Knowing The Word in Matthew 27:55-56
The Other Women
55 There were also many women there, looking on from a distance, who had followed Jesus from Galilee, ministering to him, 56 among whom were Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of James and Joseph and the mother of the sons of Zebedee. [Who exactly are these women?]
To the careful reader, Matthew’s “other Mary,” Mark’s “Salome,” and John’s “Mary the wife of Clopas,” give keys to identifying three of the women at the cross we find in these gospels. All three gospels agree on Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Jesus being there. But who are the others?
One is called
by Matthew: “the mother of the sons of Zebedee:
by Mark: “Salome”
by John: “Jesus’ mother’s sister”
From this we can deduce that Salome is the sister of Jesus’ mother, wife of Zebedee, and mother of James and John, the beloved disciple. This makes James and John first cousins with Jesus. This also helps us make sense of Salome asking Jesus to seat her sons on his left and right in the kingdom.
Another, Mary, is called
by Matthew: “the mother of James and Joseph” or “the other Mary”
by Mark: “the mother of James the younger and of Joses” or “the mother of Joses” or “the mother of James”
by John: “the wife of Clopas”
From this we can deduce that the other Mary was married to Clopas and has two sons, James the younger and Joses. But going further is complicated. Nothing more is known of Joses, but James the “younger” or “less” is most likely a title used to distinguish him from an older James, namely James the brother of John, because two apostles have the same name. This second James is described in all four lists of the apostles as “of Alphaeus,” which normally means “the son of Alphaeus.” This raises the question of whether Alphaeus and Clopas are different versions of the same name in Aramaic, which would usually be transliterated as “Chalphai.” The first letter transliterated in Greek could be either as a “k”, giving Clopas, or as an “h”, which in Greek was often dropped, giving the name “Halphaios” or “Alphaios,” which Latinized becomes “Alphaeus.” Together the two seeming probabilities add up to one firm probability.
Taken further, Clopas can also be equated with Cleopas, the nearest Greek name to Clopas, and it seems likely that Luke is referring to this same person when narrating the Emmaus Road story. If this be the case, then the first man to see the risen Lord was the husband of the other Mary who saw Jesus die on the cross and who watched his burial and who came early to the tomb and herself had seen the risen Lord (28:1).
Our next piece of evidence comes from the great historian of the early church, Eusebius of Caesarea, who wrote his “Ecclesiastical History” towards the beginning of the fourth century. He writes:
After the martyrdom of James, and the capture of Jerusalem, which immediately followed, it is reported, that those of the apostles and the disciples of our Lord, that were yet surviving, came together from all parts with those that were related to our Lord according to the flesh. . . . They all unanimously declared Simeon the son of Clopas, of whom mention is made in the sacred volume, as worthy of the episcopal seat there. They saw he was the cousin of our Savior, for Hegesippus asserts that Clopas was the brother of Joseph.
If Clopas, therefore is the brother of Joseph, the father of Jesus, then he is Jesus’ uncle and the first man to see the risen Lord. What we find is that the circle around Jesus is filled with his family.