Joses ( grc-gre, Ἰωσῆς) is a name, usually regarded as a form of
Joseph
Joseph is a common male given name, derived from the Hebrew Yosef (יוֹסֵף). "Joseph" is used, along with "Josef", mostly in English, French and partially German languages. This spelling is also found as a variant in the languages of the mo ...
, occurring many times in the
New Testament
The New Testament grc, Ἡ Καινὴ Διαθήκη, transl. ; la, Novum Testamentum. (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus, as well as events in first-century Christ ...
:
* Joses, one of the four
brothers of Jesus
The brothers of Jesus or the adelphoi ( grc-gre, ἀδελφοί, adelphoí, of the same womb)Greek singular noun ''adelphos'', from a- ("same", equivalent to homo-) and delphys ("womb," equivalent to splanchna). are named in the New Testament a ...
()
* Joses or Joseph, son of a Mary and brother of a James (
James the Less
James the Less ( grc-gre, Ἰάκωβος ὁ μικρός ) is a figure of early Christianity, one of the Twelve chosen by Jesus. He is also called "the Minor", "the Little", "the Lesser", or "the Younger", according to translation. He is not to ...
according to Mark 15:40
), mentioned in Mark 15:40,
Mark 15:47,
and
Matthew 27:56
* Joses or Joseph, the real name of
Barnabas
Barnabas (; arc, ܒܪܢܒܐ; grc, Βαρνάβας), born Joseph () or Joses (), was according to tradition an early Christian, one of the prominent Christian disciples in Jerusalem. According to Acts 4:36, Barnabas was a Cypriot Jew. Name ...
according to Acts 4:36
* There is also a Ἰησοῦ or a Ἰωσή (''Jose'', ''Joshua'' or ''Jesus'') in Luke 3:29
Etymology
''Joses'' is a short Greek form of Joseph. Unlike Greek ''Joseph,'' however, which remains frozen as ''Joseph'' in all grammatical cases, ''Joses'' functions like a true Greek name and is declined in Greek, taking the ending ' in the genitive case, hence ''Jose''/''Josetos'' (/), 'of Joses'.
Although spelling of Joseph is fairly constant in Greek, spellings of the short forms Joses and Josis vary.
Tal Ilan
Tal Ilan (born 1956) is an Israeli-born historian, notably of women's history in Judaism, and lexicographer. She is known for her work in rabbinic literature, the history of ancient Judaism, the Dead Sea Scrolls, ancient Jewish historiography, Jew ...
's catalogue of Jewish name inscriptions of the period (2002) notes variation in the spelling of "Joseph" (indeclinable in Greek) and various shorter (and sometimes declined) Greek variants, but also notes that the full form ''Joseph'' is dominant with 47 of 69 Greek inscriptions.
New Testament
''Joses'' and ''Joseph'' in their various grammatical cases are often found as
textual variants in the New Testament
Textual variants in the New Testament manuscripts arise when a copyist makes deliberate or inadvertent alterations to the text that is being reproduced. Textual criticism of the New Testament has included study of its textual variants.
Most of t ...
.
Joses, brother of Jesus
A minority of (Alexandrian, Western) Greek manuscripts in Matthew 13:55 read "Joseph" () the standard spelling of the name. Roman Catholics hold that Joses the
brother of Jesus is the same as Joses the brother of James referred in Matthew 27:56 and Mark 15:40.
[
]
Joses, brother of James (the Less?)
In Mark 15:40 and Mark 15:47, a Joses is identified as the son of a certain Mary, who is also the mother of a certain James. For both verses, Ἰωσῆτος and Ἰωσῆ are found as textual variants, but both are genitives of Ἰωσὴς meaning ''of Joses''.
Matthew 27:56 also refers to a Mary, mother of a James, but it is unclear whether her other son is called ''Joses'' (Ἰωσῆ, favoured by Stephanus Textus Receptus 1550, Scrivener's Textus Receptus 1894, RP Byzantine Majority Text 2005, and the Greek Orthodox Church) or ''Joseph'' (Ἰωσὴφ, favoured by Westcott and Hort 1881, Westcott and Hort / A27 and UBS4 variants
A, or a, is the first Letter (alphabet), letter and the first vowel of the Latin alphabet, Latin alphabet, used in the English alphabet, modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name ...
