Genesis narrative

Cain leadeth Abel to death, by James Tissot

Hebrew Bible version:

¹Adam knew his wife Eve intimately, and she conceived and bore Cain. She said, "I have had a male child with the LORD's help."

 

²Then she also gave birth to his brother Abel. Now Abel became a shepherd of a flock, but Cain cultivated the land.

 

³In the course of time Cain presented some of the land's produce as an offering to the LORD.

 

And Abel also presented [an offering]— some of the firstborn of his flock and their fat portions.^] The Lord had regard for Abel and his offering, but He did not have regard for Cain and his offering. Cain was furious, and he was downcast.

 

⁶Then the LORD said to Cain, "Why are you furious? And why are you downcast?

 

 ⁷If you do right, won't you be accepted? But if thou do not do right, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is for you, but you must master it."

 

⁸Cain said to his brother Abel, "Let's go out to the field."

And while they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him.

—Genesis 4:1-8 (HCSB)

The Septuagint, an early Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible, offers an alternate version of the seventh verse:

If you offer properly, but divide improperly, have you not sinned? Be still; to you shall he submit, and you shall rule over him.

Later in the narrative, God asks Cain, "Where is Abel thy brother?" Cain replies, "I do not know: Am I my brother's keeper?"

After this, God said to Cain, "What hast you done? The voice of thy brother's blood crieth out to Me from the ground! So now art thou cursed from the earth, which hath opened her mouth to receive thy brother's blood from thy hand. When thou farm the ground, it shall not yield good crops to you! Thou shall be a fugitive and a vagabond on the earth! (Genesis 4:10-4:12)

Origins

Cain and Abel are traditional English renderings of the Hebrew names Qayin (קין) and Hevel (הבל). The original text did not provide vowels. It has been proposed that the etymology of their names may be a direct pun on the roles they take in the Genesis narrative. Abel is thought to derive from a reconstructed word meaning "herdsman", with the modern Arabic cognate ibil now specifically referring only to "camels". Cain is thought to be cognate to the mid-1st millennium BC South Arabian word qyn, meaning "metalsmith". This theory would make the names descriptive of their roles, where Abel works with livestock, and Cain with agriculture—and would parallel the names Adam ("man," אדם) and Eve ("life-giver," חוה Chavah).

The oldest known copy of the Biblical narrative is from the Dead Sea Scrolls, and dates to the first century CE. Cain and Abel also appear in a number of other texts, and the story is the subject of various interpretations. Abel, the first murder victim, is sometimes seen as the first martyr;^[while Cain, the first murderer, is sometimes seen as an ancestor of evil. Some scholars suggest the pericope may have been based on a Sumerian story representing the conflict between nomadic shepherds and settled farmers.  Modern scholars typically view the stories of Adam and Eve and Cain and Abel, to be about the development of civilization, during the age of agriculture. Not the beginnings of man, but when people first learned agriculture, replacing the ways of the hunter-gatherer.

Motives

Adam and Eve mourn the death of Abel; oil on canvas 1888 painting by William Bouguereau

The Genesis narrative does not give a specific reason for the murder of Abel. Modern commentators typically assume that the motives were jealousy and anger due to God rejecting his offering, while accepting Abel's. Ancient exegetes, such as the Midrash and the Conflict of Adam and Eve with Satan, suggest something even more sinister behind the killing.

 They supplement that the motive involved a desire for the most beautiful woman. According to Midrashic tradition, Cain and Abel each had twin sisters whom they were to marry. The Midrash states that Abel's promised wife, Aclima, was more beautiful. Since Cain would not consent to this arrangement, Adam suggested seeking God's blessing by means of a sacrifice. Whomever God blessed, would marry Aclima. When God openly rejected Cain's sacrifice, Cain slew his brother in a fit of jealousy and anger.Analysts have described Cain's relationship to his sister as being incestuous.

Abel

Abel
A Christian icon of Abel
Righteous, First Martyr
Honored in	Judaism, Christianity, Islam
Major shrine	Nabi Habeel Mosque, Damascus

Abel (Hebrew: הֶבֶל, Hevel; Arabic: هابيل, Hābīl) is Eve's second son. His name is composed in Hebrew of the same three consonants as a root speculated by people to have originally meant "breath", because rabbis postulated one of its roots thus, also "waste", but is used in the Hebrew Bible primarily as a metaphor for what is "elusive", especially the "vanity" (another definition by the rabbis of medieval France, Rashi in specific from his translation into Old French) of human beauty and work e.g. Hevel Hayophi (He-vel Ha-yo-fi) vanity is as beauty from the Song of Songs of Solomon.

 Julius Wellhausen, and many scholars following him, have proposed that the name is independent of the root. Eberhard Schrader had previously put forward the Akkadian (Old Assyrian dialect) ablu ("son") as a more likely etymology.

