Encounter 59–Mary wife of Clopas and mother of James the less and Joses

Examining Gospel Harmony: Women at the Crucifixion

Matthew 27:55-56, Mark 15:40-41, Luke 23:49, John 19:25

Matthew 27:55–56 (LEB)
⁵⁵ And there were many women there, observing from a distance, who had followed Jesus from Galilee, serving him, ⁵⁶ among whom were Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James and Joseph, and the mother of the sons of Zebedee.

Mark 15:40–41 (LEB)
⁴⁰ And there were also women observing from a distance, among whom were Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James the younger and Joses, and Salome, ⁴¹ who used to follow him and serve him when he was in Galilee, and many other women who went up with him to Jerusalem.

Luke 23:49 (LEB)
⁴⁹ And all his acquaintances, and the women who had followed him from Galilee who saw these things, stood at a distance.

John 19:25 (LEB)
²⁵ Now his mother and the sister of his mother, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene were standing near the cross of Jesus.

Normally I like using the Merged Gospels for my encounters, but this time it added some confusion as it appeared there was an extra person. It cleared up when I looked at it with all 4 Gospels next to each other. Normally I don’t see any confusion using the Merged Gospels.

Matthew lists Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and Joseph, and the mother of the sons of Zebedee, while Mark lists Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James the younger and Joses, and Salome. Luke doesn’t name anyone. Looking at these two lists, the first two women are the same with a slight change in the spelling of the name of Joses. This tells me that the third one is Salome, who is the mother of the sons of Zebedee.

John has slightly different list, but Mary Magdalene is seen again, along with the Mary, the mother of Jesus. The third person is Mary, the wife of Clopas, whom I think is another name for Mary, the mother of James the less and Joses. There is a mention of Cleopas as one of the disciples that Jesus interacted with on the road to Emmaus in Luke 24:13-27. From what I can find, these are the only verses that mention Clopas.

Salome, the mother of the sons of Zebedee will be discussed in the next encounter.

Number of Fish: 1

Total Fish: 146