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Home , Herod Agrippa, Herod Agrippa II, Herod Antipas, Herod Archelaus, Philip the Tetrarch

Section Nine: Herod and Under King Herod

9.1 The Biblical “Herods” During the Life of Jesus

• - Began the work of restoring the - Met the Three Wise Men - Ordered the slaughter of the innocents

• - Son of Herod the Great by and Tetrarch in - The Herod that the feared upon their return from Egypt - Herod Archelaus’ incompetence led to his replacement by a Roman procurator one of whom was (@26-36 CE)

• - Son of Herod the Great also by Malthace and Tetrarch in where Jesus lived and of - Ordered the death of - Met Jesus before His execution then passed him on to Pilate

• Herod Philip (Herod II) - Son of Herod the Great by II - Herod II was fortunate enough not to be too political however… - Herod II is involved in the Christian Scriptures when Herod Antipas divorced his own wife and encouraged the wife of Herod II () to divorce Herod II. John the Baptist publicly condemned the union and was beheaded 9.2 A Review the Situation in Judea after the Death of Herod the Great • Herod Archelaus was not given the title of king. He ruled Judea and as an until 6 CE when he was Phil replaced by Roman procurators and exiled to An Gaul. He died in 18 CE

• Herod Antipas was Tetrarch of the Galilee and Perea. He ordered the death of John the An Baptist and participated Arch in the trial of Jesus. He too was exiled to Gaul by (). The date of his death is uncertain.

• ruled the lands north of the Note: An ethnarch is a ruler of a people ( ethnos in . He died in 34 Greek). A tetrarch, technically speaking, is a ruler CE. He is not the Philip of one fourth of a political region. The term was involved in the Baptist’s often used somewhat loosely death (:17) 9.3 • was the Judea Under Herod Agrippa grandson of Herod the Great and Mariamne I (via Aristobulus IV and ) • He was named after Marcus Agrippa, a Roman statesman • When Philip the Tetrarch died, Herod was given rule over Ituraea & Trachonitis • When Herod Antipas was banished to Gaul, Agrippa was given rule over Galilee and Perea • In return for his support of to succeed Caligula as Emperor, Claudius removed the Roman procurator of Idumea, Judea and Samaria and allowed from 41-44 CE, Herod Agrippa was the “King Herod” who ordered the death of Herod Agrippa ruled as the Apostle James in . Since Herod Agrippa could claim king from Jerusalem over a both Herodian and Hasmonean lineage, he could be called the territory almost as large as last Jewish King of Judea that of Herod the Great 9.4 The Big Question Concerning Herod Agrippa

• The territory ruled by Agrippa I not only included much of the land that was ruled by his grandfather Herod the Great but was also close to the size of the united kingdom of Israel that was ruled by David and Solomon a millennium earlier

• Unlike his grandfather, Herod Agrippa was, like his Hasmonean grandmother, Mariamne I, a faithful Jew who honored the and encouraged Jewish customs and rituals. As a result, Herod Agrippa was much loved (too much loved??) by the Jewish during the brief time that he governed them (@37-44 CE, 41-44 CE as king)

• It is interesting to note that when Agrippa tried to strengthen the fortifications around Jerusalem, the Romans forced him to stop. When he tried to establish friendly relations with neighboring lands, the Romans suspected him of trying to forge potentially hostile alliances. Agrippa died at age 54 while attending Roman games in Caesaria.

