Apologetics 101: Why Does the Bible Say Jesus Had Brothers?

Aleteia ^ | April 7, 2015 | JOHN MARTIGNONI

[editor-surveyor]

False yourself!

The reading is based in Torah.

[editor-surveyor]

The filling of the “hand washing” pots with wine was specifically a rejection of “the washing of the hands!”

[editor-surveyor]

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>> "This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears." <<

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You can't even read your own post?

[roamer_1]

I would add that Josephus, Chapter 4, paragraph 3, clearly shows rooms and bathing rooms built over one of the cloisters.

That is hardly surprising, as priests and scribes lived onsite according to their order of service, so necessarily there has to be living quarters...

I would further add the term "cloistered life" is related to the architecture with respect to religious buildings.

Yes, I know what it tends to mean NOW, But this is from before youse guys running off with the word, which seems to have occurred largely in medieval times... to my knowledge, in architecture, a cloister is an enclosed peristyle or colonnade with a covered walkway surrounding a garth or quadrangle. What the text seems to largely be talking about is the peristyle surrounding the common area (Courtyard of the Gentiles) of the Temple Mount, referred to as the Porch... This ran around the west, east, and south sides of the Temple with a widened portico to the north, and a dividing wall in the middle.

Could it mean a separate cloistered courtyard? Perhaps the Courtyard of the Men of Israel? I guess it could, but the image I see is storming the Temple using the peristyle as cover - They were fighting toward the Temple under the common colonnade.

But all of this wallows into a long and difficult discourse in etymology, on an Hebrew/Aramaic document translated into Greek, written by a Hebrew, to a Latin Roman... Said document having been undoubtedly 'Christianized', so is suspect wrt it's original content... which in the end is all rendered moot, as living quarters were indeed necessary onsite for priests and scribes, and without direct evidence otherwise, fulfills the need for a religious 'cloister' without the necessity of vestal virgins.

[editor-surveyor]

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>> “without the necessity of vestal virgins.” <<

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Unless you’re a sun god worshiper, as all catholics have to be to participate in “communion.”

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[af_vet_1981]

False yourself! The reading is based in Torah.

Every sabbath, on a yearly repeating cycle according to Jewish Tradition, which Jesus observed according to the scriptures, Jews read a Torah portion (first five books of your Bible), and a Haftorah portion (from one of the Prophets, not the Torah). Jesus was called up and read the Haftorah portion (from the Prophet Isaiah).

He thus observed the Jewish tradition for the synagogue service, which like the Catholic Mass, has been observed by the faithful for almost two millennia.

[editor-surveyor]

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Yeshua wasn’t observing any tradition, he was fulfilling prophecy.

Every time he read in the temple, it was to emphasize the fulfillment of a prophecy.

Can’t you un-catholic yourself long enough to understand the realities?
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[af_vet_1981]

. Yeshua wasn’t observing any tradition, he was fulfilling prophecy. Every time he read in the temple, it was to emphasize the fulfillment of a prophecy.

And every time he worshipped, assembled, and read in the synagogue he observed and sanctified the Jewish Tradition of synagogue services.

Can’t you un-catholic yourself long enough to understand the realities?

I believe in one holy catholic and apostolic church. In Messiah, I am one with those who came before me.

I always wanted to sanctify and use this, and it only required a few edits [in brackets].

Lo there do I see my father;
Lo there do I see my mother,
my sisters and my brothers;
Lo there do I see the line of my people,
back to the beginning.
Lo, they do call me,
they bid me take my place among them,
in the [mansions] of [the King],
where the [righteous] may live forever.

[editor-surveyor]

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Perhaps you are unaware that local places of worship were sanctioned by Moses in Deuteronomy. He even permitted sacrifices in them, so the synagogue is not tradition, it is Torah.

The only one holy assembly that exists is Yeshua’s invisible assembly.

The “catholic” church and every other church are just corporations of men’s heresy, worshiping men and the creations of men, and feigning worship of the Father and the son, but ignoring the commandments that he gave us.
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[af_vet_1981]

Perhaps you are unaware that local places of worship were sanctioned by Moses in Deuteronomy. He even permitted sacrifices in them, so the synagogue is not tradition, it is Torah.

