New Testament Jude is clearly distinguished from
Judas Iscariot, another apostle and later the betrayer of Jesus. Both Jude and Judas are translations of the name Ὶούδας in the
Koine Greek original text of the
New Testament, which in turn is a Greek variant of
Judah (''Y'hudah''), a name which was common among Jews at the time. In most Bibles in languages other than English and French, Jude and Judas are referred to by the same name. Aside from Judas Iscariot, the New Testament mentions Jude or Judas six times, in four different contexts: • "Jude of James", explicitly listed as one of the twelve apostles ( and ); • "Judas, (not Judas Iscariot)", apparently an apostle (as he was present at the
Last Supper) (); • the
brother of Jesus (, ); • the writer of the
Epistle of Jude, who identifies himself as "the brother of James" (). Protestants generally believe 1 and 2 to be one person, although theologian
Raymond Brown saw the identification as uncertain.
Brother of James or son of James? Translations into English from the original Greek of the New Testament vary in their rendering of Luke 6:16 and Acts 1:13. A literal translation of the references to Jude in these passages gives "Jude of James" (), as in
Young's Literal Translation of the Bible, but scholars differ on whether this means "Jude, brother of James" or "Jude, son of James". The King James and the
Douay-Rheims versions call him "Judas the brother of James", making him the same person as the writer of the
Epistle of Jude, who identifies himself as "Jude, the servant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James" (Jude 1:1). Most modern translations (including the
New International Version,
Revised Standard Version and
New Revised Standard Version), identify him as "Jude the son of James", and not the same person as the author of the
Epistle of Jude. Protestant scholar
Darrell L. Bock writes that it must mean "son" not "brother", because when "brother" is intended, the Greek word for "brother" (adelphos) is present. Bock also says that means he was not the brother of Jesus. Additionally the use of the genitive case of "James" (Iakovou) in Greek, usually signifies or implies the person's father to be distinguished from his homonyms. Opinion is divided on whether Jude the apostle was also
Jude, brother of Jesus, the traditional author of the
Epistle of Jude. Generally, Catholics believe the two Judes are the same person. According to the surviving fragments of the work
Exposition of the Sayings of the Lord of the
Apostolic Father Papias of Hierapolis, who lived c. 60–130 AD,
Mary the wife of
Cleophas or
Alphaeus would be the mother of
Judas the brother of Jesus that Papias identifies with Thaddeus: However, the above fragment is properly attributed by
J.B. Lightfoot to a different
Papias, an 11th century
Latin lexicographer. The quotation is found in this Papias'
Elementarium Doctrinae Rudimentum.
Possible identity with Thaddeus and other Christians in
Sanatruk's prison In the apostolic lists at and , Jude is omitted, but there is a Thaddeus (or in some manuscripts of Matthew 10:3, "Lebbaeus who was surnamed Thaddaeus", as in the
King James Version) listed in his place. This has led many Christians since early times to harmonize the lists by positing a "Jude Thaddeus", known by either name. This is made plausible by the fact that a number of New Testament figures have multiple names (such as
Simon Peter and
Joseph Barnabas). It has been argued that the name "Judas" was tarnished by
Judas Iscariot and for this reason Mark and Matthew referred to him by an alternative name. Some
Biblical scholars reject this theory, however. They have proposed alternative theories to explain the discrepancy: an unrecorded replacement of one for the other during the ministry of Jesus because of
apostasy or death; the possibility that "twelve" was a symbolic number and an estimation; or simply that the names were not recorded perfectly by the early church. Thaddeus, one of the twelve apostles, is often indistinguishable from
Thaddeus of Edessa, whom Eastern Christianity considers as one of the
Seventy disciples. In some Latin manuscripts of Matthew 10:3, Thaddeus is called
Judas the Zealot.
In other manuscripts According to the
Golden Legend, which is a collection of
hagiographies compiled by
Jacobus de Voragine in the thirteenth century: In the same work,
Simon Cananean and Judas Thaddeus are described as siblings of
James the Less and sons of
Mary of Clopas, who was married to
Alpheus. The
Epistle of Saint Jude was traditionally attributed to the Apostle Jude, and is a short piece. Some statues of Saint Jude include the letter (such as the statue of Saint Jude by Adam Kossowski in Faversham, Kent). == Tradition and legend ==