Clopas
Clopas (
Near the cross of Jesus stood his mother, his mother's sister,
Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene.
He is often identified with another figure of a similar name,
Then one of them, named Cleopas, answered him, “Are you the only visitor to Jerusalem...
There is some variation of the Greek manuscripts of both John 19:25 and
Parallel passages
The identity of the other women in the parallel passages in
As a result of these parallels commentators have identified "Mary of Clopas" with Mary mother of James, son of Alphaeus. Alphaeus (Greek Ἀλφαῖος) was also the name of the father of Matthew the Apostle (Mark 2:14). The Aramaic name Hilfai (חילפאי), or Hebrew name Halfi (חלפי) have been proposed by a variety of sources[1] including Joseph Henry Thayer who argued in his Lexicon that dropping the Hebrew heth (ח ḥ, which has no corresponding letter in Greek) and rendering the Hebrew heth as kappa (Κ) in Greek were both possible.[2] Perhaps under the influence of this tradition, Franz Delitzsch's modern Hebrew New Testament does in fact use the Hebrew name Yaakov ben Khalfi (יעקב בן חלפי) for James son of Alphaeus.[3][4] The Aramaic name Halfai is evidenced on Aramaic panels of the period,[5] and the name Hilphai in rabbinic literature.[6]
Interpretations
In the
Jesus met them, with Mary His mother, along with her sister Mary of Cleophas, whom the Lord God had given to her father Cleophas and her mother Anna, because they had offered Mary the mother of Jesus to the Lord. And she was called by the same name, Mary, for the consolation of her parents.[7]
The most common interpretation is that "of Clopas" indicates the husband of this Mary and subsequently the father of her children, but some see "of Clopas" as meaning this Mary's father. In medieval tradition Clopas is the second husband of Saint Anne and the father of "Mary of Clopas".[8]
Catholic and Eastern Orthodox traditions believed that Clopas is a brother of Saint Joseph, and that he is the same person with Cleopas.[9]
Early Christian writings
Clopas also appears in early Christian writings such as the 2nd century writers
- "all with one consent pronounced Symeon, the son of Clopas, of whom the Gospel also makes mention; to be worthy of the episcopal throne of that parish. He was a cousin, as they say, of the Saviour. For Hegesippus records that Clopas was a brother of Joseph."[10]
James Tabor
A few modern writers identify
References
- ^ David Francis Bacon (1813-1865) Lives of the apostles of Jesus Christ 1836- Page 390 "Now, both of these differences can, by a reference to the original Hebrew word, be shown to be only the results of the different modes of expressing the same Hebrew letters ; and the words thus expressed may, by the established rules of.."
- ^ Thayer Greek Lexicon entry Alphaeus
- ^ Franz Delitzsch Hebrew New Testament
- ^ John Cunningham Geikie The life and words of Christ Volume 1 1884 "Alphaeus, or Alpheus __, and Clopas are different ways of pronouncing in Greek the Hebrew name ___ (Chal'phai)."
- ^ Seth Schwartz Imperialism and Jewish society, 200 B.C.E. to 640 C.E. - Page 262 - 2001 "(Panel 3, in Aramaic) May Yosi and Azrin and Haziqin sons of Halfai be remembered for good. / Whoever causes faction between men and their fellows, or recounts / slander about his fellow to the nations ['amemayah], or steals / the .."
- ^ Ben-Zion Rosenfeld Torah centers and rabbinic activity in Palestine, 70-400 CE 2010 Page 136 "A tannaitic sage by the name of Abba Hilphai b. Keruya is referred to in rabbinic literature as a pious person. Rabban Gamliel of Yavneh apparently came to visit him and asked Abba Hilphai to pray for him."
- ^ The Gospel of Pseudo-Matthew. Retrieved 19 June 2018.
- ^ Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company. .
- ^ St. Cleophas, Catholic Online
- ^ Eusebius of Caesarea, Church History, Book III, ch. 11.
- ISBN 0-7432-8723-1.
External links
- Butin, Romain Francis (1908). Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 4. New York: Robert Appleton Company. . In Herbermann, Charles (ed.).