Did Herod Agrippa die a natural death or was he killed (poisoned ?) by the Romans who may have feared that a popular king who could claim Hasmonean ancestry ruling a land as large as the ancient Kingdom of Israel might lead to a rise in Jewish nationalism? It wasn’t long after Agrippa’s death that the Romans once again appointed a procurator to govern the province of Judea 9.5 Yet More Members of the

• Herod Agrippa II (Agrippa II)

- Son of Herod Agrippa I and brother of Berenice and Drusilla and great-grandson of Herod the Great - Named ruler of Chalcis () by Claudius in 50 CE at the age of 22 - The new Roman Emperor, , added Perea to the lands governed by Agrippa II in 54 CE. The fact that Perea was not governed by a Roman procurator during the Jewish wars (@66-70 CE) kept the region out of much of the conflict. This was important for Jewish during those wars. More will be discussed a bout this in a later class - Agrippa II was the “King Agrippa” that Paul spoke with in and 26 - Since Agrippa II sided with in the Jewish wars his political position remained safe until his death in 93/94 CE - Herod Agrippa II was the last prince of the line of Herod to rule in the region

9.6 Can’t Tell the Herods Without a Scorecard • Herod the Great - Began the work of restoring the second temple - Met the Three Wise Men - Ordered the slaughter of the innocents

• Herod Archelaus - Son of Herod the Great by Malthace and ruler in Jerusalem - The Herod that the Holy Family feared upon their return from Egypt - Herod Archelaus’ incompetence led to his replacement by a Roman procurator one of whom was Pontius Pilate (@26-36 CE)

• Herod Antipas - Son of Herod the Great by Malthace and ruler in Galilee where Jesus lived - Ordered the death of John the Baptist - Judged Jesus just before His execution • Herod Philip (Herod II) - Son of Herod the Great by Mariamne II - Herod Antipas divorced his wife to marry and wanted to marry his half- brother Herod Philip’s wife. John the Baptist condemned the union

• Herod Agrippa (Agrippa I) - Grandson of Herod the Great (by Mariamne I) who imprisoned Peter - He was the “Herod” who executed the Apostle James, the brother of John in Acts 12:1

• Herod Agrippa II (Agrippa II) - Son of Agrippa I, the “King Agrippa” who spoke with Paul in Acts 25-26

9.7 Enter Jesus the

Let’s review the situation in Judea at the birth of Jesus;

Judea, which, after 400 years of subjugation, managed for a very brief time to re-establish itself as an independent kingdom

The Romans, under Pompey, subjected that kingdom to Roman rule

Herod, an Idumean with Roman support, managed to wrest power away from the existing Hasmonean royal family while maintaining some degree of legitimacy by marrying a Hasmonean princess (Mariamne I) During Jesus’ lifetime, Judea, Galilee and Samaria When Jesus was born, Herod was near the time of his were full of resentment of death. When Herod finally died (at least 2-3 years after an Idumaean dynasty and Jesus’ birth), his kingdom was divided up by the their Roman overlords. Romans among three of his heirs. Herod Archelaeus There was a desire for a ruled Judea and Samaria from Jerusalem but was new, truly Jewish King, a quickly replaced by a Roman procurator. Herod from the line of Antipas ruled in Perea as well as Galilee where Jesus David who would end lived. Philip the Tetrarch ruled lands north and east of foreign rule Galilee 9.8 Biblical Transitions We have already seen the last words of the last Book of the Hebrew Scriptures, II Chronicles, and the importance those words had, a continue to have, for the Jewish people

“Thus says Cyrus, King of Persia: The LORD, the God of heaven, has given to me all the kingdoms of the earth. He has also charged me to build him a house in Jerusalem, which is in Judah. All among you, therefore, who belong to his people, may their God be with them; let them go up.”

As was mentioned earlier, the Protestant Christian Old Testament has the same books as the Hebrew Scriptures but orders them in a different sequence. The Old Testament in Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox have several additional books. One thing they have in common is that the last book of the Old Testament in all Christian bibles is the Book of Malachi. It was no accident that this book was chosen. It’s last words are just as meaningful to Christians as it is seen to reference the events that began with Jesus’ public ministry, his

“Now sending to you , the prophet. Before the day of the LORD comes, the great and terrible day; He will turn the heart of fathers to their sons, and the heart of sons to their fathers, lest I come and strike the land with utter destruction.”

