Understanding "የጌታ ወንድሞችና እኅቶች" in the Holy Bible: EOTC Perspective III

In Parts I and II of this essay, we examined the term "ወንድሞቹስ" found in Matthew 13:54-55, which says: "እናቱስ ማርያም ትባል የለምን? ወንድሞቹስ ያዕቆብና ዮሳ ስምዖንም ይሁዳም አይደሉምን?" We clarified that this term refers to the children of Mary, the wife of Cleophas (Alphaeus), rather than Mary, the mother of Christ. In this third part, we explore the different types of brotherhood (ወንድማማችነት) described in the Holy Bible.

The Bible identifies four types of brotherhood:

1. Sibling by Birth (በመወለድ ወንድምነት): This type of brotherhood involves sharing the same mother and father. Examples include Jacob and Esau (ያዕቆብና ኤሳው)  (Genesis 25:23-28), the twelve sons of Jacob (Genesis 35:22-26), and the apostles Andrew and Peter (John 1:41).
2. Brotherhood by Clan (የወገን ወንድምነት): Here, brotherhood is based on belonging to the same clan. The Israelites, for example, are referred to as brothers due to their descent from Abraham. “እናንተ ወንድሞቻችን፥ የአብርሃም ዘር ልጆች ከእናንተ መካከልም እግዚአብሔርን የምትፈሩ ሆይ፥ ለእናንተ የዚህ የመዳን ቃል ተላከ።” (Acts 13 : 26).

 "አንተም ወንድምህን ዕብራዊውን ወይም ዕብራዊቱን ብትገዛ ስድስት ዓመት ያገልግሉህ።" (Deuteronomy 15:12)

"የወንድምህ በሬ ወይም በግ ጠፍቶ ብታይ ቸል አትበል፤ ወደ ወንድምህ መልሰው።" (Deuteronomy 22:1)

"አምላክህ እግዚአብሔር የመረጠውን በላይህ ታነግሣለህ፤ ከወንድሞችህ መካከል የሆነውን በአንተ ላይ ንጉሥ ታነግሣለህ፤ ወንድምህ ያልሆነውን ከሌላ ወገን ሰው በላይህ ንጉሥ ታደርግ ዘንድ አይገባህም።. (Deuteronomy 17:15)

3. Brotherhood by Flesh (በሥጋ ዝምድና ወንድምነት): This type refers to kinship or close family relations. For instance, Lot is called Abraham's brother, though he is technically his nephew (የወንድም ልጅ) (Genesis 12:3-5, 13:8, 14:12-14).

Similarly, as stated in Mark 15:40-41 “ከእነርሱም በገሊላ ሳለ ይከተሉትና ያገለግሉት የነበሩ መግደላዊት ማርያም የታናሹ ያዕቆብና የዮሳም እናት ማርያም ሰሎሜም ነበሩ።” and in John 19:25 “ነገር ግን በኢየሱስ መስቀል አጠገብ እናቱ ፣ የእናቱም እኅት የቀለዮጳም ሚስት ማርያም ፣ መግደላዊት ማርያም ቆመው ነበር”, as well as in Matthew 13:54-55 “…ወንድሞቹስ ያዕቆብና ዮሳ ስምዖንም ይሁዳም አይደሉምን?”, James the Less (ታናሹ ያዕቆብ), Jude (ይሁዳ), Simeon (ስምዖን), and Joses (ዮሳ), the sons of Mary, the sister of the Virgin Mary, are refred to as brothers of Jesus due to their close kinship.

4. Brotherhood of Love (የፍቅር ወንድምነት): This type of brotherhood signifies spiritual unity, as seen in verses like Psalm 133:1, "ወንድሞች በኅብረት ቢቀመጡ፥ እነሆ፥ መልካም ነው፥ እነሆም፥ ያማረ ነው።"

 John 20:17: "ገና ወደ አባቴ አላረግሁምና አትንኪኝ፤ ነገር ግን ወደ ወንድሞቼ ሄደሽ..."

Psalm 22:22: “ስምህን ለወንድሞቼ እነግራቸዋለሁ፥ በጉባኤም መካከል አመሰግንሃለሁ።"

Saint Paul also states, “አሁን ግን ወንድሞች ከሚባሉት አንዱ ሴሰኛ ወይም ገንዘብን የሚመኝ ወይም ጣዖትን የሚያመልክ ወይም ተሳዳቢ ወይም ሰካር ወይም ነጣቂ ቢሆን ከእርሱ ጋር እንዳትተባበሩ እጽፍላችኋለሁ፤ እንደነዚህ ካለው ጋር መብል እንኳን አትብሉ።" (1 Cor. 5:11)

In conclusion, the term "ወንድሞች" in the Bible can have multiple meanings based on its context and does not always denote sibling brothers. Understanding these distinctions requires careful interpretation and the guidance of the Holy Spirit, which helps to reveal the deeper mysteries and insights of the Scriptures.