Tischendorf's 8th Edition 1864–94, and Nestle 1904). Modern English Bible translations are about evenly split on which textual variant to follow, with half including the New International Version
The New International Version (NIV) is an English translation of the Bible first published in 1978 by Biblica (formerly the International Bible Society). The ''NIV'' was created as a modern translation, by Bible scholars using the earliest an ...
(1978) rendering it as ''of Joseph'', and the other half including the English Standard Version
The English Standard Version (ESV) is an English translation of the Bible. Published in 2001 by Crossway, the ESV was "created by a team of more than 100 leading evangelical scholars and pastors." The ESV relies on recently published critic ...
(2001) as ''of Joses''.
In the New Testament, the name "James the Less
James the Less ( grc-gre, Ἰάκωβος ὁ μικρός ) is a figure of early Christianity, one of the Twelve chosen by Jesus. He is also called "the Minor", "the Little", "the Lesser", or "the Younger", according to translation. He is not to ...
" appears only in Mark 15:40, who, by parallel accounts of the women at the crucifixion The presence of a group of female disciples of Jesus at the crucifixion of Jesus is found in all four Gospels of the New Testament. There have been different interpretations how many and which women were present. Although some Christian traditions h ...
is usually equated with the James in "Mary the mother of James," who in turn is sometimes equated with Mary of Clopas, mentioned only in John 19:25. According to a tradition of Hegesippus (Eusebius III.11), this Clopas was a brother of Joseph, making his wife Mary
Mary may refer to:
People
* Mary (name), a feminine given name (includes a list of people with the name)
Religious contexts
* New Testament people named Mary, overview article linking to many of those below
* Mary, mother of Jesus, also calle ...
Jesus' aunt and this James the younger and Jose to be Jesus' cousins.
James Tabor
James Daniel Tabor (born 1946 in Texas) is a Biblical scholar and Professor of Ancient Judaism and Early Christianity in the Department of Religious Studies at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, where he has taught since 1989 and serv ...
presents that Mary the mother of James is the same person with Mary the mother of Jesus and that Clopas was her second husband, thus making Joses half brother of Jesus. Roman Catholic
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
*Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
*Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...
tradition follows Jerome
Jerome (; la, Eusebius Sophronius Hieronymus; grc-gre, Εὐσέβιος Σωφρόνιος Ἱερώνυμος; – 30 September 420), also known as Jerome of Stridon, was a Christian presbyter, priest, Confessor of the Faith, confessor, th ...
's view that Mary the mother of James (wife of Clopas) is the sister of Mary the mother of Jesus, though they need not be literally sisters, in light of the usage of the said words in Greek, Hebrew and Aramaic
The Aramaic languages, short Aramaic ( syc, ܐܪܡܝܐ, Arāmāyā; oar, 𐤀𐤓𐤌𐤉𐤀; arc, 𐡀𐡓𐡌𐡉𐡀; tmr, אֲרָמִית), are a language family containing many varieties (languages and dialects) that originated in ...
.
Acts 4:36 (Barnabas)
Acts 4:36 states that the person whom the apostles surnamed/nicknamed/called ''Barnabas
Barnabas (; arc, ܒܪܢܒܐ; grc, Βαρνάβας), born Joseph () or Joses (), was according to tradition an early Christian, one of the prominent Christian disciples in Jerusalem. According to Acts 4:36, Barnabas was a Cypriot Jew. Name ...
'' (Βαρνάβας) was actually named Ἰωσὴφ (''Joseph'') according to Westcott and Hort 1881, Westcott and Hort / A27 and UBS4 variants
A, or a, is the first Letter (alphabet), letter and the first vowel of the Latin alphabet, Latin alphabet, used in the English alphabet, modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name ...
