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Did Jesus have brothers and sisters?

TopicalMulti-view · no verdict

Short answer

The Gospels plainly name four brothers and mention sisters. The people of Nazareth ask, "Is not this the carpenter's son?" and list James, Joseph, Simon and Judas, adding that his sisters are all with them (Matthew 13:55; Matthew 13:56; and Mark 6:3, which names them as James, Joses, Judas and Simon). They appear elsewhere too: with Mary early in Jesus' ministry (John 2:12), sceptical of him partway through it (John 7:5), with the disciples after the resurrection (Acts 1:14), and Paul refers to "the Lord's brothers" and to James the Lord's brother as a known figure in Jerusalem (1 Corinthians 9:5; Galatians 1:19). What is contested is not whether the texts say this, but what the relationship was. The Greek word used, adelphos, ordinarily means a full or half brother, but in Scripture it can also carry a wider family sense, and the debate turns on that plus later tradition about Mary. Three readings are held by major traditions and are set out below with no verdict: that they were younger children of Mary and Joseph (the common Protestant reading), that they were Joseph's children from an earlier marriage (the historic Eastern Orthodox reading), and that they were cousins or close kin (the traditional Roman Catholic reading). All three take the same texts seriously; they weigh the language and the tradition differently.

Question

Did Jesus have brothers and sisters?

Analysis

At a glance, what the texts say

PassageWhat it reports
Matthew 13:55; Matthew 13:56The Nazareth crowd names four brothers, James, Joseph, Simon and Judas, and refers to his sisters.
Mark 6:3The same scene, with the names as James, Joses, Judas and Simon, and sisters again.
John 2:12After Cana, Jesus goes down to Capernaum with his mother, his brothers and his disciples.
John 7:5His brothers did not believe in him during his ministry.
Mark 3:31; Mark 3:32His mother and brothers come looking for him while he is teaching.
Acts 1:14After the ascension the disciples pray together with Mary and with his brothers.
1 Corinthians 9:5Paul refers to "the brothers of the Lord" as a recognised group.
Galatians 1:19Paul meets James, whom he calls the Lord's brother.

Two of the New Testament letters are traditionally attributed to these men, James and Jude, though neither writer identifies himself by that relationship. Jude calls himself a brother of James (Jude 1:1).

The word at the centre of the debate

The Greek adelphos (G0080) most naturally means a brother by birth, and that is how it is used across the New Testament for literal siblings. Two further facts are agreed by all sides and matter to the argument:

  • adelphos is also used figuratively throughout the New Testament for fellow believers, which nobody disputes and which is not the sense in these passages.
  • In the Greek Old Testament, adelphos sometimes renders a Hebrew word covering a wider kinship than a literal brother, which is the basis for the cousin reading. Lot, for instance, is Abraham's nephew but is called his "brother" in that broader idiom (Genesis 14:14; compare Genesis 11:27).

Greek also has a specific word for cousin, anepsios, and Paul uses it of Mark in relation to Barnabas (Colossians 4:10). Those who read the brothers as siblings point to that word not being used here; those who read them as kin point to the Semitic idiom behind the Gospel writers' Greek.

The three readings

ViewPositionChiefly held by
Siblings (often called the Helvidian view)Younger children of Mary and Joseph, born after Jesus. Reads adelphos in its ordinary sense and takes Matthew 1:25 and Luke 2:7 as pointing the same way.Most Protestant traditions.
Stepbrothers (the Epiphanian view)Children of Joseph by an earlier marriage, so older than Jesus and not Mary's children. Appeals to early tradition and to the care of Mary being entrusted to John rather than to a brother (John 19:26; John 19:27).Eastern Orthodoxy, and some early Western writers.
Cousins or close kin (the Hieronymian view)Relatives rather than siblings, reading adelphos in the wider Semitic sense; often connected to the Mary of John 19:25 and Mark 15:40.Roman Catholicism.

The texts each side leans on

  • For siblings: Matthew 1:25 says Joseph knew her not until she had given birth to a son, which many read as implying a normal marriage afterwards; Luke 2:7 calls Jesus her firstborn; and the brothers appear repeatedly as a family group alongside Mary.
  • Against that reading: "until" and "firstborn" are both argued to be statements about what had happened up to that point rather than about what followed, and firstborn is a legal and covenantal term (Exodus 13:2) that says nothing about later children.
  • For stepbrothers or cousins: the entrusting of Mary to the disciple at the cross (John 19:26; John 19:27) is read as strange if she had other sons; the counter is that his brothers did not yet believe in him (John 7:5), which would explain it.

What is not in dispute

All three readings agree that these people existed, that they were closely connected to Jesus' household, that at least some of them did not believe in him during his ministry, and that James became a leader of the Jerusalem church after the resurrection (Acts 15:13; Galatians 2:9). The change in James, from sceptic to leader, is common ground across the traditions.

Sources, trace every one

Every cited verse, in full. Tap any reference to open it in the reader.

  • Matthew 13:55bsb

    “Isn’t this the carpenter’s son? Isn’t His mother’s name Mary, and aren’t His brothers James, Joseph, Simon, and Judas?

  • Matthew 13:56bsb

    Aren’t all His sisters with us as well? Where then did this man get all these things?”

  • Mark 6:3bsb

    Isn’t this the carpenter, the son of Mary and the brother of James, Joses, Judas, and Simon? Aren’t His sisters here with us as well?” And they took offense at Him.

  • John 2:12bsb

    After this, He went down to Capernaum with His mother and brothers and His disciples, and they stayed there a few days.

  • John 7:5bsb

    For even His own brothers did not believe in Him.

  • Acts 1:14bsb

    With one accord they all continued in prayer, along with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with His brothers.

  • 1 Corinthians 9:5bsb

    Have we no right to take along a believing wife, as do the other apostles and the Lord’s brothers and Cephas?

  • Galatians 1:19bsb

    But I saw none of the other apostles except James, the Lord’s brother.

  • Mark 3:31bsb

    Then Jesus’ mother and brothers came and stood outside. They sent someone in to summon Him,

  • Mark 3:32bsb

    and a crowd was sitting around Him. “Look,” He was told, “Your mother and brothers are outside, asking for You.”

  • Jude 1:1bsb

    Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ and a brother of James, To those who are called, loved by God the Father, and kept in Jesus Christ:

  • Genesis 14:14bsb

    And when Abram heard that his relative had been captured, he mobilized the 318 trained men born in his household, and they set out in pursuit as far as Dan.

  • Genesis 11:27bsb

    This is the account of Terah. Terah became the father of Abram, Nahor, and Haran. And Haran became the father of Lot.

  • Colossians 4:10bsb

    My fellow prisoner Aristarchus sends you greetings, as does Mark the cousin of Barnabas. You have already received instructions about him: If he comes to you, welcome him.

  • Matthew 1:25bsb

    But he had no union with her until she gave birth to a Son. And he gave Him the name Jesus.

  • Luke 2:7bsb

    And she gave birth to her firstborn, a Son. She wrapped Him in swaddling cloths and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.

On contested questions we show every major view, attributed and cited, and pick no winner. Answers are synthesized from primary sources, truth you can trace, not opinion.

Did Jesus have brothers and sisters? · Bubble Bible