Are you perplexed by the Tabernacle in the wilderness and so confuse its pilgrimage with the latter establishment of the synagogue by the men of the Great Assembly after the destruction of the First Temple ?

Chabad: Indeed, there is no mention of the Synagogue in the “Written Torah” (i.e., the Five Books of Moses). The institution of the synagogue is of later, Rabbinic origin.1

The purpose of the synagogue is to provide a venue to facilitate and enhance the Biblical obligation of prayer by adding a communal element.

From Moses’ times until the restoration of the Second Temple, we fulfilled the obligation to pray daily by composing our own prayers, and praying privately.

We also made pilgrimages to Jerusalem to experience the public services that were conducted in the Holy Temple.

After the restoration of the Second Temple (352 BCE), the Great Assembly2, led by Ezra, instituted the Kaddish, Kedushah, Barechu, and the rest of the standardized communal service (requiring the participation of a minyan or quorum of ten) as well as the obligation for individuals to participate in these services.

There arose both in Israel and the Diaspora3 places set aside to pray communally. Thus was born the “Place of Gathering”—Beit Kenesset in Hebrew, and synagogos in Greek.

Wiki: During the Babylonian captivity (586–537 BCE) the Men of the Great Assembly formalized and standardized the language of the Jewish prayers. Prior to that people prayed as they saw fit, with each individual praying in his or her own way, and there were no standard prayers that were recited. Rabbi Yohanan ben Zakkai, one of the leaders at the end of the Second Temple era, promulgated the idea of creating individual houses of worship in whatever locale Jews found themselves. This contributed to the continuity of the Jewish people by maintaining a unique identity and a portable way of worship despite the destruction of the Temple, according to many historians.

These are the statutes and judgments, which ye shall observe to do in the land, which the LORD God of thy fathers giveth thee to possess it, all the days that ye live upon the earth. Ye shall utterly destroy all the places, wherein the nations which ye shall possess served their gods, upon the high mountains, and upon the hills, and under every green tree: And ye shall overthrow their altars, and break their pillars, and burn their groves with fire; and ye shall hew down the graven images of their gods, and destroy the names of them out of that place. Ye shall not do so unto the LORD your God. But unto the place which the LORD your God shall choose out of all your tribes to put his name there, even unto his habitation shall ye seek, and thither thou shalt come: And thither ye shall bring your burnt offerings, and your sacrifices, and your tithes, and heave offerings of your hand, and your vows, and your freewill offerings, and the firstlings of your herds and of your flocks: And there ye shall eat before the LORD your God, and ye shall rejoice in all that ye put your hand unto, ye and your households, wherein the LORD thy God hath blessed thee. Ye shall not do after all the things that we do here this day, every man whatsoever is right in his own eyes. For ye are not as yet come to the rest and to the inheritance, which the LORD your God giveth you. But when ye go over Jordan, and dwell in the land which the LORD your God giveth you to inherit, and when he giveth you rest from all your enemies round about, so that ye dwell in safety; Then there shall be a place which the LORD your God shall choose to cause his name to dwell there; thither shall ye bring all that I command you; your burnt offerings, and your sacrifices, your tithes, and the heave offering of your hand, and all your choice vows which ye vow unto the LORD: And ye shall rejoice before the LORD your God, ye, and your sons, and your daughters, and your menservants, and your maidservants, and the Levite that is within your gates; forasmuch as he hath no part nor inheritance with you. Take heed to thyself that thou offer not thy burnt offerings in every place that thou seest: But in the place which the LORD shall choose in one of thy tribes, there thou shalt offer thy burnt offerings, and there thou shalt do all that I command thee.

