Adelphos<\/span>: denotes a brother, or near kinsman; in the plural, a community based on identity of origin or life. It is used of:<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n1. male children of the same parents . . .<\/p>\n
2. male descendants of the same parents, Acts 7:23, 26; Hebrews 7:5; . . .<\/p>\n
4. people of the same nationality, Acts 3:17, 22; Romans 9:3 . . .<\/p>\n
5. any man, a neighbour, Luke 10:29; Matthew 5:22, 7:3;<\/p>\n
6. persons united by a common interest, Matthew 5:47;<\/p>\n
7. persons united by a common calling, Revelation 22:9;<\/p>\n
8. mankind, Matthew 25:40; Hebrews 2:17;<\/p>\n
9. the disciples, and so, by implication, all believers, Matthew 28:10; John 20:17;<\/p>\n
10. believers, apart from sex, Matthew 23:8; Acts 1:15; Romans 1:13; 1 Thessalonians 1:4; Revelation 19:10 (the word\u00a0sisters<\/span>\u00a0is used of believers, only in 1 Timothy 5:2) . . .\u00a0202[202 Vine,\u00a0An Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words<\/span>, Vol. 1, 154-155.]<\/p>\nIt is evident, therefore, from the range of possible definitions of\u00a0adelphos<\/span>, that Jesus\u2019 \u201cbrothers\u201d need not necessarily be siblings of Jesus on linguistic grounds, as many commentators, learned and unlearned, seem to assume uncritically. By examining the use of\u00a0adelphos<\/span>\u00a0and related words in Hebrew, and by comparing Scripture with Scripture (\u201cexegesis\u201d), one can determine the most sensible explanation of all the biblical data taken collectively. Many examples prove that\u00a0adelphos<\/span>\u00a0has a very wide variety of meanings:<\/p>\n* In the King James Version, Jacob is called the \u201cbrother\u201d of his Uncle Laban (Gen. 29:15; 29:10). The same thing occurs with regard to Lot and Abraham (Gen. 14:14 \/ 11:26-27). The Revised Standard Version uses \u201ckinsman\u201d at 29:15 and 14:14.<\/p>\n
* Use of\u00a0brother<\/span>\u00a0or\u00a0brethren<\/span>\u00a0for mere kinsmen: Deuteronomy 23:7, 2 Samuel 1:26, 1 Kings 9:13, 20:32, 2 Kings 10:13-14, Jeremiah 34:9, Amos 1:9.<\/p>\n* Neither Hebrew nor Aramaic has a word for\u00a0cousin<\/span>. Although the New Testament was written in Greek, which does have such a word, the literal rendering of the Hebrew word\u00a0ach<\/span>, which was used by the first disciples and Jesus, is indeed\u00a0adelphos<\/span>, the literal equivalent of the English \u201cbrother.\u201d But even in English,\u00a0brother<\/span>\u00a0has multiple meanings as well.<\/p><\/blockquote>\nMoving on to more direct biblical evidences of the perpetual virginity of Mary, we discover the following facts:<\/p>\n
* In Luke 2:41-51: the story of Mary and Joseph taking Jesus to the Temple at the age of twelve, it is fairly obvious that Jesus is the only child. Since everyone agrees he was the first child of Mary, if there were up to five or more siblings, as some maintain (arguing, for example, from Matthew 13:55), they were nowhere to be found at this time. This passage alone furnishes a strong argument for the implausibility of the \u201cliteral brothers\u201d theory.<\/p>\n
* Jesus Himself uses\u00a0brethren<\/span>\u00a0in the larger sense. In Matthew 23:8 He calls the \u201ccrowds\u201d and His \u201cdisciples\u201d (23:1) \u201cbrethren.\u201d In other words, they are\u00a0each other\u2019s<\/span>\u00a0\u201cbrothers\u201d (that is, the brotherhood of Christians). In Matthew 12:49-50 he calls his disciples and all who do the will of his Father \u201cmy brothers.