In Christianity, comparisons are sometimes made between the death of Abel and that of Jesus, the former thus seen as being the first martyr. In Matthew 23:35 Jesus speaks of Abel as "righteous", and the Epistle to the Hebrews states that "The blood of sprinkling ... [speaks] better things than that of Abel".(Hebrews 12:24) The blood of Jesus is interpreted as bringing mercy; but that of Abel as demanding vengeance (hence the curse and mark).

Abel is invoked in the litany for the dying in Roman Catholic Church, and his sacrifice is mentioned in the Canon of the Mass along with those of Abraham and Melchizedek. The Coptic Church commemorates him with a feast day on December 28.

According to the Coptic Book of Adam and Eve (at 2:1-15), and the Syriac Cave of Treasures, Abel's body, after many days of mourning, was placed in the Cave of Treasures, before which Adam and Eve, and descendants, offered their prayers. In addition, the Sethite line of the Generations of Adam swear by Abel's blood to segregate themselves from the unrighteous.

In the extra-biblical Book of Enoch (22:7), the soul of Abel is described as having been appointed as the chief of martyrs, crying for vengeance, for the destruction of the seed of Cain. This view is later repeated in the Testament of Abraham (A:13 / B:11), where Abel has been raised to the position as the judge of the souls.

According to Shi'a Muslim belief, Abel is buried in Nabi Habeel Mosque, located west of Damascus, in Syria.

Cain

Cain
Cain, by Henri Vidal, Jardin des Tuileries, Paris
Known for	First murderer in human history
Spouse(s)	Awan, who was his sister
Children	Enoch
Parents	Adam and Eve

Cain (Hebrew: קַיִן, Qayin; Koine Κάïν, Ka-in;^[28] Ethiopian version: Qayen; Arabic: قابيل, Qābīl) is the first child of Eve,^[29] the first murderer, and the first human being to fall under a curse.

According to the biblical narrative in Genesis 4:1-16, Cain treacherously murdered his brother Abel, lied about the murder to God, and as a result was cursed and marked for life. With the earth left cursed to drink Abel's blood, Cain was no longer able to farm the land.Exegesis of the Hebrew narrative has Cain punished as a "fugitive and wanderer".Exegesis of the Septuagint's narrative, "groaning and shaking upon the earth" has Cain suffering from body tremors.

 Interpretations extend Cain's curse to his descendants, where they all died in the Great Deluge as retribution for the loss of Abel's potential offspring. Cain's curse involves receiving a mark from God, commonly referred to as the mark of Cain. This mark serves as God's promise to Cain for divine protection from premature death, with the stated purpose to prevent anyone from killing him. It is not known what the mark is, but it is assumed that the mark is visible.

The Targumim, rabbinic sources, and later speculations supplemented background details for the daughters of Adam and Eve. Such exegesis of Genesis 4 introduced Cain's wife as being his sister, a concept that has been accepted for at least 1800 years.This can be seen with Jubilees 4 which narrates that Cain settled down and married his sister Awan, who bore his first son, the first Enoch,^[36] approximately 196 years after the creation of Adam. Cain then establishes the first city, naming it after his son, builds a house, and lives there until it collapses on him, killing him in the same year that Adam dies.

Concerning the commandment for Cain to wander the earth, later traditions arose that this punishment was to be forever, as referenced in the legends of the Flying Dutchman or the Wandering Jew. According to some Islamic sources, such as al-Tabari, Ibn Kathir and al-Tha'labi, Cain migrated to Yemen.

In Jewish tradition, Philo, Pirke De-Rabbi Eliezer and the Targum Pseudo-Jonathan asserted that Adam was not the father of Cain. Rather, Eve was subject to adultery having been seduced by either Sammael, the Serpent (nahash, Hebrew: נחש) in the Garden of Eden,^[40] or the Devil himself.^[3] Christian exegesis of the "evil one" in 1 John 3:10-12 have also led some commentators, like Tertullian, to agree that Cain was the son of the Devil or some fallen angel. Thus, according to some interpreters, Cain was half-human and half-angelic, a Nephilim. Gnostic exegesis in the Apocryphon of John has Eve seduced by Yaldaboth. However, in the Hypostasis of the Archons, Eve is raped by a pair of Archons.

According to the Life of Adam and Eve, Cain fetched his mother a reed (Heb. qaneh) which is how he received his name Qayin (Cain). The symbolism of him fetching a reed may be a nod to his occupation as a farmer, as well as a commentary to his destructive nature. He is also described as "lustrous", which may reflect the Gnostic association of Cain with the sun.^[42]

Legacy and symbolism

A medieval legend has Cain arriving at the Moon, where he eternally settled with a bundle of twigs. This was originated by the popular fantasy of interpreting the shadows on the Moon as a face. An example of this belief can be found in Dante Alighieri's Inferno (XX, 126) where the expression "Cain and the twigs" is used as a kenning for "moon".

