Archaic Christianity

Well, he had a σκέπαρνον ("axe") anyway. So I read only one more chapter (#9) in the Protoevangelium of James today. My cold/flu/crud pretty much kept me down today.

So Jesus has brothers, right? Were these brothers the children of Mary and Joseph or just the children of Joseph from a previous marriage? Well, in the Protoevangelium you get the answer of at least some early tradition. When Joseph is told that he was chosen to take Mary into his keeping, he replies with the following:

ἀντεῖπε δὲ Ἰωσὴφ λέγων· υἱοὺς ἔχω καὶ πρεσβύτης εἰμί, αὕτη δὲ νεωτέρα. μήπως κατάγελως γένωμαι τοῖς υἱοῖς Ἰσραήλ.

Now Joseph refused, saying "I have sons and I am an old dude, and she is a young woman. This will make me a mockery among the sons of Israel.

See. I told you this writer has a fascination with μήπως.

So there you have it. Whoever wrote this document thought that Jesus's brothers were from another marriage.