Brothers of Jesus: Biblical Arguments for Mary’s Virginity

In my previous article, I wrote about the “Hebraic” use of the Greek adelphos: as applying to cousins, fellow countrymen, and a wide array of uses beyond the meaning of “sibling.” Yet it is unanimously translated as “brother” in the King James Version (KJV): 246 times. The cognate adelphe is translated 24 times only as “sister”. This is because it reflects Hebrew usage, translated into Greek. Briefly put, in Jesus’ Hebrew culture (and Middle Eastern culture even today), cousins were called “brothers”.

Now, it’s true that sungenis (Greek for “cousin”) and its cognate sungenia appear in the New Testament fifteen times (sungenia: Lk 1:61; Acts 7:3, 14; sungenis: Mk 6:4; Lk 1:36, 58; 2:44; 14:12; 21:16; Jn 18:26; Acts 10:24; Rom 9:3; 16:7, 11, 21). But they are usually translated kinsmen, kinsfolk, or kindred in KJV: that is, in a sense wider than cousin: often referring to the entire nation of Hebrews. Thus, the eminent Protestant linguist W. E. Vine, in his Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words, lists sungenis not only under “Cousin” but also under “Kin, Kinsfolk, Kinsman, Kinswoman.”

In all but two of these occurrences, the authors were either Luke or Paul. Luke was a Greek Gentile. Paul, though Jewish, was raised in the very cosmopolitan, culturally Greek town of Tarsus. But even so, both still clearly used adelphos many times with the meaning of non-sibling (Lk 10:29; Acts 3:17; 7:23-26; Rom 1:7, 13; 9:3; 1 Thess 1:4). They understood what all these words meant, yet they continued to use adelphos even in those instances that had a non-sibling application.

Strikingly, it looks like every time St. Paul uses adelphos (unless I missed one or two), he means it as something other than blood brother or sibling. He uses the word or related cognates no less than 138 times in this way. Yet we often hear about Galatians 1:19: “James the Lord’s brother.” 137 other times, Paul means non-sibling, yet amazingly enough, here he must mean sibling, because (so we are told) he uses the word adelphos? That doesn’t make any sense.

Some folks think it is a compelling argument that sungenis isn’t used to describe the brothers of Jesus. But they need to examine Mark 6:4 (RSV), where sungenis appears:

And Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor, except in his own country, and among his own kin, and in his own house.” (cf. Jn 7:5: “For even his brothers did not believe in him”)

What is the context? Let’s look at the preceding verse, where the people in “his own country” (6:1) exclaimed: “Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary and brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon, and are not his sisters here with us?” And they took offense at him. It can plausibly be argued, then, that Jesus’ reference to kin (sungenis) refers (at least in part) back to this mention of His “brothers” and “sisters”: His relatives. Since we know that sungenis means cousins or more distant relatives, that would be an indication of the status of those called Jesus’ “brothers”.

Jude is called the Lord’s “brother” in Matthew 13:55 and Mark 6:3. If this is the same Jude who wrote the epistle bearing that name (as many think), he calls himself “a servant of Jesus Christ and brother of James” (Jude 1:1). Now, suppose for a moment that he was Jesus’ blood brother. In that case, he refrains from referring to himself as the Lord’s own sibling (while we are told that such a phraseology occurs several times in the New Testament, referring to a sibling relationship) and chooses instead to identify himself as James‘ brother. This is far too strange and implausible to believe.

Moreover, James also refrains from calling himself Jesus’ brother, in his epistle (James 1:1: “servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ”): even though St. Paul calls him “the Lord’s brother” (Gal 1:19: dealt with above). It’s true that Scripture doesn’t come right out and explicitly state that Mary was a perpetual virgin. But nothing in Scripture contradicts that notion, and (to say the same thing another way) nothing in the perpetual virginity doctrine contradicts Scripture. Moreover, no Scripture can be produced that absolutely, undeniably, compellingly defeats the perpetual virginity of Mary. Human Tradition

The alleged disproofs utterly fail in their purpose. The attempted linguistic argument against Mary’s perpetual virginity from the mere use of the word “brothers” in English translations (and from sungenis) falls flat at every turn, as we have seen.

