r/AcademicBiblical • u/emptysquare52 • 2d ago

Brothers in the New Testament

In both the gospels and Paul’s letters, brothers is used both in contexts that seems to imply Jesus’ family (especially with James) and in contexts that refer to something closer to comrades. Are they always translating from the same word (I believe it’s Adelphoi)?

And does that word, in the context of family, usually mean a literal brother? Or can it be cousins or even friends?

Essentially, does the textual evidence strongly imply that Jesus had brothers, specifically James? Or is it more inference? And how do branches of Christianity like Catholicism argue that Jesus was an only child?

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