- -, BibleTranslation discussion list, [], Mike Sangrey (Fri, 11 Mar 2005): Looking at the Greek text, and structuring it, notice how there is no
KAI between the second and third phrase.
THKEISAN DE PARA TWi STAURWi TOU IHSOU
hH MHTHR AUTOU
KAI hH ADELFH THS MHTROS AUTOU, MARIA hH TOU KLWPA
KAI MARIA hH MAGDALHNH
I would think this would argue for a total of three women. However,
things get a little interesting when you try to harmonize the accounts.
Matthew 27:56
(1) Mary Magdalene
(2) Mary the mother of James and Joseph
(3) unnamed mother of Zebedee's sons
Mark 15:40
(1) Mary Magdalene
(2) Mary mother of James the younger and Joseph
(3) Salome
If we assume Salome was the mother of Zebedee's sons and therefore of
John, and she was the sister of Mary, that would make John Jesus' cousin
and, furthermore, John might have been reticent to name his mother as
being there with a crucified, convicted insurgent in order to protect
her. That's reasonable.
However, when harmonizing these accounts in order to form some cohesive
story, you have to do something with:
(1) Zebedee's mom (Matthew)
(2) Salome (Mark)
(3) Jesus' aunt (John)
(4) Mary who was somehow related to Clopas (likely his wife) (John)
If Jesus' aunt was Salome and John was Jesus' cousin, then you've
harmonized the first three.
Additionally, if you assume three women, you end up with Jesus' aunt and
mother having the same first name. That is not likely.
It appears, then, that the simplest construction (Occam's razor) is to
assume there are four women in John's account.
Then, why is it that John constructed the Greek the way he did? I often
picture a stage when I'm reading the text. It may be that John wishes
to stand Jesus' mom next to his own mother with Mary Magdalene and
Clopas' wife next to each other. If I was choreographing a play, I
would do it this way. It would simply look better. But we can't be
sure.
, [], Whether Christ's Mother remained a virgin after His birth?
Vertaling Bijbel, Kanttekeningen SV, [], Onder dewelke was Maria Magdalena, en Maria, [48]de moeder van Jakobus en Joses, en [49]de moeder der zonen van Zebedeus. 48. Zie van deze hfdst.13 vs.55. 49. Zie ook van deze hfdst.20 vs.20.