Was Jesus Married?

The results of the lengthy study of the “Jesus’ Wife fragment” have recently been published in the Harvard Theological Review.  You can download a pdf file of the article by clicking in icon in the upper lefthand corner. Here is the fragmentary translation provided in this article.

1 ] “not [to] me. My mother gave me li[fe . . .”

2 ] .” The disciples said to Jesus, “. [

3 ] deny. Mary is (not?) worthy of it [

4 ] . . .” Jesus said to them, “My wife . . [

5 ] . . . she is able to be my disciple . . [

6 ] . Let wicked people swell up . . . [

7] . As for me, I am with her in order to . [

8 ] . an image . . . [

Please ignore the inevitable hype in the uncomprehending media.

The fragment dates to the eight century AD, although they may be a late copy of an earlier text.  It therefore provides no evidence whatsoever as whether or not Jesus was actually married.  Instead, it tells us that some later Christians believed Jesus was married.

Note that this fragment should not be called “The Gospel of Jesus’ Wife,” implying it is a Gospel written by Jesus’ wife.  Rather it is a document–maybe a gospel, but perhaps not–that mentions Jesus having a wife.

For more detailed analysis, see Larry Hurtado’s Blog here, and here.