Did Jesus Have Brothers and Sisters?

A Fair Question

Anyone who reads the Gospels carefully will come across it. In Mark’s Gospel, the people of Nazareth ask about Jesus: “Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary and brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon, and are not His sisters here with us?” (Mark 6:3).

Yet the Catholic Church, together with the Orthodox, has always taught that Mary remained a virgin all her life (CCC 499–501). How can both be true?

The short answer is that the Bible uses the word “brother” far more broadly than we do. The longer answer is worth knowing, because it shows how carefully the Church reads Scripture.

”Brother” in the Bible

In English, “brother” usually means a son of the same parents. In the Bible, it often does not.

Neither Hebrew nor Aramaic, the language Jesus spoke, had a separate word for “cousin.” The word for brother was used for all sorts of relatives. The New Testament was written in Greek, but by Jewish authors who often carried over this way of speaking.

Here are some examples from the Old Testament:

• Abraham calls his nephew Lot “brother” (Genesis 13:8; 14:14).
• Laban calls his nephew Jacob “brother” (Genesis 29:15).
• The sons of Kish are called “brothers” of the daughters of Eleazar, though they were cousins (1 Chronicles 23:22).

In the New Testament, the word is used even more widely. St Paul speaks of Jesus appearing to “more than five hundred brethren” at once (1 Corinthians 15:6). Clearly these were not five hundred sons of Mary.

So the word “brother” on its own does not settle the question.

Who Were James and Joses?

The Gospels give us a clue that is often overlooked.

Mark names James and Joses among the “brothers” of Jesus (Mark 6:3). But at the Crucifixion, Mark mentions women standing at a distance, including “Mary the mother of James the younger and of Joses” (Mark 15:40; see also Matthew 27:56).

This Mary is clearly not the mother of Jesus. Mark would hardly refer to the Blessed Virgin in such a roundabout way at the foot of her own Son’s Cross. So James and Joses, called the “brothers” of the Lord, were in fact the sons of another Mary (CCC 500).

Other Clues in the Gospels

Several other details point the same way.

Jesus is called “the son of Mary,” not “a son of Mary” (Mark 6:3). He is never once called a son of Joseph and Mary alongside other children of theirs.

At the finding in the Temple, when Jesus is twelve, the family travels to Jerusalem: Mary, Joseph and Jesus. There is no mention of other children (Luke 2:41–51).

At the Cross, Jesus entrusts His mother to the beloved disciple, John: “Behold your mother.” From that hour, John took her into his own home (John 19:26–27). If Mary had other sons, this would have been extraordinary. Jewish custom would have required her own children to care for her.

The “brothers” act like elders. In the Gospels, the brothers of Jesus try to tell Him what to do and even think He is out of His mind (Mark 3:21; John 7:3–5). In that culture, younger brothers would not have spoken to the eldest son this way. It suggests relatives older than Jesus.

What About “Firstborn” and “Until”?

Two other phrases sometimes raise questions.

“Firstborn.” Luke calls Jesus Mary’s “firstborn son” (Luke 2:7). But in Jewish law, “firstborn” was a legal title for the child who first opened the womb, who had to be consecrated to God (Exodus 13:2). An only child was still called the firstborn. It says nothing about later children.

“Until.” Matthew says Joseph “knew her not until she had brought forth her firstborn son” (Matthew 1:25). In modern English, “until” suggests a change afterwards. But in biblical usage it often does not. For example, Scripture says Michal “had no child until the day of her death” (2 Samuel 6:23). That does not mean she had children after she died. Matthew’s point is simply that Jesus was not conceived by Joseph.

So Who Were They?

The Church has never defined exactly how the “brothers and sisters” of Jesus were related to Him. Two explanations have been held since early times.

They were cousins or other relatives. This was the view of St Jerome in the fourth century, and it is the most common view in the West today.

They were Joseph’s children from an earlier marriage. This view, found in some very early Christian writings, made them step-brothers of Jesus. It is still common in the Eastern Churches.

Either way, they were not children of Mary.

A Belief Held From the Beginning

Mary’s perpetual virginity was not invented in the Middle Ages. Early Christians called her “ever-virgin,” and the title was used by the Second Council of Constantinople in 553.

Remarkably, the great Protestant Reformers kept this belief. Martin Luther, John Calvin and Ulrich Zwingli all held that Mary remained a virgin. The idea that Mary had other children became widespread among Protestants only much later.

Why It Matters

Mary’s perpetual virginity is not a judgement against marriage or family life, which the Church holds in high honour. It is a sign that Mary belonged entirely to God and to her Son’s mission. Her whole life was given to Him.

It also tells us something about Jesus. He is the only Son of Mary because He is the only-begotten Son of the Father. And from the Cross, He gave her to all of us as mother. In that sense, Jesus does have many brothers and sisters after all: everyone who believes in Him (Romans 8:29).

See also What Are the Four Marian Dogmas? and Where Does Catholic Teaching Come From: the Bible, Tradition, or the Church?

Go deeper: What Does ‘Ever-Virgin’ Mean? Mary’s Virginity Before, During and After Christ’s Birth