verzanumi24
Advanced Member
No - it not.
The prophecy in Gen. 3:15 isn't just about the offspring of the Woman - but about the Woman herself as well.
It is about BOTH of them - AND Satan.
John 26:27
When Jesus saw his mother, and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to her, “Woman,here is your son,” and to the disciple, “Here is your mother.” From that time on, this disciple took her into his home.
Was Mary the mother of John??
Nope.
Why would Jesus tell a lie like this??
WRONG.
This is based on your ignorance of Jewish culture.
To the Jews - "Firstborn" simply meant, "the one who opens his mother's womb."
Whether she has TWELVE children - or just ONE - her first child is the "Firstborn".
Ummmm, where does it say that these are MARY'S children?
The word for brother (Adelphos) is used in the NT 344 times. Let's take a look . . .
Of the 344 times we see the use of the word “Adelphos”, “Adelphe” and all of their variations, we see that –
- 41 cases (12%) where "adelphos" clearly or probably refers to a family sibling.
- 47 cases (14%) where "adelphos" may or may not refer to a family sibling.
- There are a whopping 256 cases (74%) where "adelphos" cannot or almost certainly does not refer to a family sibling.
Adelphos can mean uterine sibling, half brother, step brother, adopted brother, cousin, uncle, distant relation, neighbor, fellow countryman, fellow believer, etc.
Let's see some Biblical examples of this word.
- In Gen. 14:14, Lot is called Abraham’s "Adelpohs", even though he was the son of Haran, Abraham’s brother (Gen. 11:26–28).
- In Gen. 29:15, Jacob is referred to as the "Adelphos" of his uncle Laban.
- Brothers Kish and Eleazar were the sons of Mahli. Kish had sons of his own, but Eleazar’s daughters married their "Adelphoi”, the sons of Kish - who were actually their COUSINS (1 Chr. 23:21–22).
FINALLY - these so-called "brothers" of Jesus are actually named in Scripture:
Mark 6:3
Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary, the brother of James, and Joses, and of Juda, and Simon?
HOWEVER, when we read the accounts of the women standing near the cross with Mary - we see that these are the children of the "other Mary", who is related to Mary (Jesus' Mother). It says that she is Mary's "Sister" (Adelphe) - yet they are BOTH named "Mary":
Matt. 27:56 says, "…among whom were Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James and Joseph, and the mother of the sons of Zebedee".
Mark 15:40 states, "There were also women looking on from afar, among whom were Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James the younger and of Joses, and Salome").
Finally, John 19:25 states, "But standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother, and his mother’s SISTER, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene".
When you compare the different accounts of the crucifixion, they clearly show the mother of James and Joseph to be the wife of Clopas (also called, Alphaeus) – not Mary, the Mother of Jesus. Any attempt to connect these people as uterine brothers of Jesus are squashed by the Bible.
That's about as WEAK an answer as I've ever heard.
This would have been a scandalous insult and NOT something Jesus would have done.
Remember - Jesus never violated the Law - He FULFILLED it.
I'm done with you......I'm not going to keep beating a dead horse.