\u201d<\/p>\n* By comparing Matthew 27:56, Mark 15:40, and John 19:25, we find that James and Joseph \u2014 mentioned in Matthew 13:55 with Simon and Jude as Jesus\u2019 \u201cbrothers\u201d \u2014 are also called sons of Mary, wife of Clopas. This other Mary (Matthew 27:61, 28:1) is called Our Lady\u2019s\u00a0adelphe<\/span>\u00a0in John 19:25 (it isn\u2019t likely that there were two women named \u201cMary\u201d in one family \u2014 thus even this usage apparently means \u201ccousin\u201d or more distant relative). Matthew 13:55-56 and Mark 6:3 mention Simon, Jude and \u201csisters\u201d along with James and Joseph, calling all\u00a0adelphoi<\/span>. Since we know for sure that at least James and Joseph are not Jesus\u2019 blood brothers, the most likely interpretation of Matthew 13:55 is that all these \u201cbrothers\u201d are cousins, according to the linguistic conventions discussed above. At the very least, the term\u00a0brother<\/span>\u00a0is not determinative in and of itself.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n*\u00a0Firstborn<\/span>: the use of this term to assert that Mary had \u201csecond-borns\u201d and \u201cthird-borns\u201d proves nothing, since the primary meaning of the Greek\u00a0prototokos<\/span>\u00a0is \u201cpre-eminent\u201d. To illustrate: David is described by God as the firstborn, the highest of the kings of the earth (Ps. 89:27). Likewise, God refers to Ephraim (Jeremiah 31:9) and the nation Israel (Exod. 4:22) as \u201cmy firstborn.\u201d Jesus is called \u201cthe firstborn of all creation\u201d in Colossians 1:15, meaning, according to all reputable Greek lexicons, that he was pre-eminent over creation, that is, the Creator. The Jewish rabbinical writers even called God the Father\u00a0Bekorah Shelolam<\/span>, meaning \u201cfirstborn\u201d. Similarly, God is called the \u201cfirst\u201d in Scripture (Isa. 41:4; 44:6; 48:12; cf. Rev. 1:8; 21:6-7). Christians are called \u201cthe firstborn\u201d in Hebrews 12:23. Literally speaking, however, among the Jews, the firstborn was ordinarily the child who was first to open the womb (Exod. 13:2), whether there were other children or not. This is probably the meaning of Matthew 1:25, in which case hypothetical younger children of Mary are not implied at all, contrary to the standard present-day Protestant assertions.<\/p>\n* Mary is committed to the care of the Apostle John by Jesus from the Cross (John 19:26-27). Many Protestant interpreters agree with the Catholic view that Jesus likely would not have done this if he had brothers (who would all have been younger than he was). Many Church Fathers held this interpretation, including St. Athanasius, St. Epiphanius, St. Hilary, St. Jerome, and St. Ambrose, and used it in the defense of Mary\u2019s perpetual virginity.<\/p>\n
* Catholics believe that Mary\u2019s reply to the angel Gabriel\u2019s announcement that she would bear the Messiah, at the Annunciation \u2014 \u201cHow can this be, since I have no husband?\u201d (Luke 1:34) \u2014 indicates a prior vow of perpetual virginity. St. Augustine, in his work\u00a0Holy Virginity<\/span>\u00a0(4, 4), wrote: \u201cSurely, she would not say, \u2018How shall this be?\u2019 unless she had already vowed herself to God as a virgin . . . If she intended to have intercourse, she wouldn\u2019t have asked this question!\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\nThese conclusions are not merely the result of \u201cCatholic bias\u201d and special pleading, as many charge. For example, the prominent Protestant\u00a0Commentary on the Whole Bible<\/span>\u00a0comments on Matthew 13:55:<\/p>\nAn\u00a0exceedingly difficult question<\/span>\u00a0here arises: What were these \u201cbrethren\u201d and \u201csisters\u201d to Jesus? Were they, first, His full brothers and sisters? Or, secondly, Were they His step-brothers and step-sisters, children of Joseph by a former marriage? Or, thirdly, were they His cousins, according to a common way of speaking among the Jews respecting persons of collateral descent? On this subject an immense deal has been written,\u00a0nor are opinions yet by any means agreed<\/span>\u00a0. . . In addition to other objections,\u00a0many of the best interpreters<\/span>, . . .