Clopas

The husband of Mary, one of the women who was there when Jesus was crucified (John 19:25). In the Greek text, it is not clear if Mary, Clopas's wife, was also Jesus's mother's sister or if she was a different person. There are three different ideas about who Clopas might have been:

  1. Some say Clopas was Joseph's brother.

  2. Some connect him to Cleopas, who appears in Luke 24:18. EHowever, the name "Clopas" comes from Hebrew, while "Cleopas" comes from Greek.

  3. Some think he might be the same person as Alphaeus. This would only be possible if James, the son of Alphaeus (Matthew 10:3; Luke 6:15; Acts 1:13) is the same as James, the son of Mary (Matthew 27:56; Mark 15:40). Mary also has to be the same person mentioned in John 19:25.

These are all possible ideas, but we cannot be certain. Clopas, Cleopas, and Alphaeus might all be different people.

From Tyndale Bible Dictionary, adapted by Mission Mutual. CC BY-SA 4.0.

Scripture References (7)

Matthew

Mark

John

Acts