In medieval Christian art, particularly in 16th century Germany, Cain is depicted as a stereotypical ringleted, bearded Jew, who killed Abel the blonde, European gentile symbolizing Christ. This traditional depiction has continued for centuries in some form, such as James Tissot's 19th century Cain leads Abel to Death.

In the treatise on Christian Hermeticism, Meditations on the Tarot: A journey into Christian Hermeticism, describes the Biblical account of Cain and Abel as a myth, i.e. it expresses, in a form narrated for a particular case, an "eternal" idea. It shows us how brothers can become mortal enemies through the very fact that they worship the same God in the same way. According to the author, the source of religious wars is revealed. It is not the difference in dogma or ritual which is the cause, but the "pretention to equality" or "the negation of hierarchy".

In Latter-day Saint theology, Cain is considered to be the quintessential Son of Perdition, the father of secret combinations (i.e. secret societies and organized crime), as well as the first to hold the title Master Mahan meaning master of [the] great secret, that [he] may murder and get gain.

In Mormon folklore — a second-hand account relates that an early Mormon leader, David W. Patten, encountered a very tall, hairy, dark-skinned man in Tennessee who said that he was Cain. The account states that Cain had earnestly sought death but was denied it, and that his mission was to destroy the souls of men.^[ The recollection of Patten's story is quoted in Spencer W. Kimball's The Miracle of Forgiveness, a popular book within The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.^[49] This widespread Mormon belief is further emphasized by an account from Salt Lake City in 1963 which stated that "One superstition is based on the old Mormon belief that Cain is a black man who wanders the earth begging people to kill him and take his curse upon themselves (M, 24, SLC, 1963)."

In culture

Literature

• As the first murderer and first murder victim in the Bible, Cain and Abel have often formed the basis of tragic drama. In the classic poem Beowulf, the monstrous Grendel and his mother are believed to be descended from Cain. Lord Byron rewrote and dramatized the story in the play "Cain", viewing Cain as symbolic of a sanguinary temperament, provoked by Abel's hypocrisy and sanctimony.
• In Dante's Purgatorio (early 14th century), Cain is remembered by the souls in Purgatory in Canto XIV (14).
• Cain was traditionally considered to have red hair; the expression "Cain-coloured beard" is used in Shakespeare's The Merry Wives of Windsor (1602). In addition, Shakespeare also references Cain and Abel in Act III Scene iii of Hamlet when Claudius says, "It hath the primal eldest curse upon't/ A brother's murder!" (Lines 40-41), and in Act V, Scene i when Hamlet and Horatio are standing with the Gravedigger, who digs up a skull and Hamlet says "And yet this knave jowls it to the ground/as if it were Cain's jawbone, that did the first murther!".

• Baudelaire is more sympathetic to Cain in his poem "Abel et Caïn" in the collection Les Fleurs du mal (1857), where he depicts Cain as representing all the downtrodden people of the world. The poem's last lines exhort, "Race de Caïn, au ciel monte/Et sur la terre jette Dieu!" (In English: "Race of Cain, storm up the sky / And cast God down to Earth!")
• Thomas Hardy in The Mayor of Casterbridge the protagonist Henchard compares himself in his suffering to Cain. (1886)
• Hermann Hesse briefly discussed the story of Cain and Abel from an unorthodox point of view in his novel Demian (1919) where he also referred to the gnostic group called the Cainites.
• In Thornton Wilder's play The Skin Of Our Teeth (1942), it is stated that Henry Antrobus' real name is Cain and he accidentally killed his brother Abel with a stone.
• John Steinbeck's novel East of Eden (1952) retells the Cain and Abel story in the setting of the late 19th and early 20th century western migration towards California.
• There is a Stephen King short story titled Cain Rose Up (1968), in which a college student goes on a killing spree while ruminating on the story of Cain and Abel.
• In the DC Comics (Vertigo division) universe, Cain and Abel are a pair of fictional characters based on the Biblical Cain and Abel. Cain is constantly killing off his brother, despite the fact they are both immortals.
• Kane and Abel (1979) is a modern adaptation, a 1979 novel by British author Jeffrey Archer.
• In Ishmael (1992), Daniel Quinn puts forth the idea of the story of Cain and Abel being an allegory describing the conflict between agricultural and pastoral peoples in the Fertile Crescent.
• In A Time for Everything (2004) by Karl Ove Knausgård, the story of Cain and Abel is retold with a focus on Cain. In this version, God's favouring of Abel is simultaneously a curse for sneaking into Eden past the Cherubs guarding the gate. It is suggested that Abel in fact wants Cain to kill him, or at least this is what Cain believes—though he later regrets his act, and takes his punishment willingly.
• In 2009 Portuguese writer José Saramago wrote a novel entitled Cain (2009), which tells an alternative version of the murder of Abel and the life of Cain afterwards.
• Fantasy author Karl Edward Wagner wrote a series of novels and stories about an immortal red-bearded warrior named Kane, who is modeled on the biblical Cain.
• Author Sylvia Day writes of Cain and Abel in her paranormal/fantasy Marked series titled Eve of Destruction (2009) set in modern times.

