More Information about Clopas, Symeon, Joseph and Mary

122 Eusebius, which seemed to assign his martyrdom with that of Ignatius to the 9th or 10th year of Trajan, Simeon’s death has been assigned to 107 or 108. Bishop Lightfoot has shown good reason for placing it earlier in Trajan’s reign (Lightfoot, Ignatius, i. 21, 58–60, ii. 442–450). Hegesippus says that in his 121st year Simeon was accused before Atticus, then proconsul, by certain Jewish sectaries, first, that being of the line of David, he was a possible claimant of the throne of his royal ancestor, and secondly that he was a Christian. He was tortured for many days in succession, and bore his sufferings with a firmness which astonished all the beholders, especially Atticus himself, who marveled at such endurance in one so advanced in age. Finally he was ordered to be crucified (Eus. H. E. iii. 32). [Rev. Canon E. Venables wrote this article on “Simeon” in: A Dictionary of Early Christian Biography. p. 904. Henry Wace, Gen. Ed. Public Domain. Hypertexted and formatted for the Accordance Bible Search program by OakTree Software, Inc. Version 1.1. boldface added]

More Information about Clopas, Symeon, Joseph and Mary

Smith’s Bible Dictionary (William Smith)

Cleopas (of a renowned father), one of the two disciples who were going to Emmaus on the day of the resurrection (Luke 24:18). Some think the same as Cleophas in John 19:25. But they are probably two different persons. Cleopas is a Greek name, contracted from Cleopater, while Cleophas, or Clopas as in the Revised Version, is an Aramaic name, the same as Alphaeus.

Cleophas, Revised Version Clo’pas, the husband of Mary the sister of Virgin Mary. (John 19:25) He was probably dead before Jesus’ ministry began, for his wife and children constantly appear with Joseph’s family in the time of our Lord’s ministry. [William Smith, A Dictionary of the Bible, 1889. Public Domain. Electronic Text Downloaded from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library. http:// www.ccel.org Formatted and corrected by OakTree Software, Inc. Version 1.4]

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (James Orr)

Clopas; Cleophas (Gk. KLOPAS): The former in RV, the latter in AV, of Jn 19:25, for the name of the husband of one of the women who stood by the cross of Christ. Upon the philological ground of a variety in pronunciation of the Hebrew root, [it is] sometimes identified with Alpheus, the father of James the Less. Said by tradition to have been the brother of Joseph, the husband of Mary... Distinguished from Cleopas, a Greek word, while Clopas is Aramaic. [James Orr, Gen. Ed., The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, 1915 edition. Parts of the electronic text hypertexted and prepared by OakTree Software, Inc., Version 2.2]

Expositor’s Bible Commentary

John 19:25-27 The harsh brutality of the scene is softened by the allusion to Jesus’ care for his mother. Four women are mentioned here: Mary, the wife of Clopas; Mary Magdalene; Mary, the mother of Jesus; and his mother’s sister, who was presumably Salome, the mother of James and John (cf. Matt 27:56; Mark 10:35; 15:40). The identity of Mary of Clopas is uncertain. She may have been the wife or daughter of Clopas. If she were the former, a question arises whether Clopas and Alphaeus, who was the father of James the younger (Mark 3:18), were identical. Most of these women were related in some way to the Twelve and were among Jesus’ most loyal followers. Mary of Magdala appears in Luke’s list of those who helped support Jesus by their contributions (Luke 8:2). There is nothing in the NT to imply that she was of loose moral character. “Magdalene” refers to her home in Magdala, a town on the western side of the Sea of Galilee, named probably from the Hebrew migdol, or “watchtower.” [Merrill C. Tenney, John (The Expositor’s Bible Commentary. Vol. 9; ed. Frank E. Gaebelein and J. D. Douglas; Accordance electronic ed. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1984). Electronic text hypertexted and prepared by OakTree Software, Inc. Version 1.7]

Adam Clarke’s Commentary

John 19:25. Mary the wife of Cleophas. She is said, in Matthew 27:56, (see the note there,) and