If there is any purely “human” tradition here, then, it is the denial of the perpetual virginity of Mary, since it originated (mostly) some 1700 years after the initial apostolic deposit: just as all heresies are much later corruptions. The earliest Church fathers know of no such thing. To a person, they all testify that Mary was perpetually a virgin, and indeed, thought that this protected the doctrine of the Incarnation, as a miraculous birth from a mother who was a virgin before, during and after the birth.

Now this particular Psalm 69 is definitely going back to His pre-crucifixion suffering. How He suffered at the hands of His covenant people Israel. So the language, again, is as if—like we had in earlier Psalms—as though the Lord Himself is saying it, but it’s through the pen of David by inspiration.

So when it says in the first verse, “Save me, O God;” it’s coming from the lips of the Lord Jesus. It’s in His pre-crucifixion suffering and anxiety.

Psalms 69:1-2a

“Save me, O God; for the waters are come in unto my soul. 2. I sink in deep mire,…” Now you’ve got to constantly remember His agony in the Garden and leading up to His suffering of the cross itself. All these are references to that whole event.

Psalms 69:2

“I sink in deep mire, where there is no standing: I am come into deep waters, where the floods overflow me.” In other words, all of the ramifications of that work of the cross are just flowing over Him.

Psalms 69:3-4a

“I am weary of my crying: my throat is dried: mine eyes fail while I wait for my God. (Now that’s all evident again from His suffering on the cross itself.) 4. They that hate me without a cause (There’s no reason for them to hate Him so. But they did.) are more than the hairs of mine head: (That is in number.) they that would destroy me,…” Now remember, what did they cry out? Crucify Him. Away with Him.

Let’s go back and look at John chapter 15, which is exactly a quote from this very Psalm. John chapter 15 verse 25 and, again, I’m doing this to show the meticulousness and the intricacy of Scripture.
This is the inspired Word of God, and here it proves it. What David wrote back in the Psalms came from the lips of the Lord Jesus Himself. Now, John’s Gospel chapter 15 verse 25, and it’s in red if you’ve got a red-letter edition.

John 15:25

“But this cometh to pass, that the word might be fulfilled that is written in their law, They hated me without a cause.” Now remember, the Psalms are all part of the Old Testament record, so it is part of the Law. This is the exact wording from the Psalms. So here again, what I’ve got to constantly point out, is that the Scripture is so intricately put together. Now back to Psalms 69. Keep your hand up there in John. We’re coming back to Corinthians in just a minute.

Psalms 69:4

“They that hate me without a cause are more than the hairs of mine head: they that would destroy me, being mine enemies wrongfully, (Israel had no reason to hate Him so. He hadn’t done them anything wrong except oppose their wickedness and sinfulness.) are mighty: then I restored that which I took not away.”

Psalms 69:5

“O God, (In other words, God the Son is crying out to the Father.) thou knowest my foolishness; and my sins are not hid from thee.” Now be a Bible student. Be a Berean. What’s He talking about? His own sin? No! He had none. So whose sins are we talking about? The sins of the world.

Now come up to the New Testament for the answer. That would be in II Corinthians chapter 5. I don’t know what number it is, but I know it’s the last verse in the chapter. II Corinthians chapter 5 verse 21. This is what He’s talking about. I’ll wait until you find it. II Corinthians chapter 5 verse 21. Well, we’d better read verse 20.

II Corinthians 5:20-21

“Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, (Paul writes) as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you (we beg you) in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God. 21. For (And that’s why I had to read that verse.) For he (God) hath made him (God the Son. Jesus of Nazareth. God hath made Jesus—) to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.”

So what sin is He talking about in the Psalms? The sin of the world that was laid on Him. Don’t ever lose that. All our sin from Adam to the end was laid on Him. That’s why the movie that Gibson produced didn’t even scratch the surface. All that showed was some of His human suffering. But where was the majority of His suffering? In His Spirit as a Member of the Godhead who took upon Himself all the sin of every human who ever lived. We can’t comprehend that. That’s why it took a person of the Godhead to do the work of salvation. No human being can take on the sins of mankind. And that’s why I confronted a little Muslim girl one time. I said, “Does the Koran give you a Savior who could take upon Himself your sin?” Well, I don’t think she even knew what I was talking about. But see, the whole concept of Scripture is that one of the Members of the Godhead, the Creator Himself, became the epitome of sin. That’s why God had to turn His head from Him. That’s why He could not look on Him, because He was covered with the sins of mankind.