Movie

• In the 2009 movie Year One, the two main characters, Zed and Oh, meet Cain and Abel shortly after leaving their home forest, and witness Cain kill Abel. Cain then tells them that they have to escape with him or else risk being blamed for Abel's death, and then sells them into slavery. Zed and Oh meet Cain again later in the movie in Sodom, where Cain is a guard and apologizes for selling them into slavery, also convincing them to join the guard as well. Cain eventually is present at Zed and Oh's trial, where he reads the charges against them (slipping in the murder of Abel), and fights with the king in the final battle.
• In the 2012 Syfy Channel original movie "Boogeyman", the Boogeyman is revealed to be Cain, cursed to live forever with the guilt of killing his brother. In the film, he captures people to act as a "replacement" for his dead brother, who commit themselves to be responsible for Cain, and keep him from killing more.
• In the 1991 movie "New Jack City" the line "Am I my brother's keeper" is repeatedly asked

Music[edit source | editbeta]

• "Il Primo Omicido" by Alessandro Scarlatti (1707)
• The opera La mort d'Abel by Rodolphe Kreutzer (1810)
• "Blame it on Cain" (1976) appears on My Aim is True, the debut album by Elvis Costello
• "Cain's Blood" (1995) by 4 Runner uses Cain and Abel as a metaphor for the struggle between good and evil in the song's narrator^[51]
• "Twist of Cain" (2001) by Danzig places Cain's murder of his brother as the driving force in a murderer's mind, and ties Cain's murderous ways and, by association, all murders "to the god below", i.e., Satan^[52]
• Heavy metal band Avenged Sevenfold gained their name from Genesis 4:24 and tell the story of Cain and Abel in the track "Chapter Four" (2003)^[53]
• The Oasis song "Guess God Thinks I'm Abel" from their 2005 album Don't Believe The Truth

Television[edit source | editbeta]

• The 1979 novel Kane and Abel by Jeffrey Archer was made into a CBS miniseries called Kane & Abel in 1985 starring Peter Strauss as Rosnovski and Sam Neill as Kane
• The character Kwai Chang Caine in the 1970s series Kung Fu is modeled after the character of Cain; after killing, Caine is forced to wander the Earth, remorse-torn but unrepentant because of his sense of social justice
• In the series Supernatural, the protagonists Sam Winchester and Dean Winchester are both the descendants of Cain and Abel, making them the ideal vessels for Lucifer and Michael

In this comparative study, doctrine is not in question; but historical fact and clarity are. It deals with the event that took place during the days of Peleg, a descendant of Shem. The versions compared are divided into four categories. They are as follows:

Antiquities of the Jews, by Josephus: (I. x. 4)
"Heber beget Joctan and Phaleg: he was called Phaleg, because he was born at the dispersion of the nations to their several countries; for Phaleg, among the Hebrews, signifies division."

Smith's Bible Dictionary: (page 496)
The following is an explanation for the name Peleg, which means division, or part. "The only incident connected with his history is the statement that 'in his days was the earth divided,' an event embodied in the meaning of his name -- 'division.' The reference is to a division of the family of Eber himself, the younger branch of which (the Joktanids) migrated into southern Arabia, while the elder remained in Mesopotamia."

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible:
In the Hebrew and Chaldee Dictionary, word #776, 'erets, has the following definition: "the earth (at large, or partitively a land): -- X common, country, earth, field, land, X nations, way, + wilderness, world."

In the first group, it was definitely a geological division which took place. Since Peleg was born just over one hundred years after the flood, why is there no mention of the process of the division of land taking place until this time? The water had long previously receded. Details of this process can be found elsewhere on the Internet. Although there is a possibility that the interpretation made by the translator has truth in it, I feel that other translators have come closer to telling what actually occurred.

In the second group, it was definitely a demographic division that took place. The story of the dispersion from the tower at Babel is described in Genesis 11. The passage which we are examining occurs in the previous chapter. Another genealogical list immediately follows the story of Babel in chapter 11. Although long time spans are often recorded in one chapter, the demographic division is a possibility.

In the third group, either explanation is possible. Thus, the reader of only one version can decide that one is correct, according to the way that the passage is understood.

In the fourth group, there is a difference in translations in the two accounts. This discrepancy may be confusing, but may help the reader to decide one way.

The definition in Strong's Exhaustive Concordance is of little help in clarifying what really was divided. However, the reader may be inclined to accept the geological division from what Strong said.