Thou shalt truly tithe all the increase of thy seed, that the field bringeth forth year by year. And thou shalt eat before the LORD thy God, in the place which he shall choose to place his name there, the tithe of thy corn, of thy wine, and of thine oil, and the firstlings of thy herds and of thy flocks; that thou mayest learn to fear the LORD thy God always. And if the way be too long for thee, so that thou art not able to carry it; or if the place be too far from thee, which the LORD thy God shall choose to set his name there, when the LORD thy God hath blessed thee: Then shalt thou turn it into money, and bind up the money in thine hand, and shalt go unto the place which the LORD thy God shall choose:

Observe the month of Abib, and keep the passover unto the LORD thy God: for in the month of Abib the LORD thy God brought thee forth out of Egypt by night. Thou shalt therefore sacrifice the passover unto the LORD thy God, of the flock and the herd, in the place which the LORD shall choose to place his name there. Thou shalt eat no leavened bread with it; seven days shalt thou eat unleavened bread therewith, even the bread of affliction; for thou camest forth out of the land of Egypt in haste: that thou mayest remember the day when thou camest forth out of the land of Egypt all the days of thy life. And there shall be no leavened bread seen with thee in all thy coast seven days; neither shall there anything of the flesh, which thou sacrificedst the first day at even, Thou mayest not sacrifice the passover within any of thy gates, which the LORD thy God giveth thee: But at the place which the LORD thy God shall choose to place his name in, there thou shalt sacrifice the passover at even, at the going down of the sun, at the season that thou camest forth out of Egypt. And thou shalt roast and eat it in the place which the LORD thy God shall choose: and thou shalt turn in the morning, and go unto thy tents. Six days thou shalt eat unleavened bread: and on the seventh day shall be a solemn assembly to the LORD thy God: thou shalt do no work therein. Seven weeks shalt thou number unto thee: begin to number the seven weeks from such time as thou beginnest to put the sickle to the corn. And thou shalt keep the feast of weeks unto the LORD thy God with a tribute of a freewill offering of thine hand, which thou shalt give unto the LORD thy God, according as the LORD thy God hath blessed thee: And thou shalt rejoice before the LORD thy God, thou, and thy son, and thy daughter, and thy manservant, and thy maidservant, and the Levite that is within thy gates, and the stranger, and the fatherless, and the widow, that are among you, in the place which the LORD thy God hath chosen to place his name there. And thou shalt remember that thou wast a bondman in Egypt: and thou shalt observe and do these statutes. Thou shalt observe the feast of tabernacles seven days, after that thou hast gathered in thy corn and thy wine: And thou shalt rejoice in thy feast, thou, and thy son, and thy daughter, and thy manservant, and thy maidservant, and the Levite, the stranger, and the fatherless, and the widow, that are within thy gates. Seven days shalt thou keep a solemn feast unto the LORD thy God in the place which the LORD shall choose: because the LORD thy God shall bless thee in all thine increase, and in all the works of thine hands, therefore thou shalt surely rejoice. Three times in a year shall all thy males appear before the LORD thy God in the place which he shall choose; in the feast of unleavened bread, and in the feast of weeks, and in the feast of tabernacles: and they shall not appear before the LORD empty:

If there arise a matter too hard for thee in judgment, between blood and blood, between plea and plea, and between stroke and stroke, being matters of controversy within thy gates: then shalt thou arise, and get thee up into the place which the LORD thy God shall choose; And thou shalt come unto the priests the Levites, and unto the judge that shall be in those days, and inquire; and they shall shew thee the sentence of judgment: And thou shalt do according to the sentence, which they of that place which the LORD shall choose shall shew thee; and thou shalt observe to do according to all that they inform thee: According to the sentence of the law which they shall teach thee, and according to the judgment which they shall tell thee, thou shalt do: thou shalt not decline from the sentence which they shall shew thee, to the right hand, nor to the left. And the man that will do presumptuously, and will not hearken unto the priest that standeth to minister there before the LORD thy God, or unto the judge, even that man shall die: and thou shalt put away the evil from Israel.
Deuteronomy, Catholic chapter twelve, Protestant verses one to fourteen,
Deuteronomy, Catholic chapter fourteen, Protestant verses twenty two to twenty five,
Deuteronomy, Catholic chapter sixteen, Protestant verses one to sixteen,
Deuteronomy, Catholic chapter seventeen, Protestant verses eight to twelve,
as authorized, but not authored, by King James

The only one holy assembly that exists is Yeshua’s invisible assembly. The “catholic” church and every other church are just corporations of men’s heresy, worshiping men and the creations of men, and feigning worship of the Father and the son, but ignoring the commandments that he gave us.

False; the one holy catholic and apostolic church, like Israel, has a visible presence on earth as the Apostles were given authority by the Messiah.