\u00a0prefer the third opinion<\/span>\u00a0. . . Thus dubiously we prefer to leave this\u00a0vexed question, encompassed as it is with difficulties<\/span>.\u00a0203<\/p>\n[203\u00a0Commentary on the Whole Bible,\u00a0<\/span>Robert Jamieson, Andrew R. Fausset, & David Brown, editors, Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan, 1961 (originally 1864), 928; emphasis added.]<\/p><\/blockquote>\nMatthew 1:24-25:<\/span>\u00a0\u201cJoseph . . . knew her not until she had borne a son.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\nThis verse has been used as an argument that Mary did not remain a virgin after the birth of Jesus, but the same Protestant source also comments:<\/p>\n
The word\u00a0till<\/span>\u00a0does not necessarily imply that they lived on a different footing afterward (as will be evident from the use of the same word in 1 Samuel 15:35; 2 Samuel 6:23; Matthew 12:20); nor does the word\u00a0firstborn<\/span>\u00a0decide the\u00a0much-disputed question<\/span>, whether Mary had any children to Joseph after the birth of Christ; for, as Lightfoot says, \u201cThe law, in speaking of the firstborn, regarded not whether any were born\u00a0after<\/span>\u00a0or no, but only that none were born before.\u201d\u00a0204<\/p>\n[204\u00a0Ibid<\/span>., 882; first emphasis added. Romans 8:22, 1 Timothy 4:13, 6:14, and Revelation 2:25 furnish four further examples of a similar meaning of\u00a0until<\/span>.]<\/p><\/blockquote>\nJohn Calvin used this very argument to establish the fact of Mary\u2019s perpetual virginity, which he believed (based primarily on Scripture alone), as did Luther, Zwingli, Bullinger, and many later prominent, theologically conservative, and scholarly Protestants (such as John Wesley). No one had ever denied this doctrine until the late 4th century, when one Helvidius tangled unsuccessfully with St. Jerome. Calvin appealed to St. Jerome in his own commentary on this issue, and the issue of Jesus\u2019 supposed blood brothers did not come up again until the last few centuries, in which \u201chigher criticism\u201d has often been employed to question traditional interpretations of the Bible.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Annunciation, by Peter Paul Rubens (1577-1640) [public domain \/ Wikimedia Commons] * * * This is from my first book,\u00a0A Biblical Defense of Catholicism\u00a0(1996), pp. 194-199. * * * * * Scriptural Evidence: The Perpetual Virginity of Mary The Greek word for\u00a0brother\u00a0in the New Testament is\u00a0adelphos. The well-known Protestant linguistic reference\u00a0An Expository Dictionary of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2331,"featured_media":4948,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[45],"tags":[1600,503,2356,685,504],"class_list":["post-4947","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blessed-virgin-mary","tag-always-virgin","tag-marian-doctrine","tag-mariology","tag-perpetual-virginity","tag-virgin-mary"],"yoast_head":"\n
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Formerly a campus missionary, as a Protestant, Dave was received into the Catholic Church in February 1991, by the late, well-known catechist and theologian, Fr. John A. Hardon, S. J. Dave\u2019s articles have appeared in many influential Catholic periodicals, including \\\"This Rock\\\" (now called \\\"Catholic Answers Magazine\\\"), \\\"Envoy Magazine\\\" (Patrick Madrid), \\\"The Catholic Answer,\\\" \\\"The Coming Home Journal,\\\" \\\"Gilbert Magazine\\\" (American Chesterton Society), and \\\"The Latin Mass.