Smith is clear that it was a demographic division. However, he may have limited the dispersion too much when he refers to Eber's family only.

Josephus is clear that it was people who were divided, implying the time of the time of the confusion of languages at the tower of Babel. He states that Peleg was born at the time of the dispersal, thus, the reason for his so being named. There is a lack of clarity elsewhere as to the timing of his birth.

What was divided -- the whole earth, a nation of people, or the family of Eber? You decide. A simple statement, when transferred from one language and culture to another language and culture, can take on more than one meaning. The differences are not the fault of the original writers, but of copyists and translators.

FROM:  http://tyndalearchive.com/scriptures/www.innvista.com/scriptures/compare/peleg.htm

THE TWO BROTHERS, JACOB AND ESAU

IT had indeed been a shining road of happiness which Rebekah had trod since she had left her far distant home to become the wife of Isaac, and perhaps the greatest happiness of all had come when her twin babies were born, and they told her that God had sent her two little sons.

Now, although the babies were twins they were not in the least alike, and the older they grew the more different they became. Esau, the elder, was a big strong boy, fond of working in the open air, a keen [20] hunter, loving all kinds of out-of-door sports. He was rough-looking, too, beside his smooth-faced, gentle brother Jacob, who was a thoughtful, quiet boy, quite content to do indoor work, and caring very little for rough games or the excitement of hunting.

It was Jacob who was his mother's favourite. She had always loved him best. It displeased her to think that Esau with his rough ways and rough looks was to be lord of all, was to have his father's blessing as well as the birthright, and that Jacob, her quiet, beautiful boy, should have nothing. There was always an echo in her heart of God's words, "the elder shall serve the younger."

But if his mother loved Jacob best, it was on Esau that all his father's hopes and love were fixed. Isaac delighted in the wild adventures and strength of his hunter son. He loved the strong hairy hands which were so skilful in the use of weapons, and the rough looks of his son only filled him with pride. When Esau entered he brought with him the wild fragrance of the woods and hills which clung even to his clothes, and it rejoiced his father's heart.

In many ways it was Jacob who was the cleverer of the two boys; but it was this very cleverness which sometimes led him into crooked ways and taught him to take a mean advantage of his brother. So one day, when Esau had been out hunting and came home hungry and faint, Jacob offered him food, a dish of red pottage cooked and ready, if for it he would give up his birthright. Esau was too hungry and too careless to think what that meant. He did not indeed deserve the birthright if he was willing to give it away so easily. But he only thought how hungry he was, and that he might die if he did not have food, and so Jacob's crooked plan was successful.

Now, although Jacob had managed to get the birthright, there was something else he wanted, something which his mother, too, thought of day and night. Whichever of the two sons received their father's bless ing he it was who would be master of all, who would inherit all the good things, and carry on the family name. It was of this blessing that Jacob and his mother thought continually, and at last the time came when it must be decided once for all.

Isaac had grown very old and knew he had not much longer to live, and he called Esau, his beloved elder son, and told him to go out hunting and to prepare some venison for him, the special dish which he loved.

"Make me savoury meat, such as I love," he said, "that my soul may bless thee before I die."

[21] Rebekah, listening at the tent door, knew what that meant. She watched Esau set out to do his father's bidding, and then she called quickly to Jacob. There was not a moment to be lost. He must go at once to the flock that was feeding in the field close by, and bring her two kids. She would make of them the savoury meat, and he would then take the dish to his father and pretend that he was Esau. The poor old father was almost blind now; he would not be able to tell the difference.

But Jacob hesitated. He did not think it was a safe plan. Suppose that his father should touch him and feel his smooth skin. Why, he would know at once that it was not Esau.

"Go and do as I tell thee," said his mother. He might leave it all to her; she had planned everything. And after cooking the food, she took the hairy skins of the kids and put them on Jacob's hands and on his neck; and she dressed him, too, in some of his brother's clothes. Then she sent him in quickly to his father, with the smoking dish of savoury meat in his hands.

The blind old father could not see who it was, he could only stretch out groping hands to feel if this was really his son Esau. Somehow he had an uneasy idea that the voice did not sound like Esau's voice.

"Come near, I pray thee, that I may feel thee, my son," he said, "whether thou be my very son Esau or not."

Those groping hands felt carefully over Jacob's hairy neck and hands. Yes, it must be Esau, but he would make quite sure.

"Art thou my very son Esau? "he asked.

And Jacob answered, "I am."

The food was eaten, and again Isaac called his son to come near to him, and as Jacob bent down to kiss him the old man smelt the sweet earthy fragrance of Esau's borrowed clothes. That smell was a delight to him, and he blessed his son with a wonderful blessing.

"See, the smell of my son is as the smell of a field which the Lord hath blessed," he began, "therefore God give thee of the dew of heaven and the fatness of the earth."

