 
PolyDoc said:
Since the RCC says that polygyny is a sin and Mary was a perpetual virgin, then they must also say that pore ol' Saint Joseph was celibate his whole life... :o
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Which leads to fun questions about if they really had a good and godly marriage and if they really fulfilled multiplication duties or if they were living in sin.

Which leads to fun questions about if Mary's mother was sinless in order to produce a sinless Mary ( I heard that is actual Roman Catholic doctrine, is that true?)

Which leads to fun questions about if Mary's grandmother was sinless

Which leads to fun questions about if Eve was sinless in order to produce a sinless Mary
 
dtt wrote:
Which leads to fun questions about if they really had a good and godly marriage and if they really fulfilled multiplication duties or if they were living in sin.

Which leads to fun questions about if Mary's mother was sinless in order to produce a sinless Mary ( I heard that is actual Roman Catholic doctrine, is that true?)

Which leads to fun questions about if Mary's grandmother was sinless

Which leads to fun questions about if Eve was sinless in order to produce a sinless Mary
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To the best of my knowledge, the RCC does teach that Mary was sinless. (Otherwise, how could they worship her as if she were a goddess?) But that just moves their supposed problem back one generation. They forget that sin nature is passed down from father to child, not mother to child, and so the doctrine of "sinless Mary" is unnecessary as well as illogical. (And the daughters, as well as we sons, inherit the sin nature from their father, so to keep their false doctrine somewhat consistent with itself, Mary would have to have been immaculately conceived, as would her mother, etc...but I've not heard that they teach that.)

That false RCC doctrine would lead one to another fun question: since Mary's mother, grandmother, etc., all the way back to Eve, were sinless, then logically, all of Eve's daughters, not just the one who was Mary's great-great-...-great-grandmother, would be sinless, as well. So would that make all women sinless since their mothers were sinless? (Then why did God destroy them in the Flood? :o )

Therefore, since all women are sinless, isn't the Bible wrong to promote patriarchy? Wouldn't it be much better to have a sinless woman as the head of the family?

That is exactly what the RCC does. "Holy Mary, Mother of God" is head of everything.

  • Oh, what a tangled web we weave,
    When first we practice to deceive.
    (Or teach false doctrine...)

:lol: :lol: :lol:
 
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