Question: Who were James, Joses, Simon and Judas?
Answer: Brothers of Jesus. (Mark 6:3)
Comments: Mark 6:3 and Matthew 13:55 name four brothers of Jesus. Mark's account adds that Jesus had at least two sisters. The Catholic Church has always affirmed that these brothers were Joseph's from a previous marriage or that the word Greek adelphos should be translated more broadly as "relative". This is done to maintain the perpetual virginity of Mary.
"Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary, and brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon? Are not His sisters here with us?" And they took offense at Him. (Mark 6:3, NASB)
The earliest document in which the children are deemed Joseph's and not Mary's is the apocrypahl Protoevangelium of James, written in the second century. This belief is often further supported by noting that if Mary had other sons, there would have been no need for Jesus to put her under the care of a disciple while hanging from the cross. (John 19:26-27)
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