"SO HE BLESSED HIM."

Jacob was to be lord of all. The blessing was his now, and no one could take it away. He had only been just in time; the blessing was scarcely ended, and he had only just left the tent, when Esau came hurrying in.

Then the trick was discovered.

"Thy brother hath come with subtilty and taken away thy bless- [22] ing," said Isaac, trembling with grief. And when he heard that, there burst from Esau an exceeding bitter cry.

Surely that cry must have hurt his mother's heart, surely Jacob must have hated his own mean ways when he heard that terrible cry of grief.

Already his crooked ways were bringing their punishment. He dared not stay any longer in his home, but must flee away into a distant land, to his mother's people, where he would be safe from Esau's anger.

Alone in the desert, with only a stone for his pillow, he dreamed that God's angels came down the golden stairs of heaven to bring him a message of comfort; but there was little comfort for one who was banished from home, and who knew that he deserved his punishment. He repented sorely now, and God forgave him and allowed him to enjoy the blessing; but all his life he suffered for his deceit, and paid in sorrow for the evil he had done.

JACOB'S DREAM

Brothers of Jesus

Jewish Christianity
Figures
Jesus John the Baptist · Simon Peter Twelve Apostles · James the Just Simeon of Jerusalem · Jude · Paul
Ancient groups
Cerinthians · Ebionites · Elcesaites Essenes · Nazarenes · Nazoraeans
Pejoratives
Judaizers · Legalists Pauline Christianity
Recent groups
Hebrew Christian movement Messianic Judaism · Saint Thomas Christians
Adversity
Split of Christianity and Judaism Paul and Judaism · Marcionism Christian anti-semitism · Constantine
Writings
Gospel of Matthew · Epistle of James Clementine · Didache · Liturgy of St James Jewish-Christian gospels of the Ebionites · the Hebrews · the Nazoraeans
Issues
Aramaic of Jesus · Yeshua (name) Council of Jerusalem · Expounding of the Law Sabbath · Quartodecimanism · Noahide laws
v t e

The brothers of Jesus is a designation based upon the New Testament's description of James, Joseph (Joses), Judas (Jude) and Simon as "brothers" of Jesus Christ. Also mentioned, but not named, are "sisters" of Jesus. Some scholars argue that these brothers, especially James, held positions of special honor in the early Christian church. Antidicomarianites and many critical scholars claim that these "brothers" and "sisters" refer to the biological children of Mary and Joseph. Followers of the Catholic, Eastern Orthodox and Oriental Orthodox traditions, as well as some Anglicans and Lutherans, accept the doctrine of the perpetual virginity of Mary and therefore reject the claim that Jesus had blood siblings. They maintain that these "brothers" and "sisters" received this designation on account of their close association with the family of Jesus, but are actually either cousins or children of Joseph from a previous marriage.

 

In the third century blood relatives of Jesus, without explicit reference to "brothers" or "sisters", were called the desposyni, from the Greek δεσπόσυνοι, plural of δεσπόσυνος, meaning "of or belonging to the master or lord". The term was used by Sextus Julius Africanus, a writer of the early 3rd century.

 

Jesus' brothers and sisters

 

The Gospel of Mark  (6:3)^[ and the Gospel of Matthew (13:55–56)^] are cited as evidence that James, Joseph (Joses), Judas, and Simon were the sons of Mary and of Joseph. Another verse in the Epistle to the Galatians,^[7] which says that James, "the Lord's brother", was the head of the congregation in Jerusalem, is taken to mean that James was the son of Mary and Joseph. Some scholars go on to claim that Jesus' relatives may have held positions of authority in the surrounding area.

 

That the children were children of both Mary and Joseph was accepted by some members of the early Christian church, including Tertullian. The orthodox later labelled upholders of this view as "Antidicomarianites" ("Anti-Mary"), when it was represented by Bonosus (bishop), Jovinian, and various Arian teachers such as Photinus. When Helvidius proposed it in the 4th century, Jerome, apparently representing the general opinion of the Church, maintained that Mary remained always a virgin; he held that those who were called the brothers and sisters of Jesus were actually children of her sister, another Mary, whom he considered the wife of Clopas.^[9][10] The terms "brothers" and "sisters" as used in this context are open to different interpretations,^[11] and have been argued to refer to children of Joseph by a previous marriage (the view of Epiphanius of Salamis), Mary's sister's children (the view of Jerome), or children of Clopas, who according to Hegesippus was Joseph's brother,^[12] and of a woman who was not a sister of Mary, the mother of Jesus (a modern proposal).^[9] Certain critical scholars say that the doctrine of perpetual virginity has obscured recognition that Jesus had siblings.

