Posted on 04/13/2025 10:10:29 PM PDT by Beowulf9
A 2,000-year-old bone box etched with the name of Jesus' brother discovered in Israel is now on display in the US.
The limestone box, or ossuary, features the inscription 'James, son of Joseph, brother of Jesus,' written in ancient Aramaic.
Because the names correspond to those of Jesus of Nazareth's brother and father, many speculate that the box once held the remains of James the Just, the first leader of Christians in Jerusalem after the crucifixion.
(Excerpt) Read more at msn.com ...
There were probably thousands of Jesus and James in Israel.
very common names. it’s like in China— Wing, son of Wu
And your authority for this opinion is . . . ?
Wait. What?!
I feel sorry for poor James. Imagine what he had to deal with from the rest of his family. “James! Why cant you be more like Jesus? What...you’re not gonna turn any water into wine?” Poor James probably almost drowned once trying to be more like his brother.
First question I’d want to ask is this: was it common to also list the name of a brother on such a box?
Sold on Ebay last week for $50M.
Or... Jesus was just a popular name?
That they are extremely common names and if people are so weak in faith that they need to see a box of bones to believe (not sure how that would make them believe) then they are already in a lot of trouble :)
But, then add "Son Of Joseph" to that mix, and you've narrowed the field down immensely.
Biblical references to his "brothers" uses a word that can also be translated as "cousins."
I thought of that too. But while it is probably normal to mention the father's name on an inscription like this, how common would it be to mention a brother?
It's intriguing, and an interesting find at any rate.
Exactly. These were very common names for the place and era. It’d be like finding that said something like “John Smith, son of Jim Smith, brother of Joe Smith,” and thinking, “Oh my gosh, I know a Joe Smith! This must be his brother!!”
They only have one other incidence of it and they think it was die to the brother in that case being very important.
“Professor Camil Fuchs of Tel Aviv University stated that, other than the James Ossuary, there has so far only been one found, amongst thousands of ossuaries, that contains a reference to a brother, concluding that “there is little doubt that this [naming a brother or son] was done only when there was a very meaningful reason to refer to a family member of the deceased, usually due to his importance and fame.” He produced a statistical analysis of the occurrence of these three names in ancient Jerusalem and projected that there would only have been 1.71 people named James, with a father named Joseph and a brother named Jesus, expected to be living in Jerusalem around the time at which the ossuary was produced”.
In Aramaic, the word brothers can also mean cousins.
The Catholic Church teaches there were no other biological children of Mary.
“Professor Camil Fuchs of Tel Aviv University stated that, other than the James Ossuary, there has so far only been one found, amongst thousands of ossuaries, that contains a reference to a brother, concluding that “there is little doubt that this [naming a brother or son] was done only when there was a very meaningful reason to refer to a family member of the deceased, usually due to his importance and fame.” He produced a statistical analysis of the occurrence of these three names in ancient Jerusalem and projected that there would only have been 1.71 people named James, with a father named Joseph and a brother named Jesus, expected to be living in Jerusalem around the time at which the ossuary was produced.”
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Ossuary
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