Many of those who saw Jesus as the Messiah considered John the Baptist to be Jesus’ prophet. It was not long after Jesus’ death that the land was indeed struck with utter destruction 9.9 Jesus the Christ (from the Christian Scriptures)

Despite some claims to the contrary, almost all of what is known about Jesus comes from the Christian Scriptures (the ) and those scriptures tell us these basic things;

• Jesus was born in in Judea but lived his life in in Galilee

• His mother’s name was Mary (Miriam) and His father’s name was Joseph (Yosef)

• There is very little known about His life as a child and young adult

• At some point in His adult life, He was baptized by John the Baptist in the and began to preach, teach and heal in public

• He spent most of his public ministry in Galilee, but at some point, he traveled south and entered into the city of Jerusalem

• After his entry, He was arrested and convicted by the Romans as a criminal. He was later crucified by the Romans as his punishment

• His followers claimed that He was raised from the dead after His crucifixion and that He appeared to them alive a number of different times

9.10 Jesus the Christ (Non-Scriptural Source)

There is only one source outside of the Christian Scriptures written around the time of Jesus which mentions him specifically Antiquity of the : Book 18 Chapter 3 on Jesus Now there was about this time Jesus, a wise man, if it be lawful to call him a man; for he was a doer of wonderful works, a teacher of such men as receive the truth with pleasure. He drew over to him both many of the Jews and many of the Gentiles . He was [the] Christ . And when Pilate, at the suggestion of the principal men amongst us, had condemned him to the cross, those that loved him at the first did not forsake him; for he appeared to them alive again the third day; as the divine prophets had foretold these and ten thousand other wonderful things concerning him . And the tribe of Christians, so named from him, are not extinct at this day.

Josephus Antiquity of the Jews: Book 20 Chapter 9 on James, the Brother of Jesus ..so he ( the High Priest Ananus) assembled the Sanhedrim of judges, and brought before them the brother of Jesus, who was called Christ (i.e. Messiah), whose name was James, and some others

Josephus Antiquity of the Jews: Book 5 Chapter 2 on John the Baptist Now some of the Jews thought that the destruction of Herod's (Antipas) army* came from God, and that very justly, as a punishment of what he did against John, that was called the Baptist: for Herod slew him, who was a good man, and commanded the Jews to exercise virtue

* Herod Antipas had married the daughter of the King of Nabataea to seal an alliance. When Antipas divorced her to marry Herodias, her father the King went to war against Antipas.

9.11 Jesus the Christ (Other Non-Scriptural Sources)

Tacitus: Roman Senator and Historian (Annals: 116 CE)

[N]either human effort nor the emperor’s generosity nor the placating of the gods ended the scandalous belief that the fire had been ordered [by Nero]. Therefore, to put down the rumor, Nero substituted as culprits and punished in the most unusual ways those hated for their shameful acts …whom the crowd called “Chrestians.” The founder of this name, Christ [Christus in Latin], had been executed in the reign of by the procurator Pontius Pilate … Suppressed for a time, the deadly superstition erupted again not only in Judea, the origin of this evil, but also in the city [Rome], where all things horrible and shameful from everywhere come together and become popular.

Pliny the Younger, a Roman governor and friend of Tacitus

Wrote about early Christian worship of Christ “as to a god.” , a Roman writer, lawyer and historian, wrote of riots in 49 C.E.

A riot broke among Jews in Rome which might have been about Christ. Suetonius specifically wrote that he thought the riots were incited by “the instigator Chrestus,” whose identification with Jesus is not completely certain. This does align with the information in Acts that Roman Jews heard Peter preach at and may have been specifically moved to form a community upon their return to Rome. Romans indicates that a community existed in Rome before Paul’s arrival and that a member of that community was named Aristobulus, a name not uncommon in Hasmonean royal family 9.12 The Search for the The Christian scriptures claim to be testimony about Jesus based on information provided, either directly or via a third-party, by people who knew Jesus, walked and talked with him.

It is important to remember that, just like the Hebrew Scriptures, the Christian Scriptures are an account of an experience that people had of Jesus both during his life and after his . The writers have an agenda.