 

As church leaders

 

According to Robert Funk, the Gospel of Mark shows that Jesus' mother and brothers were at first sceptical of Jesus' ministry but later became part of the Christian movement. The biblical citation that Saint James ("the Lord's brother") presided over the Jerusalem church after the apostles dispersed is built on to presume that other kinsmen of Jesus' also exercised some leadership among neighbouring Christian communities. Christian communities were expelled from Jerusalem by the Jews with the founding of Aelia Capitolina (c.131).Traditionally it is believed the Jerusalem Christians waited out the Jewish–Roman wars (66–135) in Pella in the Decapolis. The Jerusalem Sanhedrin relocated to Jamnia sometime c.70.

 

At an earlier stage James is said to have been granted a special appearance by the resurrected Jesus. When Saint Peter, a leader of the church in Jerusalem left, it was James who became the principal authority and was held in high regard by the Jewish Christians. Hegesippus reports that he was executed by the Sanhedrin in 62.^[18]

Sextus Julius Africanus's refer

 

“	"For the relatives of our Lord according to the flesh, whether with the desire of boasting or simply wishing to state the fact, in either case truly, have handed down the following account... But as there had been kept in the archives up to that time the genealogies of the Hebrews as well as of those who traced their lineage back to proselytes, such as Achior the Ammonite and Ruth the Moabitess, and to those who were mingled with the Israelites and came out of Egypt with them, Herod, inasmuch as the lineage of the Israelites contributed nothing to his advantage, and since he was goaded with the consciousness of his own ignoble extraction, burned all the genealogical records, thinking that he might appear of noble origin if no one else were able, from the public registers, to trace back his lineage to the patriarchs or proselytes and to those mingled with them, who were called Georae. A few of the careful, however, having obtained private records of their own, either by remembering the names or by getting them in some other way from the registers, pride themselves on preserving the memory of their noble extraction. Among these are those already mentioned, called Desposyni, on account of their connection with the family of the Saviour. Coming from Nazara and Cochaba, villages of Judea, into other parts of the world, they drew the aforesaid genealogy from memory and from the book of daily records as faithfully as possible. Whether then the case stand thus or not no one could find a clearer explanation, according to my own opinion and that of every candid person. And let this suffice us, for, although we can urge no testimony in its support, we have nothing better or truer to offer. In any case the Gospel states the truth." And at the end of the same epistle he adds these words: "Matthan, who was descended from Solomon, begat Jacob. And when Matthan was dead, Melchi, who was descended from Nathan begat Eli by the same woman. Eli and Jacob were thus uterine brothers. Eli having died childless, Jacob raised up seed to him, begetting Joseph, his own son by nature, but by law the son of Eli. Thus Joseph was the son of both."	”
—Eusebius of Caesarea, Historia Ecclesiae, 1:7:11, 1:7:13–14

Eusebius has also preserved an extract from a work by Hegesippus (c.110–c.180), who wrote five books (now lost except for some quotations by Eusebius) of Commentaries on the Acts of the Church. The extract refers to the period from the reign of Domitian (81–96) to that of Trajan (98–117), and includes the statement that two Desposyni brought before Domitian later became leaders of the churches:

 

“	There still survived of the kindred of the Lord the grandsons of Judas, who according to the flesh was called his brother. These were informed against, as belonging to the family of David, and Evocatus brought them before Domitian Caesar: for that emperor dreaded the advent of Christ, as Herod had done.   So he asked them whether they were of the family of David; and they confessed they were. Next he asked them what property they had, or how much money they possessed. They both replied that they had only 9000 denaria between them, each of them owning half that sum; but even this they said they did not possess in cash, but as the estimated value of some land, consisting of thirty-nine plethra only, out of which they had to pay the dues, and that they supported themselves by their own labour. And then they began to hold out their hands, exhibiting, as proof of their manual labour, the roughness of their skin, and the corns raised on their hands by constant work.   Being then asked concerning Christ and His kingdom, what was its nature, and when and where it was to appear, they returned answer that it was not of this world, nor of the earth, but belonging to the sphere of heaven and angels, and would make its appearance at the end of time, when He shall come in glory, and judge living and dead, and render to every one according to the course of his life.   Thereupon Domitian passed no condemnation upon them, but treated them with contempt, as too mean for notice, and let them go free. At the same time he issued a command, and put a stop to the persecution against the Church. When they were released they became leaders of the churches, as was natural in the case of those who were at once martyrs and of the kindred of the Lord. And, after the establishment of peace to the Church, their lives were prolonged to the reign of Trajan.	”
—Eusebius of Caesarea, Historia Ecclesiae, 3:20

Degree of consanguinity between Jesus and his brothers

 

The New Testament names James the Just, Joses, Simon, and Jude as the brothers (Greek adelphoi) of Jesus (Mark 6:3, Matthew 13:55, John 7:3, Acts 1:14, 1 Corinthians 9:5.