123 Mark 15:40, to have been the mother of James the Less, and of Joses; and this James her son is said, in Matt. 10:3, to have been the son of Alpheus; hence it seems that Alpheus and Cleopas were the same person. To which may be added, that Hegesippus is quoted by Eusebius, Hist. Eccl. l.; iii.; c. 11, as saying that Cleopas was the brother of Joseph, the husband of the virgin. Theophylact says that Cleopas, (brother of Joseph, the husband of the virgin,) having died childless, his brother Joseph married his widow, by whom he had four sons, called by the evangelists the brothers of our Lord, and two daughters, the one named Salome, the other Mary, the daughter of Cleopas, because she was his daughter according to law, though she was the daughter of Joseph according to nature. There are several conjectures equally well founded with this last to be met with in the ancient commentators; but, in many cases, it is very difficult to distinguish the different Marys mentioned by the evangelists.

Easton’s Bible Dictionary (M. G. Easton)

Alphaeus: (1) The father of James the Less, the apostle and writer of the epistle (Matt. 10:3; Mark 3:18; Luke 6:15; Acts 1:13), and the husband of Mary (John 19:25). The Hebrew form of this name is Cleopas, or Clopas (q.v.). (2) The father of Levi, or Matthew (Mark 2:14).

Brother: ... Brethren of Jesus (Matt. 1:25; 12:46, 50: Mark 3:31, 32; Gal. 1:19; 1 Cor. 9:5, etc.) were probably the younger children of Joseph and Mary. Some have supposed that they may have been the children of Joseph by a former marriage, and others that they were the children of Mary, the Virgin’s sister, and wife of Cleophas. The first interpretation, however, is the most natural.

Cleopas: (abbreviation of Cleopatros), one of the two disciples with whom Jesus conversed on the way to Emmaus on the day of the resurrection (Luke 24:18). We know nothing definitely regarding him. It is not certain that he was the Clopas of John 19:25, or the Alphaeus of Matt. 10:3, although he may have been so.

Cleophas: (in the spelling of this word “h” is inserted by mistake from Latin MSS.), rather Cleopas, which is the Greek form of the word, while Clopas is the Aramaic form. In John 19:25 the Authorized Version reads, “Mary, the wife of Clopas.” The word “wife” is conjecturally inserted here. If “wife” is rightly inserted, then Mary was the mother of James the Less, and Clopas is the same as Alphaeus (Matt. 10:3; 27:56).

James: The son of Alphaeus, or Cleopas, “the brother” or near kinsman or cousin of our Lord (Gal. 1:18, 19), called James “the Less,” or “the Little,” probably because he was of low stature. He is mentioned along with the other apostles (Matt. 10:3; Mark 3:18; Luke 6:15). He had a separate interview with our Lord after his resurrection (1 Cor. 15:7), and is mentioned as one of the apostles of the circumcision (Acts 1:13). He appears to have occupied the position of head of the Church at Jerusalem, where he presided at the council held to consider the case of the Gentiles (Acts 12:17; 15:13-29: 21:18- 24). This James was the author of the epistle which bears his name.

Mary: the wife of Cleopas is mentioned (John 19:25) as standing at the cross in company with Mary of Magdala and Mary the mother of Jesus. By comparing Matt. 27:56 and Mark 15:40, we find that this Mary and “Mary the mother of James the little” are one and the same person, and that she was the sister of our Lord’s mother. She was that “other Mary” who was present with Mary of Magdala at the burial of our Lord (Matt. 27:61; Mark 15:47); and she was one of those who went early in the morning of the first day of the week to anoint the body, and thus became one of the first witnesses of the resurrection (Matt. 28:1; Mark 16:1; Luke 24:1).

Mary: the mother of John Mark was one of the earliest of our Lord’s disciples. She was the sister of Barnabas (Col. 4:10), and joined with him in disposing of their land and giving the proceeds of the sale into the treasury of the Church (Acts 4:37; 12:12). Her house in Jerusalem was the common meeting- place for the disciples there. [M.G. Easton M.A., D.D., Illustrated Bible Dictionary, Third Edition, published by Thomas Nelson, 1897. Electronic text downloaded from the Bible Foundation e-Text Library: http://www.bf.org/ bfetexts.htm Hypertexted and formatted by OakTree Software, Inc. Version 3.2]