If you do not trust the Christian Scriptures as a source of information about Jesus, you have only two choices;

1) Trust what Josephus has to say. While there is some debate on how reliable the references are in his work, there is little doubt that Josephus wrote his work some time in the mid 90s CE

2) Speculate on what Jesus must have been like based on what is known about his contemporaries. If you have assembled your facts well and presented them in a cogent fashion, your speculation deserves some consideration so long as it is made clear that it is speculation

Too often the Jesus that results from such a search look amazingly like what the author believes Jesus should look like. Readers who are ready to dismiss the reliability of the Christian Scriptures because of a bias on the part of their authors often never think that the authors of books about “the historical Jesus” may also have their own biases 9.13 Reliability of the Christian Scriptures Early Christian Manuscripts The first documents of the New Testament were very likely the Letters written by Paul. The and other NT documents were written from ten to forty years (or so) after Paul’s letters. We’ll look more closely at the NT documents in the next section. While no original NT document has ever been found, over 5,000 manuscripts of the NT are in existence today. They range from fragments of texts to full collections of scripture. These manuscripts fall into three general categories;

- Papyrus Fragments The advantage of papyrus is clear. Papyrus was inexpensive. The downside is that papyrus was not particularly durable. There are a number of papyrus fragments of the NT still extant that range in age from the 2nd century CE through the 8th century CE

- Uncials Texts of block, upper case letters usually written on more expensive material (e.g. vellum). Uncial texts of the NT range in age from late 2nd /early 3rd centuries CE through the 11 th century CE. Uncial texts are most often found in a codex (book-like) form rather than scroll form (common for papyrus)

- Minuscules These are texts of the NT written in a kind of cursive format. Minuscule texts of the NT range in age from the 9th through 16 th centuries CE 9.14 Early Christian Manuscripts – Papyrus Fragments

Oxyrhynchus Papyri Early 3rd Century CE University of Penn.

9.15 Early Christian Manuscripts - Uncials

Codex Sinaiticus: Uncials 4th Century CE Most of the Codex can be found in the British Library in London

9.16 Early Christian Manuscripts - Minuscules

Codex Ebnarianus: Minuscule (cursive) 12 th Century CE Bodleian Library Oxford

9.17 Early Christian Manuscripts - Summary

The Codex Sinaiticus is the oldest extant manuscript of the Christian . It was written in the middle of the fourth century CE

Both the Old Testament (derived from the Septuagint) and the New Testament of the Codex Sinaiticus were written in Greek. Both the OT and NT texts of this codex have been annotated by a series of early correctors

The Codex Sinaiticus has been made available for viewing from the internet at http://codexsinaiticus.org/en/ The /en/ is for English speaking people

There are a number of other codices that are extant the most known include the Codex Vaticanus (also from the 4th century CE), the Codex Alexandrinus (early 5th century CE) and the Codex Ephraemi (also early 5th century CE)

Despite the variations in the texts, some caused by corrections, others caused by simple copying errors that went uncorrected, the various manuscripts show a remarkable degree of agreement. The differences that do exist, with the exception of a passage at the end of the of Mark, are minimal and do not reflect a difference in the meaning of any passage

9.18 Greek New Testament

9.19 Manuscripts of the Hebrew Scriptures

The earliest complete manuscript of the Hebrew Scriptures is the Aleppo Codex. The codex was probably written sometime in the Tenth Century CE

It was purchased by the Jewish Karaite* community in Jerusalem and was moved from the city during the Crusades. In the 14th Century CE it was moved to Aleppo, Syria and remained there until 1947

There are other fragmentary sections of the Hebrew Scriptures some of which are part of the Scrolls

* The Karaite Jewish community is believed to have begun in Baghdad sometime in the 7th or 8th century CE (though some claim that Karaite Jews lived in Egypt before the 7th century.) They are like the in that they believe that only those things written in the Tanakh are binding in Jewish Religious Law (Halakah), Unlike Rabbinic Judaism, Karaite Jews do not believe that the Oral Torah, legal decisions made by the and codified in the play any role in Halakah. Karaite Jews are welcome to read the written Tanakh and form their own opinions as to its meanings but are advised that the best meaning can be found in the original intent of the author. There are an estimated 50,000 Karaites in Israel and another 50,000 scattered throughout the world

