Question
I am studying with a group of Catholics and today I met a strong challenging question from Matt 13:54-46 and Mark 6:2-3. And the question is: James, Joses, Jude and Simon biological brother of Jesus or not. The Catholics say, these men are just cousins of Jesus.
Please give me the biblical answer. I told them Jesus are brothers to to those men and that Mary produced more children with Joseph. Corresponding scriptures are Matt 1:20-21.
Answer
The word translated “brothers” is the Greek word “adelphos.” It is found 344 times in the New Testament and is never translated “cousin,” even in the Douay-Rheims and New American Bible, which are Catholic translations. Thayer’s Greek Lexicon, Vine’s Expository Dictionary, Arndt & Gingrich Greek Lexicon, and Mounce’s Expository Dictionary, standard scholarly works, all give “brother” or “male children of the same parents” (Vine) as the primary meaning of the word. There is another Greek word for “cousin,” anepsios,” found only in Colossians 4:10. If the context demands it, the word can mean “near kinsman” (Vine), but that is a secondary meaning and must be demanded by the context. The association of his brothers with his mother and sisters indicates these are literal, fleshly brothers of Jesus (Matthew 13:55-56; 12:47-48; Mark 3:31-32; Luke 8:19-20; John 2:12; Acts 1:14). The only reason to reject the fact Jesus had fleshly brothers and sisters, children of the same mother, is the false Catholic doctrine of the perpetual virginity of Mary. Not only do the Scriptures not teach this doctrine, they imply Joseph and Mary had sexual relations after the birth of Jesus (Matthew 1:24-25). The false Catholic doctrine of the perpetual virginity of Mary makes Mary a sinful woman, for it is a sin for a wife to permanently withhold her body from her husband (1 Corinthians 7:4-5).
