Brethren of Jesus

The "brethren of Jesus" refers to a group of men named James, Joseph, Simon, and Judas (Matt. 13:55; Mark 6:3) who are associated with Jesus's family throughout the Gospels and Acts. Three principal interpretations have been proposed: (1) the Helvidian view, held by most Protestants, that these were the natural children of Joseph and Mary born after Jesus; (2) the Epiphanian view, that they were children of Joseph by a prior marriage and thus stepbrothers of Jesus; and (3) the Hieronymian view, most common in Roman Catholicism, that "brethren" (Greek adelphoi) here means cousins. The Gospels record that during Jesus's ministry his brothers did not believe in him (John 7:5), but after the resurrection James became the leader of the Jerusalem church and a witness to the risen Christ (1 Cor. 15:7; Gal. 1:19). James wrote the Epistle of James and presided at the Jerusalem Council (Acts 15); Jude likely wrote the Epistle of Jude. Paul refers to meeting "James the Lord's brother" on his first visit to Jerusalem (Gal. 1:19), confirming the historical significance of this group in earliest Christianity.