9.20 The Aleppo Codex Like the Codex Sinaiticus, the Aleppo Codex is available for viewing online at http://www.aleppocodex.org

And, like the Codex Sinaiticus, you can zoom in or out on any section of the text. וַיְהִ י , אַ חֲרֵ י מוֹת מֹשֶׁ ה -- ﬠֶבֶ ד יְהוָה ; וַיֹּאמֶ ר יְהוָה אֶ ל- יְהוֹשֻׁﬠַ -בִּ ן נוּן , מְשָׁרֵ ת מֹשֶׁ ה לֵאמֹר.

9.21 Genesis in the Dead Sea Scrolls

Portions of the Dead Sea Scrolls are also now available for viewing on line. They can be seen at http://www.deadseascrolls.org.il You can view the scrolls by selecting the “Explore the Archive” option

אֵ ת הַשָּׁמַיִם , וְאֵ ת הָאָרֶ ץ.

Like many ancient biblical documents, the scrolls made available for viewing are often fragmentary and hard to read. However, even an amateur like me can read these words from Genesis, “the heavens and the earth”.

I have written the Masoretic Text version of the same words are shown below the Dead Sea Scrolls sample

9.22 Basic Controversies About Jesus

• The Year of His Birth

• The Date of His Birth

• The facts surrounding his conception

• The facts surrounding his birth

• The size and makeup of Jesus’ family

9.23 The Birth Year of Jesus (I) There are many different opinions concerning the year of Christ’s birth and there is no real consensus as to what the actual year was but here are some facts that might narrow things down;

• Matthew (2:1) declares that Jesus was born during the reign of Herod the Great

• Josephus states that Herod died 37 years after the Roman Senate declared him King of the Jews (@ 40 BCE) and 34 years after he was able to actually (@ 37 BCE) become king. That calculates down to 4-3 BCE

• Josephus said that a lunar eclipse occurred shortly before Herod’s death. There was a partial eclipse in March of 4 BCE

• Matthew also states that Herod ordered the death of all male children 2 years of age or younger. This implies that Jesus must have been born at least two years before Herod’s death in 4 BCE, so around 6 BCE

• Luke states that a census took place during the year of Jesus’ birth. No record of such a census was found in Roman records but records indicate that the Romans took a census in 20 BCE and that a census was normally taken every 14 years

9.24 The Birth Year of Jesus (II)

• Both Justin Martyr and Tertullian (2nd Century CE) state that Roman records of the census in question did exist and were available to be reviewed in the archives of Rome during their lifetimes

• Luke also says that was governor in Syria when Jesus was born. - Quirinius was known to have been fighting in Macedonia before 6 BCE. - Tacitus mentions that Quirinius was “in the East” between 6 and 3 BCE. - Roman records show that Quirinius was governor in Syria in the early years of the Common Era so there is evidence that Quirinius was in the region at the time in question but no direct evidence that he served as Roman governor in Syria during this period

It should be noted that regions such as Judea, Samaria, and Galilee, even when governed directly by the Romans, were not themselves Roman provinces. They were satellite regions to the main in Syria. Those Roman officials who replaced Archelaeus were called or procurators. Governors, such as Quirinius (Cyrinus), mentioned in :2 ruled from the Roman province of Syria 9.25 The Birth Date of Jesus (I) • No Christian church has ever claimed that Jesus was actually born on December 25. Christian churches simply celebrate His birth on that day. There are many theories to explain why December 25 was selected as the day to celebrate the birth of Jesus but two garner the most interest. The first of the two has been around for awhile and is fairly well known. This older theory has two versions explained below. A newer theory of a more scholarly origin provides new insight into why December 25 (and January 6 in Eastern Christianity) were dates chosen to honor Jesus’ birth

