The apparent tension between scriptural references to Jesus' "brethren" — including James the Just — and the patristic doctrine of Mary's perpetual virginity is one of the oldest exegetical puzzles in Christian theology. Three interpretive traditions emerged early: (1) the Epiphanian view, that James and the other "brethren" were sons of Joseph by a prior marriage; (2) the Hieronymian (Jeromian) view, that they were cousins of Jesus — children of Mary's sister, the "other Mary" of the Gospels; and (3) the minority Helvidian view, condemned by Jerome and others, that Mary and Joseph had normal marital relations after Jesus' birth. Jerome's exegesis of "first-born" (as "womb-opener" per Levitical law, not implying subsequent siblings) and Chrysostom's exegesis of "till" in Matthew 1:25 (as emphasizing the miraculous birth, not implying subsequent relations) became the standard patristic tools for resolving the textual hurdles. Aquinas synthesized the tradition, explicitly identifying the "brethren" as cousins through Mary's sister, and dismissing both Helvidius's biological-sibling reading and any implication that Joseph fathered them. The question remains live in Protestant-Catholic dialogue, with most Protestant exegetes accepting the Helvidian reading while Catholic and Orthodox traditions hold the Jeromian or Epiphanian interpretations.
"Every only begotten son is a first-born son, but not every first-born is an only begotten. By first-born we understand not only one who is succeeded by others, but one who has had no predecessor." Jerome argues "first-born" is a Levitical designation for the womb-opener (cf. Numbers 3:12), not a numerical claim implying subsequent children. Against Helvidius he identifies the "brethren" as cousins through Mary's sister — the standard Western Catholic resolution.
"He hath here used the word 'till,' not that thou shouldest suspect that afterwards he did know her, but to inform thee that before the birth the Virgin was wholly untouched by man." Chrysostom reads "he knew her not till she had brought forth her first-born Son" (Matt 1:25) as emphasizing the miraculous nature of the birth, not implying subsequent marital relations. He also identifies the "brethren" as Joseph's sons by a prior marriage, consistent with the Epiphanian tradition. (NPNF1-10)
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