Alphaeus in Wikipedia
is mentioned in the New Testament as the father of three of
the Twelve Apostles, namely:
Matthew Levi the Apostle
James, son of Alphaeus
Jude Thaddaeus the Apostle
As the father of an Apostle James, he has been confused with
Clopas, who through his wife Mary is thought by some to have
been stepfather to James the Less (John 19:25 ). He and
Clopas were both Zaddikite priests related to Zechariah the
father of John the Baptist according to the Church fathers.
This identification, and the problem arising from it, is
explained by the Catholic Encyclopedia:
"This name, Clopas, is thought by many to be the Greek
transliteration of an Aramaic Alphaeus. This view is based
on the identification of Mary, the mother of James etc.
(Mark, xv, 40) with Mary, the wife of Clopas, and the
consequent identity of Alphaeus, father of James (Mark, iii,
18), with Clopas. Etymologically, however, the
identification of the two names offers serious difficulties:
(1) Although the letter Heth is occasionally rendered in
Greek by Kappa at the end and in the middle of words, it is
very seldom so in the beginning, where the aspirate is
better protected; examples of this, however, are given by
Levy (Sem. Fremdwörter in Griech.); but (2) even if this
difficulty was met, Clopas would suppose an Aramaic
Halophai, not Halpai. (3) The Syriac versions have rendered
the Greek Clopas with a Qoph, not with a Heth, as they would
have done naturally had they been conscious of the identity
of Clopas and Halpai; Alphaeus is rendered with Heth
(occasionally Aleph). For these reasons, others see in
Clopas a substitute for Cleopas, with the contraction of eo
into w. In Greek, it is true, eo is not contracted into w,
but a Semite, borrowing a name did not necessarily follow
the rules of Greek contraction. In fact, in Mishnic Hebrew
the name Cleopatra is rendered by Clopatra, and hence the
Greek Cleopas might be rendered by Clopas. See also, Chabot,
"Journ. Asiat.", X, 327 (1897). Even if, etymologically, the
two names are different they may have been borne by one
name, and the question of the identity of Alphaeus and
Clopas is still open." [1]
There may have been two separate men named Alphaeus. Though
both Matthew and James are described as being the "son of
Alphaeus" there is no Biblical account of the two being
called brothers, even in the same context where John and
James or Peter and Andrew are described as being brothers.
There is also an Alphaeus named as the father of Levi:
And as he passed by, he saw Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting
at the tax booth, and he said to him, "Follow me." And he
rose and followed him.
-Mark 2:14
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