THEORY ONE

Theory One has two versions; • The Secular Version of Theory One The decision to make December 25 the official date for Christians to celebrate Christmas was made by the first Christian Emperor of Rome, Constantine. This viewpoint holds that Constantine wanted to unite the Christian faith with a popular celebration among pagan Romans, either the older Saturnalia (Dec. 17- 23) or the later Dies Natalis Solis Invicti (Dec. 25) established by Emperor Aurelian in 274 CE

• The Christian Version of Theory One So many Romans were converting to Christianity after Constantine’s conversion that the Church needed to “baptize” certain pagan festivals to allow all the new converts to experience their conversion without excessive culture shock 9.26 The Birthdate of Jesus (II) THEORY TWO

• The second theory notes that Christian groups were celebrating Jesus’ birth on December 25 long before Constantine legalized Christianity. - Hippolytus, Bishop of Rome @220 CE, wrote that Christians were celebrating the birth of Christ on December 25 during his time as Bishop - The Donatists, a North African Christian group so scrupulous in their practices that they would hardly mimic anything Roman, were also known to have celebrated Christmas on December 25 long before Constantine was even born

• Recent scholarship (Louis Duchesne, Thomas Talley) seems agree with Hippolytus that the choice of December 25 in Western Christianity and January 6 in Eastern Christianity had nothing to do with Roman festivals to their gods - According to the , Jesus was executed on 14 Nisan. The Latin speaking Christian, Tertullian (@200 CE), using the Roman calendar, calculated that 14 Nisan took place on 8 Kalends April (March 25) - Eastern, Greek-speaking Christians, using their own calendar instead of the Roman calendar, calculated 14 Nisan to be the 14 Artemisios (April 6) - Both Greek and Roman Christians had a tradition that the took place on the same date as Jesus’ passion and death, 14 Nisan (Hippolytus as cited above and Augustine: De Trinitatis ) - Jesus’ birth date then was calculated to be nine months after the Annunciation or March 25 or April 6 (Andrew McGowan, Biblical Archaeology Review) 9.27 Lesser Known Facts of Christianity

• The “Hellenists” of the NT were not Gentiles but Jewish converts who had been assimilated into the Hellenistic culture and spoke only Greek, not Aramaic or Hebrew

• Merry Christmas in English means Happy Christ’s Mass. In modern languages derived from Latin, the literal translation is Happy Birthday. For example; - French Joyeux Noel (Noel from the Latin adjective natalis ) - Italian Buon Natal (Derivation from natalis is obvious) - Spanish Feliz Navidad (Navidad from the Latin noun navitatem )

• Constantine did NOT make Christianity the official religion of the . Constantine did make Christianity legal by issuing the Edict of in 313 CE. The Emperor Theodosius made Christianity the sole legal religion in Rome in 380 CE

• Judaism was a religion recognized by the Roman Empire and therefore was legally practiced under Roman law. At first, Christianity, seen as a Jewish sect, was deemed legal but, over time, Christianity was deemed a separate religion.

• In 64 CE, Emperor Nero blamed Christians for the fire that nearly destroyed Rome. In 116 CE, the Roman Tacitus wrote that Christianity was “a mischievous superstition”. Under Roman law, Christians were atheists since they worshipped a deity not recognized under Roman law. Some even accused Christians of cannibalism. Persecutions of Christians generally began with Nero and ended with Constantine

• Constantine was not baptized until shortly before his death (not uncommon for converts) and was baptized by a heretical (Arian) bishop (not the Church historian of the same name) 9.28 Jesus Mother: The almah/parthenos controversy

It is a fact that Christians believe that Mary (Miriam in Hebrew) was a virgin at the time that Jesus was conceived. They also believe that Mary remained a virgin through the birth of Jesus. Many, but not all, Christians believe that Mary remained a virgin throughout the remainder of her life. That issue will be looked at in the next slide.

