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His Siblings

Faith Q&A › Metropolitan Youssef › Our Lord and the Faith › His Siblings

The question

"For Jesus Himself, our Master and Lord, when He sent out the twelve to make disciples of the people and of the nations, nowhere sent out women to preach-even though there was no lack of women available. For there were with Him the mother of our Lord and His sisters; Mary Magdalene; Mary the mother of James; Martha and Mary, the sisters of Lazarus; Salome; and certain others..." (Apostolic Constitutions compiled c.390). What does 'sisters' mean if the Lord Jesus Christ did not have any siblings?

The answer

The exact meaning of certain idioms, such as "sister," in the holy Scripture is of Greek origin, and can be interpreted as being closely connected to a woman, like a sister, because of certain attributes, whether ideologically, philosophically, culturally, religiously, or even as distant relatives, etc.), but not necessarily to mean a close biological relative, nor as a wife.

Answered by His Eminence Metropolitan Youssef (opens in a new tab)

Related questions

Questions answered by His Eminence Metropolitan Youssef (opens in a new tab) of the Coptic Orthodox Diocese of the Southern United States. Question 1654 on the Diocese’s Q&A site. Questions and answers © Coptic Orthodox Diocese of the Southern United States. All rights reserved.