Early readings of Galatians 1: the curse, and James the Lord’s brother
Says Paul says, “even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be under a curse” (Gal 1:8), and names “James, the Lord’s brother” (1:19). Mark 6:3 calls Jesus “the son of Mary and the brother of James, Joses, Judas, and Simon”.
Chrysostom observes that “to obviate the objection that he was prompted by vainglory to applaud his own doctrine, he includes himself also in his anathema”. Eusebius says James “was called the brother of the Lord because he was known as a son of Joseph, and Joseph was supposed to be the father of Christ”, the one “to whom the episcopal seat at Jerusalem had been entrusted by the apostles”. Calvin reports that “others think that he was the son of Joseph by another wife”, and Lightfoot finds “the balance of the argument is against the Helvidian” and for this view, which he calls the Epiphanian. Chrysostom calls James “the Lord’s brother,” “although he was not by birth His brother, but only so reputed”, and Calvin thinks it “far more probable, that the person of whom he is speaking is the son of Alpheus”. For Burton the Gospel birth narratives “naturally imply that the early church knew of children of Mary younger than Jesus.” These are their readings.
Uncertain In what sense James was “the Lord’s brother” (1:19; cf. Mark 6:3) is open; these readings do not fix the meaning of the text.
Claims
- SaysGal 1:8, 19: Paul declares that even if he or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel contrary to the one he preached, that one is to be accursed, and he names James, the Lord’s brother; Mark 6:3 names James, Joses, Judas and Simon as brothers of Jesus.
- UncertainIn what sense James was the Lord’s brother (Gal 1:19; Mark 6:3) is open; the early and later readings do not fix the meaning.
Citations
- BSB public domain Gal 1:8, 1:19; Mark 6:3
- Chrysostom, Galatians (NPNF1 13) public domain Chrysostom, Commentary on Galatians (NPNF¹ 13, Oxford translation rev. Gross Alexander, 1889), on Gal 1:8–9 and 1:19, p. 8 (leaf n29), p. 13 (leaf n34); checked against the printed page (scan); quoted, otherwise paraphrased
- NPNF2 1 public domain Eusebius, Church History (McGiffert, NPNF² 1, 1890), 2.1 and 2.23, p. 104 (leaf n117), p. 125 (leaf n138); checked against the printed page (scan); quoted, otherwise paraphrased
- Calvin, Galatians (Pringle) public domain Calvin, Commentaries on Galatians and Ephesians (Pringle, CTS 1854), on Gal 1:19, p. 44 (leaf n57); checked against the printed page (scan); quoted, otherwise paraphrased
- Lightfoot, Galatians public domain Lightfoot, Saint Paul’s Epistle to the Galatians (Macmillan, 1914 printing), dissertation on the brethren of the Lord, p. 272 (leaf n291); checked against the printed page (scan); quoted, otherwise paraphrased
- Burton, Galatians (ICC) public domain Burton, Galatians (ICC, Scribner 1928 printing of the 1920 edition), on Gal 1:19, p. 61 (leaf n154); checked against the printed page (scan); quoted, otherwise paraphrased
2026-11-13
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