Moreover if thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone: if he shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother. But if he will not hear thee, then take with thee one or two more, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established. And if he shall neglect to hear them, tell it unto the church: but if he neglect to hear the church, let him be unto thee as an heathen man and a publican. Verily I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.
Matthew, Catholic chapter eighteen, Protestant verses fifteen to eighteen,
as authorized, but not authored, by King James

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[af_vet_1981]

After the restoration of the Second Temple (352 BCE), should be (552 BCE). The error is in the original linked article.

[jjotto]

http://www.aish.com/jl/h/cc/48938582.html

...The rebuilding of the Temple, which had began under Cyrus when the Persians first took over the Babylonian empire, and which was then interrupted for 18 years, resumed with blessing of Darius II, the Persian king whom we believe to be the son of Esther.

The work is completed in 350 BCE and the Temple is re-dedicated...

[editor-surveyor]

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I’m not perplexed by anything in the word of God, because I’m not catholic, I understand it.

Had you ever read Deuteronomy, you would know that each tribe had authorization to have their own altar after they re-occupied the land. This is the basis of every synagogue, not man made “tradition,” which the word of God prohibits.

Torah, Good; Tradition, BAD!
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[af_vet_1981]

I’m not perplexed by anything in the word of God, because I’m not catholic, I understand it.

Had you ever read Deuteronomy, you would know that each tribe had authorization to have their own altar after they re-occupied the land. This is the basis of every synagogue, not man made “tradition,” which the word of God prohibits.

Torah, Good; Tradition, BAD!

False; I have already proven otherwise. From which modern sect does your doctrine originate ? Do you claim to be a Samaritan ? Is there any bona fide Protestant derived faith community that agrees with you ?

[editor-surveyor]

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You’ve proven nothing.

Catholic fantasy has nothing to do with God’s word.
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[af_vet_1981]

http://www.aish.com/jl/h/cc/48938582.html

...The rebuilding of the Temple, which had began under Cyrus when the Persians first took over the Babylonian empire, and which was then interrupted for 18 years, resumed with blessing of Darius II, the Persian king whom we believe to be the son of Esther.

I think I see the issue. We are using different timeline dates. Chabad dates the destruction of the First Temple to 423 BCE, with construction of the Second Temple commencing in 353 BCE and finishing in 349 BCE. Other sources put the dates at 586/7, 538/9, and 516 BCE respectively. Therefor the date in the Chabad link is correct for the timeline they use.

[jjotto]

I thought that might be the case, but wasn’t sure. The ‘missing years’ is quite a subject on its own.

[roamer_1]

[...] resumed with blessing of Darius II, the Persian king whom we believe to be the son of Esther.

AHA! Eureka!

Awesome.

: )

[Cronos]

The word, in the Greek, is Adelphos. There were no words in Aramaic for uncle, cousin, any kind of near relative, they were all referred to as “brethren” or “brothers”. When it was put into Greek, they used the same word for everything, even though there are different Greek words for brother, cousin, uncle, etc.

The word used in Biblical Greek that is translated as brothers in English is Adelphos:

Adelphos: denotes a brother, or near kinsman; in the plural, a community based on identity of origin or life. It is use of:

1. male children of the same parents . . .

2. male descendants of the same parents (Acts 7:23, 26; Hebrews 7:5)

3. people of the same nationality (Acts 3:17, 22; Romans 9:3)

4. any man, a neighbor (Luke 10:29; Matthew 5:22, 7:3)

5. persons united by a common interest (Matthew 5:47)

6. persons united by a common calling (Revelation 22:9)

7. mankind (Matthew 25:40; Hebrews 2:17)

8. the disciples, and so, by implication, all believers (Matthew 28:10; John 20:17)

9. believers, apart from sex (Matthew 23:8, Acts 1:15; Romans 1:13; 1 Thessalonians 1:4; Revelation 19:10

In the King James Version, Jacob is called the “brother” of his Uncle Laban (Gen. 20:15; 29:10). The same thing occurs with regard to Lot and Abraham (Gen. 14:14; 11:26-27). The Revised Standard Version uses “kinsman at 29:15 and 14:14.