Mary of Clopas
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Mary of Clopas or Cleophas (Greek: Maria he tou Klopa) the sister of Saint Joseph, was one of various Marys named in the New Testament.
Mary of Clopas is explicitly mentioned only in John 19:25, where she is among the women present at the Crucifixion:
- Now there stood by the cross of Jesus His mother, and His mother’s sister, Mary [the wife] of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene.
The expression Mary of Clopas in the Greek text is ambiguous as to whether Mary was the daughter or wife of Clopas, but exegesis has commonly favoured the reading "wife of Clopas" (as reflected in above translation), though those holding that Saint Anne had three husbands see Clopas as one of Anne's husbands and father of Mary of Clopas.[1]
She is identified with "Mary, the mother of James and Joses" in Mark 15:40, where the inference has been that James the Less is intended, and "Mary, the mother of James and Joseph" in Matthew 27:56, that are mentioned in exactly the same context, among the women present at the crucifixion. This is used in defense of the doctrine of the Virgin Mary's (Jesus's mother) virginty.
Mary was also among the women that on Easter morning went to the tomb to Jesus' body with spices. Matthew 28:1 calls her "the other Mary" to distinguish her from Mary Magdalene, while Mark 16:1 uses the name "Mary of James", most probably derived from James the Less. The Latin version of that name, Maria Jacobae, is often used in tradition to distinguish her from the other Mary.
In John 19:25 Mary of Clopas appears immediately after the expression "His mother’s sister". Therefore, Mary is therefore often seen as the sister of Jesus' mother, despite the awkwardness of having two sisters bearing the same name. However, other interpretations distinguish between two different persons, one being "His mother's sister" and the other being "Mary of Clopas". Still, other interpretations make Mary of Clopas not the sister but the cousin of Jesus' mother, as Hebrew or Aramaic had no specific word for cousin, or her sister-in-law, as Clopas was considered the brother of Joseph.
Some traditions, first visible in the writings of Papias,[2] and later prevalent among Roman Catholics, have identified her sons James and Joses/Joseph with the "brothers of Jesus" of the same name and made her the mother of the "brethren of the Lord". This has led some modern writers, such as Robert Eisenman or James Tabor, to claim that Mary of Clopas actually refers to Jesus' mother as well,[3] quite in conflict to the passage in John's Gospel that mentions both side by side.
In medieval legend the three Marys (Mary Jacobe herself, Mary Magdalene and Mary Salome) were adrift in a boat that miraculously arrived off the coast of Provence, now called Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer. In that legend Mary Jacobe is the mistress of her Egyptian servant Sarah, venerated by Gypsies.
In the Roman Martyrology she is remembered with Saint Salome on April 24.
[edit] Notes
- ^
"St. Anne" in the 1913 Catholic Encyclopedia. - ^ See Fragment X at Fragments of Papias.
- ^ Robert Eisenmann, James the Brother of Jesus: The Key to Unlocking the Secrets of Early Christianity and the Dead Sea Scrolls, 1997: xviii.
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- "Mary of Cleophas" in the 1913 Catholic Encyclopedia.
