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Thursday, August 15, 2024

Understanding “የጌታ ወንድሞችና እኅቶች” in the Holy Bible: EOTC Perspective, Part I


The Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church (EOTC) possesses a clear interpretation of the concept of “የጌታ ወንድሞችና እኅቶች” articulated in biblical texts. The Church clarifies that the term “የጌታ ወንድሞችና እኅቶች” does not refer to the biological children of Mary, the mother of Christ the Lord.

In Matthew 13:54-55 it is written: “ወደ ገዛ አገሩም መጥቶ እስኪገረሙ ድረስ በምኩራባቸው ያስተምራቸው ነበር፤ እንዲህም አሉ፦ ይህን ጥበብና ተአምራት ይህ ከወዴት አገኘው? ይህ የጸራቢ ልጅ አይደለምን? እናቱስ ማርያም ትባል የለምን? ወንድሞቹስ ያዕቆብና ዮሳ ስምዖንም ይሁዳም አይደሉምን?”

Some readers mistakenly interpret that the mother of "ወንድሞቹስ" mentioned in the verse above is the same as Mary, the mother of Christ, which leads them to the idea that she had other children. However, a closer examination of the Scriptures reveals the following insights.

In Matthew 27:55-56 it reads: “ኢየሱስን እያገለገሉ ከገሊላ የተከተሉት ብዙ ሴቶች በሩቅ ሆነው ሲመለከቱ በዚያ ነበሩ፤ ከእነርሱም መግደላዊት ማርያምና የያዕቆብና የዮሳ እናት ማርያም የዘብዴዎስም የልጆቹ እናት ነበሩ።

Here, there are two women named Mary and one other woman:

  1. መግደላዊት ማርያም (Mary Magdalene)
  2. የያዕቆብና የዮሳ እናት ማርያም (Mary, the mother of James and Joses)
  3. የዘብዴዎስ የልጆቹ እናት (The mother of the sons of Zebedee)

Similarly, Mark 15:40-41 states: “ሴቶችም ደግሞ በሩቅ ሆነው ይመለከቱ ነበር፤ ከእነርሱም በገሊላ ሳለ ይከተሉትና ያገለግሉት የነበሩ መግደላዊት ማርያም የታናሹ ያዕቆብና የዮሳም እናት ማርያም ሰሎሜም ነበሩ፡፡

Again here, two Marys and another woman, Salome, are mentioned.

  1. መግደላዊት ማርያም (Mary Magdalene)
  2. የታናሹ ያዕቆብና የዮሳም እናት ማርያም (Mary, the mother of James the Less and Joses)
  3. ሰሎሜ (Salome)

Finally, Luke 24:10 states: "ይህንም ለሐዋርያት የነገሩአቸው መግደላዊት ማርያምና ዮሐና የያዕቆብም እናት ማርያም ከእነርሱም ጋር የነበሩት ሌሎች ሴቶች ነበሩ::”

Here, we also encounter two Marys, Joanna and other women:

  1. መግደላዊት ማርያም (Mary Magdalene)
  2. ዮሐና (Joanna)
  3. የያዕቆብም እናት ማርያም (Mary, the mother of James)
  4. ሌሎች ሴቶች (Other women)

Yet again, some individuals mistakenly interpret the verses above, asserting that Mary, the mother of ያዕቆብ and ዮሳ (James and Joses), is the same person as Mary, the mother of Christ, which leads them to claim that Mary, the mother of Christ, had other children.

However, this belief is not accurate, as the following verse clearly distinguishes Mary, the mother of Christ, from Mary, the wife of Cleophas (who is also the mother of ያዕቆብ and ዮሳ), and Mary Magdalene—all of whom are mentioned together in the same passage.

ነገር ግን በኢየሱስ መስቀል አጠገብ እናቱ የእናቱም እኅት የቀለዮጳም ሚስት ማርያም መግደላዊት ማርያም ቆመው ነበር::”( John 19:25)

Mary, the wife of Cleophas (የቀለዮጳ ሚስት ማርያም), mentioned in John 19:25, is the same person as Mary, the mother of ያዕቆብ, ዮሳ, ስምዖን, and ይሁዳ, referenced in Matthew 13:54-55. Thus, the term “ወንድሞቹስ” as noted in Matthew 13:54-55—“እናቱስ ማርያም ትባል የለምን? ወንድሞቹስ ያዕቆብና ዮሳ ስምዖንም ይሁዳም አይደሉምን?”—refers to the children of Mary, the wife of Cleophas, not to Mary, the mother of Christ.

How did Mary, the wife of Cleophas, become known as the mother of ያዕቆብ, ዮሳ, ስምዖን, and ይሁዳ? The upcoming essay will explore this question in depth.

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