JOSES (Ἰ?ωσῆ?ς, יוֹ?סִ?י, a shortened form of יוֹ?סִ?ף, ‘he adds’; cf. Genesis 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 יוסי as a dialectical, and probably Galilaean, abbreviation of יוסף . The names are apparently interchangeable [cf. Matthew 13:55 with Mark 6:3 ]; in Matthew 27:56 W H [Note: H Westcott and Hort’s text.] and Nestle with Tisch. read Ἰ?ωσήφ, and in all the passages there is textual evidence, sufficiently strong not to be overlooked, for the name rejected).—1. A brother of Jesus (Mark 6:3). This brother is not mentioned anywhere else except in the above passage of Matthew (Matthew 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 (Matthew 27:56, Mark 15:40, Mark 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 (John 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.