Joseph was the legal father of Jesus and was married to Mary, Jesus' mother, according to the canonical gospels. The Gospels mention Jesus' brothers; the Gospel of James, an apocryphal work from the late second century, speculated that they were Joseph's sons from a previous marriage. The Orthodox churches still hold this belief, although the Western church believes Saint Jerome's reasoning that both Joseph and Mary had to be lifelong virgins, and that the "brothers" must have been his relatives. Theological readings of the Gospel texts are distinct from historical interpretations of Joseph. You can learn a lot more if you read this book.
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