The Greek
word for "brothers" is "adelphos", and is a compound word.
Adelphos ŕ A + delph . "A" means 'same' and "delph" means
'womb'. So some Protestants
argue that these "brothers" of Jesus must be from the same
womb as Himself and thus are children of Mary, His mother.
However, this is an etymological fallacy. Thederivation of
a word, its etymology, will give you the history of a
word, but does not necessarily give you the correct
definition of that word. For example, Plato (429-347 BC)
in his LAWS XI 924 E for his model state: "That brother [ADELPHOS]
who is born of the same father or of the same mother … "
Therefore, the word "adelphos" cannot necessarily mean
from the same womb. Plato also uses the same word to mean
"kindred” or “relatives."
In which manner is this word used in reference to Jesus
Christ? Was it used in terms of its etymological meaning
or was it used to mean as defined by Plato?
Let us consider other versus where the word "adelphos" is
used, and try to understand in what context this word is
used.
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The
phrase "His mother's sister," in John 19.25 [verse
quoted below], is a reference to mother of the sons of
Zebedee a.k.a Salome, (Mat. 20:20), Luke 5:10. This is
evident when we compare Matthew 27:56, Mark 15:40, and
John 19:25 [see quotes below]. These passages show a
consistency whereby each of these three Gospels lists all
three women at the cross, besides the Blessed Virgin Mary.
However,
we know that Mary and Salome were cousins. So this is an
example of "ADELPHOS" (the feminine version of the word in
this case), being used with a wider definition than just
children from the same womb.
Christian is called brother 160 times in New Testament
alone. Nomadic tribes, as a custom, called any clan member
brother. Jesus gave generalized meaning to the word
brother, when He said, "Who ever does the Will of God is
My brother," Mat 12:50, Mk 3:35, Lk 8:21. Brothers rather
brethren, James, Joses, Simon and Judas mentioned in Mt
13:55 and Mk 6:3 are, according to Church fathers,
sons of Joseph in his first marriage. Yet others hold that
the sons so mentioned are neither of Joseph nor of
Mary mother of Jesus, but of a different Mary who stood at
the foot of the cross. Opinions are conflicting yet, no
early Church father or none until the dawn of
Protestantism dared say; Mary had children other than
Jesus. Frankly, in my opinion, saying that Mary had
children other than Jesus is the greatest blasphemy and
sin one can ever utter or commit. The Nicene fathers,
after much preponderance said, "Mary was Theotokos or God
bearer" Had she other children this title would not have
been conferred on her.
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