It is a fact that many Christians see Isaiah 7:14 (and a virgin shall bear a son) as a prediction of the virgin birth of Jesus. It is a fact that the Hebrew word used for virgin in Isaiah was almah . When the Hebrew Bible was translated into Greek @200 BCE, the translators used the Greek word parthenos to translate almah

New Testament critics claim that early Christians never believed that Jesus was conceived virginally. These critics claim that the virgin birth developed over time due to the mistranslation of almah , which in Hebrew simply means maiden and makes no reference to virginal status, into Greek using the parthenos , which the critics claim specifically means virgin. The problem with that criticism is that the same Greek word parthenos is used in Genesis 34:3 twice to refer to Jacob’s daughter Dinah who at that point, was clearly no longer a virgin. This seems to indicate that the Greek translators of that time understood that neither almah nor parthenos had any specific reference to virginity and that parthenos was a perfectly good Greek word to translate almah

So, where did the Christian tradition of the virgin birth originate? I suggest that :34-36 (where the of the Lord spells out the process to Mary at the annunciation) might be a good place to start their search

9.29 Jesus’ Family (I) ΙΗΣΟΥΣ ΧΡΙΣΤΟΣ IESUS CHRISTUS ישׁ וע המשׁ חי His father (according to scripture, foster father) was named יוֹסֵ ף (Joseph (Yosef Yosef is commonly thought of as a carpenter but the Greek word used to describe Yosef’s occupation is τέκτων (tekton ). (Matt: 13:55) This word could mean many things including artisan, builder or, using a modern term, contractor

מִרְ יָם (His mother was named Mary (Miriam While almost all Christians believe that Mary was a virgin when she gave birth to Jesus, not all agree that she remained a virgin after that birth. Catholics and Orthodox hold that Mary was ‘ever-virgin’ (ἀειπάρθενος) aeiparthenos . Protestants do not. Catholics hold that she was free from original sin from the moment when she was conceived in her mother’s womb (Immaculate Conception). Protestants and Orthodox do not.

The problem with Mary being ever-virgin is that the New Testament clearly states that Jesus had brothers and sisters 9.30 Jesus’ Family (II) Matthew 13:55, as an example, identifies Jesus as having four ‘brothers’; יהוּדָ ה and Jude שִׁ מְ עוֹן Simon , יוֹסֵ י , יﬠַקוֹב James

Theory One This theory claims that Jesus was the only child born to Mary. The brothers mentioned above are Jesus’ cousins. The claim is that neither Hebrew nor Aramaic had a word for cousin (many references in the OT). While Greek, the language of the NT, does have a word for cousin ( anepsios ), the NT writers were translating Aramaic expressions into Greek in a literal, word-for-word fashion (e.g. In Gen 14.12 and 14.14, both the Masoretic Hebrew text and the Greek Septuagint use the word “brother” to describe Abraham’s relationship with Lot who was, in fact, Abraham’s nephew)

Adherents to Theory One note that;

- Matthew (10:3) and Mark (15:40) say that a woman named Mary and her husband, , are the parents of two men named James and Joses. Luke (6:15) also says that James is the son of Alphaeus. :25, however, describes Mary, not as the wife of Alphaeus but a man named Clop(h)as

- Papias, a of the Apostle John and Bishop of Hierapolis (early 2nd Century CE) supports Theory One in Fragment 10 of his writings, where he sums up the different women named Mary in the NT, “(1) Mary, the Mother of the Lord. (2) Mary the wife of Cleophas or Alphæus, who was the mother of James and of Simon and Thaddeus (also known as Jude, covered in Section 10), and of one Joseph. (3) Mary , wife of and mother of and James. (4) ” Theory One explains that Alphaeus and Cleophas are different hellenizations of the Aramaic name Chalpai 9.31 Jesus’ Family (III)

Matthew 13:55 also identifies Jesus as having four ‘brothers’; יהוּדָ ה and Jude שִׁ מְ עוֹ ן Simon , יוֹסֵ י Joses , יﬠַקוֹב James

Theory Two This theory holds that Mary was the second wife of Joseph. A popular (but non-canonical) work called the Protoevangelium of James (a sort of a prequel to the gospels) tells how Mary was born to Anna and Joachim. The story claims that Mary was a dedicated Temple virgin and was determined to preserve her virginity throughout her lifetime. As she approached the age of 12 however, she could no longer serve in the Temple due to the ritual uncleanliness of her approaching menstrual cycle.