Tischendorf's 8th Edition 1864–94, and Nestle 1904, or Ἰωσὴς (''Joses'') according to Stephanus Textus Receptus 1550, Scrivener's Textus Receptus 1894, RP Byzantine Majority Text 2005, and the Greek Orthodox Church. Most modern English Bible translations such as the New International Version
The New International Version (NIV) is an English translation of the Bible first published in 1978 by Biblica (formerly the International Bible Society). The ''NIV'' was created as a modern translation, by Bible scholars using the earliest an ...
(1978) render it as ''Joseph'', a minority including the King James Version
The King James Version (KJV), also the King James Bible (KJB) and the Authorized Version, is an Bible translations into English, English translation of the Christian Bible for the Church of England, which was commissioned in 1604 and publis ...
(1611) as ''Joses''.
Luke 3:29
In the Lukan genealogy of Jesus
The New Testament provides two accounts of the genealogy of Jesus, one in the Gospel of Matthew and another in the Gospel of Luke. Matthew starts with Abraham, while Luke begins with Adam. The lists are identical between Abraham and David, but ...
, Luke 3:29 mentions a Ἰησοῦ or a Ἰωσή (both in genetive) as the 15th descendant of David
David (; , "beloved one") (traditional spelling), , ''Dāwūd''; grc-koi, Δαυΐδ, Dauíd; la, Davidus, David; gez , ዳዊት, ''Dawit''; xcl, Դաւիթ, ''Dawitʿ''; cu, Давíдъ, ''Davidŭ''; possibly meaning "beloved one". w ...
in the line from Solomon
Solomon (; , ),, ; ar, سُلَيْمَان, ', , ; el, Σολομών, ; la, Salomon also called Jedidiah (Hebrew language, Hebrew: , Modern Hebrew, Modern: , Tiberian Hebrew, Tiberian: ''Yăḏīḏăyāh'', "beloved of Yahweh, Yah"), ...
's younger brother Nathan
Nathan or Natan may refer to:
People
*Nathan (given name), including a list of people and characters with this name
*Nathan (surname)
*Nathan (prophet), a person in the Hebrew Bible
* Nathan (son of David), biblical figure, son of King David an ...
. Ἰησοῦ ''Iēsou'' is the textual variant favoured by Westcott and Hort 1881, Westcott and Hort / A27 and UBS4 variants
A, or a, is the first Letter (alphabet), letter and the first vowel of the Latin alphabet, Latin alphabet, used in the English alphabet, modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name ...
Tischendorf's 8th Edition 1864–94, and Nestle 1904, while the variant Ἰωσῆ ''Iōsē'' is favoured by Stephanus Textus Receptus 1550, Scrivener's Textus Receptus 1894, RP Byzantine Majority Text 2005, and the Greek Orthodox Church. Most modern English Bible translations such as the New International Version
The New International Version (NIV) is an English translation of the Bible first published in 1978 by Biblica (formerly the International Bible Society). The ''NIV'' was created as a modern translation, by Bible scholars using the earliest an ...
(1978) render it as ''Joshua'', many others including the King James Version
The King James Version (KJV), also the King James Bible (KJB) and the Authorized Version, is an Bible translations into English, English translation of the Christian Bible for the Church of England, which was commissioned in 1604 and publis ...
(1611) as ''Jose'', and a few including the American Standard Version
The American Standard Version (ASV), officially Revised Version, Standard American Edition, is a Bible translation into English that was completed in 1901 with the publication of the revision of the Old Testament. The revised New Testament had b ...
(1900) as ''Jesus''.
The Greek spelling (, ) is a variant of Joses.
Bishops of Jerusalem
A "Joses" appears in the bishop lists of Epiphanius ("Josis") and Eusebius
Eusebius of Caesarea (; grc-gre, Εὐσέβιος ; 260/265 – 30 May 339), also known as Eusebius Pamphilus (from the grc-gre, Εὐσέβιος τοῦ Παμφίλου), was a Greek historian of Christianity, exegete, and Christian ...
("Joseph") of the early bishops of Jerusalem.
Christian traditions
In the medieval ''Golden Legend
The ''Golden Legend'' (Latin: ''Legenda aurea'' or ''Legenda sanctorum'') is a collection of hagiographies by Jacobus de Voragine that was widely read in late medieval Europe. More than a thousand manuscripts of the text have survived.Hilary ...
