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JOSES ( Ἰùóῆò , éåֹñִé , a shortened form of éåֹñִó , ‘he adds’; cf. Gen_30:24. The identity of the two names is doubted by Lightfoot [.3 [Note: designates the particular edition of the work referred] 261, note 1], chiefly on the ground of the use of different forms in the Peshitta; but Dalman [Gram. Aram. 75] rightly views éåñé as a dialectical, and probably Galilaean, abbreviation of éåñó . The names are apparently interchangeable [cf. Mat_13:55 with Mar_6:3]; in Mat_27:56 WH [Note: H Westcott and Hort’s text.] and Nestle with Tisch. read ἸùóÞö , and in all the passages there is textual evidence, sufficiently strong not to be overlooked, for the name rejected).—1. A brother of Jesus (Mar_6:3). This brother is not mentioned anywhere else except in the above passage of Matthew (Mat_27:56). For views as to his real relationship see Hasting's Dictionary of the Bible i. 320 ff., and art. Brethren of the Lord in present work. 2. The brother of James the Little (Mat_27:56, Mar_15:40; Mar_15:47). The name of Joses stands alone in the last passage, but that of his better known brother is substituted by the ‘Western’ text. The father was Clopas (Joh_19:25); but of him, as of his son Joses, nothing certain is known. Both must have been familiar to the members of the early Christian community; but the Syriac versions are against the identification of Clopas with Alphaeus, and Hegesippus does not say enough (Eus. Historia Ecclesiastica iii. 11) to warrant the conclusion that Joses was a nephew of Joseph of Nazareth.
R. W. Moss.