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Joseph and Mary were cousins? - say it wasn't so

Pah

Pah

Uber all member
From an article in the Catholic Encyclopedia

Heli the Father of Joseph

Heli (Gr. HELEI--Luke 3:23) is evidently the same name as the preceding. In Luke he is said to be the father of Joseph, while in Matt., I, 16, Jacob was Joseph's father. The most probable explanation of this seeming contradiction is afforded by having recourse to the levirate law among the Jews, which prescribes that when a man dies childless his widow "shall not marry to another; but his brother shall take her, and raise up seed for his brother" (Deut., xxv, 5). The child, therefore, of the second marriage is legally the child of the first (Deut., xxv, 6). Heli having died childless, his widow became the wife of his brother Jacob, and Joseph was the offspring of the marriage, by nature the son of Jacob, but legally the son of Heli. It is likely that Matt. gives the natural, and Luke the legal descent. (Cf. Maas, "The Gosp. acc. to S. Matt.", i, 16.) Lord A. Hervey, Bishop of Bath and Wells, who wrote a learned work on the "Genealogies of Our Lord Jesus Christ", thinks that Mary was the daughter of Jacob, and Joseph was the son of Jacob's brother, Heli. Mary and Joseph were therefore first cousins, and both of the house of David. Jacob, the elder, having died without male issue, transmitted his rights and privileges to the male issue of his brother Heli, Joseph, who according to genealogical usage was his descendant.
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Pah

Pah

Uber all member
HelpMe said:
kmart.
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That doesn't seem to be in the same philosophical vein as Deut's answer which is also much more witty. At least, I answered in kind.

Bob
 
L

Lightkeeper

Well-Known Member
Since, God is the father of Jesus, I guess it wouldn't matter if Joseph and Mary were first cousins. Joseph might have gotten to first base, but didn't bring it home.:)
 
Scott1

Scott1

Well-Known Member
Lightkeeper said:
Since, God is the father of Jesus, I guess it wouldn't matter if Joseph and Mary were first cousins. Joseph might have gotten to first base, but didn't bring it home.:)
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Maybe this helps more to explain Mary's perpetual Virginity than anything else!:eek:
 
Pah

Pah

Uber all member
Lightkeeper said:
Since, God is the father of Jesus, I guess it wouldn't matter if Joseph and Mary were first cousins. Joseph might have gotten to first base, but didn't bring it home.:)
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But what about brother James?

Bob
 
M

may

Well-Known Member
If tradition is correct, Heli’s wife, the mother of Mary, was Anna, whose sister had a daughter named Elizabeth, the mother of John the Baptizer. This tradition would make Elizabeth the cousin of Mary. That Mary was related to Elizabeth, who was "from the daughters of Aaron" of the tribe of Levi, the Scriptures themselves state. (Lu 1:5, 36) Mary’s sister, some have thought, was Salome, the wife of Zebedee, whose two sons, James and John, were numbered among Jesus’ apostles.—Mt 27:55, 56; Mr 15:40; 16:1; Joh 19:25.

 
t3gah

t3gah

Well-Known Member
cvipertooth said:
If we all came from the same two people arent we all cousins?
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I was thinking this very same thought the other day when I first saw this thread. The question really should be for Joseph and Mary, "how close?"

As to the part of Mary being a virgin. What about the scripture below?

WEB (World English Bible)

[size=-1]Matthew 13:55
Isn't this the carpenter's son? Isn't his mother called Mary, and his brothers, James, Joses, Simon, and Judas? [/size][size=-1][/size]​
 
F

fragmentsofdreams

Member
t3gah said:
I was thinking this very same thought the other day when I first saw this thread. The question really should be for Joseph and Mary, "how close?"

As to the part of Mary being a virgin. What about the scripture below?

WEB (World English Bible)
[size=-1]Matthew 13:55
Isn't this the carpenter's son? Isn't his mother called Mary, and his brothers, James, Joses, Simon, and Judas? [/size]​
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There are three theories about this:

1. They actually are Jesus' brothers. Mary and Joseph had children after Jesus.

2. They are the children of Joseph and a deceased wife. This comes from the Protoevangelium of James (circa 120). An old Joseph is chosen to protect the virginity of Mary, who has been dedicated. The absence of Joseph after Jesus's childhood suggests his death, which would be explained if he was old at Jesus's birth.

3. They are Jesus's cousins. It is my understanding that Aramaic uses the same word for cousin and brother. When writing the Gospels in Greek, the authors chose the incorrect word to translate it.
 
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