It was decided, to preserve Mary’s virginity, that one of the older men of the village of Nazareth would be selected to act as her guardian. To make the decision, all the older men in the village were to throw their walking staffs into a pile and the one chosen at random would be Mary’s betrothed. When Joseph, a widower with older sons and daughters, threw his staff into the pile, the staff blossomed. Joseph then took on the task of being Mary’s ‘husband’. Jesus’ brothers and sisters were from Joseph’s first marriage. Statues of Joseph in Catholic Churches often depict him carrying a walking staff that is flowering on the upper end

Theory One and Theory Two are both ancient (very early 2nd Century CE) and both point to John 19:26-27 to show that Jesus gave the care of his mother to the beloved disciple, John. If Jesus had brothers, they claim, this would never have happened. 9.32 Jesus’ Family (IV)

Matthew 13:55 also identifies Jesus as having four ‘brothers’; יהוּדָ ה and Jude שִׁ מְ עוֹ ן Simon , יוֹסֵ י Joses , יﬠַקוֹב James

Theory Three:

Occham’s Razor. The best way of understanding Matthew 13:55, and the several other references to Jesus’ brothers and sisters (the sisters are not named) in the NT is the least complicated way, namely, to believe that Mary had other children.

Catholics and Eastern Orthodox are more likely to support Theory One or Theory Two while Protestants largely support Theory Three. Interestingly, though, the current Protestant understanding was not in agreement with many of the early reformers; - The Latin text of the 1537 Smalcald Articles written by Martin Luther used the term "Ever Virgin" to refer to Mary. Luther never wavered from that belief. - Huldrych Zwingli directly supported perpetual virginity and wrote: “I firmly believe that [Mary], ... forever remained a pure, intact Virgin.” - John Wesley wrote: "... born of the blessed Virgin Mary, who, as well after as before she brought Him forth, continued a pure and unspotted virgin” - John Calvin was less emphatic in his open support of the idea, and neither flatly accepted or rejected it but he did caution against the idea of "impious speculation" on the topic of perpetual virginity and believed that the mention of the brothers and sisters of Jesus did not necessarily imply that Mary had other children 9.33 Other Issues Concerning Mary Mary the Mother of God (Theotokos)

Most every Christian accepts this because it declares that Mary was not simply the Mother of Jesus who later was adopted by God as His Son. This doctrine focused on the belief that Jesus, from the moment of his conception, was both fully human and fully divine (one person, two perfectly united natures). Declaring Mary to be the Mother of God contradicted the Nestorian heresy (Jesus Christ was not the same person as the Son but the Son lived in Him. Jesus had one nature, a human nature) There are some Eastern Christian Churches that have maintained Nestorian teachings into modern time however the overwhelming majority Catholic, Orthodox and Protestant churches accept the doctrine that Mary was the mother of Jesus who was fully human and fully divine from the moment of his conception

Mary the Immaculate Conception

The Immaculate Conception claims that Mary, from the moment of her own conception, remained free from the taint of original sin. This is a uniquely Catholic doctrine and was declared an infallible teaching by Pope Pius IX in 1854. Catholics point to Luke’s use of κεχαριτωμένη ( kecharitomene, perf. part. pass, ‘having been completely engraced’ Lk. 1:28) to support their view. Eastern Orthodoxy questions why a human being born free from original sin should not have been born free from one of the effects of original sin, death. Protestants simply reject the teaching as unbiblical. Many today confuse the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception with the doctrine of the Virgin Birth 9.34