\\\" He also writes a featured column for every issue of \\\"The Michigan Catholic\\\": published by the archdiocese of Detroit, and was editor for most of the apologetics tracts published by the St. Paul Street Evangelization apostolate. Dave\u2019s apologetics and writing apostolate was the subject of a feature article in the May 2002 issue of \\\"Envoy Magazine.\\\" He served as the staff moderator at the Internet discussion forum for The Coming Home Network, from 2007-2010. Dave has been interviewed on many nationally syndicated Catholic radio shows, including \\\"Catholic Answers Live\\\" (twice), \\\"Faith and Family Live\\\" (Steve Wood), \\\"Kresta in the Afternoon,\\\" \\\"Son Rise Morning Show,\\\" \\\"Catholic Connection\\\" (Teresa Tomeo), and \\\"The Catholics Next Door.\\\" His large and popular website, \\\"Biblical Evidence for Catholicism,\\\" was online from March 1997 to March 2007, and received the 1998 Catholic Website of the Year award from \\\"Envoy Magazine.\\\" His blog of the same name (now transferred to Patheos), begun in February 2004, contains more than 1,500 papers, at least 500 debates or dialogues, and over 50 distinct \\\"index\\\" web pages. Unsolicited correspondence has indicated many hundreds of conversions (or returns) to the Catholic faith as a result, by God's grace, of these writings. Dave's conversion story was published in the bestselling book \\\"Surprised by Truth\\\" (edited by Patrick Madrid; San Diego: Basilica Press, 1994). Sophia Institute Press has published six of his books: \\\"A Biblical Defense of Catholicism\\\" (Foreword by Fr. John A. Hardon, S. J., 1996 \/ 2003), \\\"The Catholic Verses\\\" (2004), \\\"The One-Minute Apologist\\\" (2007), \\\"Bible Proofs for Catholic Truths\\\" (2009), \\\"The Quotable Newman\\\" (editor: 2012), and \\\"Proving the Catholic Faith is Biblical\\\" (2015). He is co-author (with Dr. Paul Thigpen) of the inserts for \\\"The New Catholic Answer Bible\\\" (Our Sunday Visitor: 2005), and editor for \\\"The Wisdom of Mr. Chesterton: The Very Best Quotes, Quips, and Cracks from the Pen of G. K. Chesterton\\\" (Saint Benedict Press \/ TAN Books: 2009). \\\"100 Biblical Arguments Against Sola Scriptura\\\" was published by Catholic Answers in May 2012. His \\\"Quotable Wesley\\\" compilation was published by (Protestant \/ Wesleyan publisher) Beacon Hill Press in April 2014. Several of his 49 books are bestsellers in their field. Dave maintains a popular personal Facebook page, a Facebook author page, and has a Twitter account as well. He offers almost all of his books in e-book form on his own Biblical Catholicism site (http:\/\/biblicalcatholicism.com\/), at a permanent deep discount: only $2.99 for ePub, mobi, and AZW, and $1.99 for PDF. His writing has been enthusiastically endorsed or recommended by many leading Catholic apologists, authors, and priests, including Dr. Scott Hahn, Fr. Peter M. J. Stravinskas, Marcus Grodi, Patrick Madrid, Steve Ray, Tim Staples, Devin Rose, Mike Aquilina, Al Kresta, Karl Keating, Fr. Dwight Longenecker, Brandon Vogt, Marcellino D'Ambrosio, and Fr. John A. Hardon, S. J. Dave has been happily married to his wife Judy since October 1984. 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Formerly a campus missionary, as a Protestant, Dave was received into the Catholic Church in February 1991, by the late, well-known catechist and theologian, Fr. John A. Hardon, S. J. Dave\u2019s articles have appeared in many influential Catholic periodicals, including \"This Rock\" (now called \"Catholic Answers Magazine\"), \"Envoy Magazine\" (Patrick Madrid), \"The Catholic Answer,\" \"The Coming Home Journal,\" \"Gilbert Magazine\" (American Chesterton Society), and \"The Latin Mass.\" He also writes a featured column for every issue of \"The Michigan Catholic\": published by the archdiocese of Detroit, and was editor for most of the apologetics tracts published by the St. Paul Street Evangelization apostolate. Dave\u2019s apologetics and writing apostolate was the subject of a feature article in the May 2002 issue of \"Envoy Magazine.