'', Joses is also identified with Joseph Barsabbas
In the Acts of the Apostles, Joseph Barsabbas (also known as Justus) is one of two candidates qualified to be chosen for the office of apostle after Judas Iscariot lost his apostleship when he betrayed Jesus and committed suicide. After the cas ...
, also called Justus, who in the Acts of the Apostles
The Acts of the Apostles ( grc-koi, Πράξεις Ἀποστόλων, ''Práxeis Apostólōn''; la, Actūs Apostolōrum) is the fifth book of the New Testament; it tells of the founding of the Christian Church and the spread of its messag ...
1:23 is mentioned as a candidate to fill the vacancy created by the death of Judas Iscariot
Judas Iscariot (; grc-x-biblical, Ἰούδας Ἰσκαριώτης; syc, ܝܗܘܕܐ ܣܟܪܝܘܛܐ; died AD) was a disciple and one of the original Twelve Apostles of Jesus Christ. According to all four canonical gospels, Judas betraye ...
.
Eusebius lists Justus as the third Bishop of Jerusalem after James the Just
James the Just, or a variation of James, brother of the Lord ( la, Iacobus from he, יעקב, and grc-gre, Ἰάκωβος, , can also be Anglicized as "Jacob"), was "a brother of Jesus", according to the New Testament. He was an early lead ...
and Simeon of Jerusalem
Simeon of Jerusalem was a Jewish Christian leader and according to most Christian traditions the second Bishop of Jerusalem (63 or 70–107 or 117), succeeding James, brother of Jesus. Simeon is sometimes identified with Simon, brother of Jesu ...
. He does not, however, specify whether this Justus is to be identified with Joses, the brother of Jesus:
:''But when Symeon also had died in the manner described, a certain Jew by the name of Justus succeeded to the episcopal throne in Jerusalem. He was one of the many thousands of the circumcision who at that time believed in Christ.''
Conversely, in the second book of Panarion
In early Christian heresiology, the ''Panarion'' ( grc-koi, Πανάριον, derived from Latin ''panarium'', meaning "bread basket"), to which 16th-century Latin translations gave the name ''Adversus Haereses'' (Latin: "Against Heresies"), is t ...
, Epiphanius identifies the third Bishop of Jerusalem as "Judah", and the Apostolic Constitutions
The ''Apostolic Constitutions'' or ''Constitutions of the Holy Apostles'' (Latin: ''Constitutiones Apostolorum'') is a Christian collection divided into eight books which is classified among the Church Orders, a genre of early Christian litera ...
similarly calls him "Judas the son of James".
See also
* James, brother of Jesus
James the Just, or a variation of James, brother of the Lord ( la, Iacobus from he, יעקב, and grc-gre, Ἰάκωβος, , can also be Anglicized as "Jacob"), was "a brother of Jesus", according to the New Testament. He was an early lead ...
* James the Less
James the Less ( grc-gre, Ἰάκωβος ὁ μικρός ) is a figure of early Christianity, one of the Twelve chosen by Jesus. He is also called "the Minor", "the Little", "the Lesser", or "the Younger", according to translation. He is not to ...
* Jude, brother of Jesus
Jude (alternatively Judas or Judah; grc-gre, Ἰούδας) is one of the relatives of Jesus
() according to the New Testament. He is traditionally identified as the author of the Epistle of Jude, a short epistle which is reckoned among the sev ...
* New Testament people named Joseph
The name ''Joseph'' (Greek ''Iōsēph'', from Hebrew ''Yosef'') appears a number of times in the New Testament. It is not always clear which person these names refer to, and whether some refer to the same person or distinct characters, which h ...
* Simon, brother of Jesus
Simon ( grc-gre, Σίμων) is described in the New Testament as one of the brothers of Jesus ().
New Testament
In , people ask concerning Jesus, "Is not this the carpenter's son? is not his mother called Mary? and his brethren, James, and Joses ...
References
{{New Testament people
Brothers of Jesus
Family of Jesus
Followers of Jesus
People from Nazareth
People in the canonical gospels