Now back to Psalms 69. I hope I can make that clear, that when He speaks of my sins, it wasn’t His personal sin. He had none. But He became sin on our behalf that we might have His righteousness imputed to us. Verse 6:

Psalms 69:10-11

“When I wept, and chastened my soul with fasting, that was to my reproach. 11. I made sackcloth also my garment; and I became a proverb to them.” Now what’s He referring to? Did He walk up and down the streets and highways of Israel in the apparel of the kings and queens? NO! But what? As almost one who had nothing.

And I think He put it best when He said that birds have nests and animals have dens but He does not have a place to lay His head. See, He was absolutely the poorest of the poor from the physical aspect, so that no one could use that as an excuse for rejecting Him. He was right on their level, and yet, they hated Him. Verse 11 again:

Psalms 69:11

“I made sackcloth also my garment; (He dressed and He walked and He lived like the lowest of the low.) and I became a proverb to them.” Now, a proverb in Scripture is a word of scorn. And not only that, but you come down a little further and He was the subject of the drunkards’ singing.

Well, I’ve never been around drunkards. Thank goodness. Even in service, I was spared that. I’ve had very little contact with drunks. But I can about imagine that if you get a bunch of them together, they start singing their ribald type songs and all of the filth associated with it. And you see, that’s what He’s saying, that even the drunks of Israel—and don’t think there weren’t any—the drunks of Israel even used His name as part of their drunken singing.

Psalms 69:12a

“They that sit in the gate speak against me;…” Now in Old Testament language, what did that refer to? To the city fathers. To the Magistrates. They were the ones who were referred to as sitting in the gates.

Psalms 69:12b-14a

“…and I was the song of the drunkards. (as I’ve already mentioned.) 13. But as for me, my prayer is unto thee, O LORD, in an acceptable time: O God, in the multitude of thy mercy hear me, in the truth of thy salvation. 14. Deliver me out of the mire,…” In other words, out of this place of reproach and out of this position of being so hated.

Psalms 69:14b-15

“…let me be delivered from them that hate me, and out of the deep waters. (That is the waters of emotional despair.) 15. Let not the waterflood overflow me, neither let the deep swallow me up, and let not the pit shut her mouth upon me.”

In other words, what He’s pleading with the Father is that He will be able to sustain life until He can fulfill the work of the cross. Because that’s what He set His mind as flint, remember, to fulfill. He had to fulfill the work of the cross.

Psalms 69:16-18

“Hear me, O LORD; for thy lovingkindness is good: turn unto me according to the multitude of thy tender mercies. 17. And hide not thy face from thy servant; (But did He? Yes. God turned from Him. He couldn’t look on all that sin.) for I am in trouble: hear me speedily (or instantly). 18. Draw nigh unto my soul, and redeem it: deliver me because of mine enemies.”

Now I’m curious. As I’m teaching these for the last several programs, I haven’t heard too much except good. But even for you in the studio, have any of you ever read these Psalms with this concept? No. I’m sure most of you haven’t. But this is what the whole idea is. That David was being inspired to write the very things that would be fulfilled in the life of Christ. And that’s the beauty of the Psalms in this light.

Psalms 69:18-19

“Draw nigh unto my soul, and redeem it: deliver me because of mine enemies. (Who were attempting and preparing to crucify Him.) 19. Thou hast known my reproach, and my shame, and my dishonor: mine adversaries are all before thee.” Now again, was it His personal reproach? No. It was the reproach that was poured on Him because of who He was taking the place of.

Now that wasn’t very good grammar, was it? But here we have this whole concept. He became my what? Substitute! He took my place. But not just mine, but every one of you in this room and not just us in Oklahoma—but for every human being around the planet, He became their substitute.

But again, as I’ve always mentioned, how much good is it until you appropriate it by faith. We have to appropriate it by faith. For our salvation in this Age of Grace we must believe in our heart that Jesus died for our sins, was buried, and rose again—as we are taught in I Corinthians 15:1-4. And that’s what most of the world doesn’t want to have anything to do with. They want nothing to do with these things. Okay, reading on, verse 20.

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