\" He served as the staff moderator at the Internet discussion forum for The Coming Home Network, from 2007-2010. Dave has been interviewed on many nationally syndicated Catholic radio shows, including \"Catholic Answers Live\" (twice), \"Faith and Family Live\" (Steve Wood), \"Kresta in the Afternoon,\" \"Son Rise Morning Show,\" \"Catholic Connection\" (Teresa Tomeo), and \"The Catholics Next Door.\" His large and popular website, \"Biblical Evidence for Catholicism,\" was online from March 1997 to March 2007, and received the 1998 Catholic Website of the Year award from \"Envoy Magazine.\" His blog of the same name (now transferred to Patheos), begun in February 2004, contains more than 1,500 papers, at least 500 debates or dialogues, and over 50 distinct \"index\" web pages. Unsolicited correspondence has indicated many hundreds of conversions (or returns) to the Catholic faith as a result, by God's grace, of these writings. Dave's conversion story was published in the bestselling book \"Surprised by Truth\" (edited by Patrick Madrid; San Diego: Basilica Press, 1994). Sophia Institute Press has published six of his books: \"A Biblical Defense of Catholicism\" (Foreword by Fr. John A. Hardon, S. J., 1996 \/ 2003), \"The Catholic Verses\" (2004), \"The One-Minute Apologist\" (2007), \"Bible Proofs for Catholic Truths\" (2009), \"The Quotable Newman\" (editor: 2012), and \"Proving the Catholic Faith is Biblical\" (2015). He is co-author (with Dr. Paul Thigpen) of the inserts for \"The New Catholic Answer Bible\" (Our Sunday Visitor: 2005), and editor for \"The Wisdom of Mr. Chesterton: The Very Best Quotes, Quips, and Cracks from the Pen of G. K. Chesterton\" (Saint Benedict Press \/ TAN Books: 2009). \"100 Biblical Arguments Against Sola Scriptura\" was published by Catholic Answers in May 2012. His \"Quotable Wesley\" compilation was published by (Protestant \/ Wesleyan publisher) Beacon Hill Press in April 2014. Several of his 49 books are bestsellers in their field. Dave maintains a popular personal Facebook page, a Facebook author page, and has a Twitter account as well. He offers almost all of his books in e-book form on his own Biblical Catholicism site (http:\/\/biblicalcatholicism.com\/), at a permanent deep discount: only $2.99 for ePub, mobi, and AZW, and $1.99 for PDF. His writing has been enthusiastically endorsed or recommended by many leading Catholic apologists, authors, and priests, including Dr. Scott Hahn, Fr. Peter M. J. Stravinskas, Marcus Grodi, Patrick Madrid, Steve Ray, Tim Staples, Devin Rose, Mike Aquilina, Al Kresta, Karl Keating, Fr. Dwight Longenecker, Brandon Vogt, Marcellino D'Ambrosio, and Fr. John A. Hardon, S. J. Dave has been happily married to his wife Judy since October 1984. They have three sons and a daughter, and reside in southeast Michigan (metro Detroit).","sameAs":["https:\/\/biblicalcatholicism.com\/","https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/dave.armstrong.798","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/@LuxVeritatisApologetics"],"url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/author\/davearmstrong"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4947","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2331"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4947"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4947\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4948"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4947"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4947"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4947"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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