 

The etymology of the word "brother" (adelphos) originally comes from "of the same womb" ("a-delphys"), though, in New Testament usage, the Christian and Jewish meaning of "brethren" is wider. However, in Christian tradition there is disagreement from an early date over whether the Greek term adelphos referred to by these narratives are full brothers, half brothers, or merely stepbrothers. According to some scholars the most natural inference from the New Testament is that the adelphoi were children of Mary and Joseph born after Jesus. Tertullian, possibly Hegesippus, and Helvidius accepted this view.  In reference to this it is occasionally noted that James (Jacob Iakobos) as oldest of the brothers takes the name of Joseph's father (also James, Iakobos in the Solomonic genealogy of Jesus in Matthew), when in Bible times the grandson occasionally gets the name of the grandfather.

 

The term "brother" (adelphos) is distinct in Greek from "cousin" (anepsios), and the second-century Christian writer Hegesippus distinguishes between those who were "cousins" of Jesus (anepsioi) and his "brothers."

 

Relationship of Jesus' siblings to Mary

 

By the 3rd century the doctrine of the perpetual virginity of Mary was well established and defended by Hippolytus, Eusebius and Epiphanius, important early Christian theologians. Much of the church therefore did not accept that Mary could have had any children apart from Jesus. Eusebius and Epiphanius held that these men were Joseph's sons from (an unrecorded) former marriage Jerome, another important early theologian, also followed the perpetual virginity doctrine, but argued that these adelphoi were sons of Mary's sister, whom Jerome identified as Mary of Cleopas. The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church mentions that a modern scholar, whom it does not identify, has proposed that these men were the sons of Clopas (Joseph's brother according to Hegesippus) and Mary, the wife of Cleopas (not necessarily referring to Jesus' mother's sister).

 

The official Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox doctrine is that Mary was a perpetual virgin; this view was also held by many of the early Protestants, including Luther and Zwingli, as well as John Wesley, the 18th century Methodist leader. Indeed, the majority of early Christians seem to have left this doctrine completely unquestioned. The Roman Catholic Church, following Jerome, conclude that the adelphoi were Jesus' cousins, but the Eastern Orthodox, following Eusebius and Epiphanius, argue that they were Joseph's children by his (unrecorded) first wife.

 

Modern Protestants view the adelphoi as Jesus' half-brothers or do not specify, since the accounts in the Gospels do not speak of Mary's relationship to them but only to Jesus.

 

In the Book of Genesis, all the other sons of Jacob are repeatedly called brothers of Joseph, although they were children of different mothers.  Similarly, in the Second Book of Samuel Tamar is described as a sister both of Amnon and of Absalom, though these were David's sons by different mothers.

 

A small number of early groups, notably some Ebionites, rejected belief in the virgin birth of Jesus and held that Joseph was the biological father of Jesus, making the brothers of Jesus full brothers.

 

Scholars of the Jesus Seminar suggest that the doctrine of Mary's perpetual virginity has impeded recognition that Jesus had full brothers and sisters.

 

Family trees and pedigrees

 

Aside from the genealogies of Jesus in the Gospel of Luke and Gospel of Matthew, there have been several presentations of theories about a family tree of Jesus' immediate nuclear family:

 

In a book produced by Augsburg Fortress, the official publishing house of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America,

 

John J. Rousseau and Rami Arav present the following diagram of relationships in line with their view that the brothers and sisters mentioned were children of Joseph and Mary, whom they believe to have had marital relations in the at least twelve years that Joseph lived after the birth of Jesus, although the Luke 2 account of their journey to the temple when Jesus was twelve makes no mention of other children in the caravan.

        __________________________________________
        |                                        |
        |                                        |
 Mary=Joseph                                   Cleopas=another Mary
     |                                                |
     |______________________________________          |
     |    |     |     |     |      |      |           Simeon
     |    |     |     |     |      |      |           d. 106
    Jesus James Joses Simon Sister Sister Jude
          d.62                             |
            |                            Menahem
          Jude                           ____|____
            |                            |        |
         Elzasus                       James     Zoker
            |                                 ?
          Nascien                             |
                                      Bishop Judah Kyriakos
                                         fl.c.148-149.

James Tabor's theor

 

The following represents James Tabor's attempted reconstruction. The view has not found wide support among other scholars.

                          Matthat bar Levi
                                  |
        Eleazar                   |
        |                     Heli/Eliakim
        |                           |
        Matthan             ________|____________
        |                   |                   |
        |                   |                   |
    Mary + GOD         = Joseph (1st) =   Clophas (2nd)
          |                                     |
          |              _______________________|___________
          Jesus          |      |     |      |      |     |
          5 BCE- CE 28.  |      |     |      |      |     |
                       James  Jose  Judas  Simon  Mary  Salome
                          d.CE 62     |   d.CE 101
                                  ____|____
                                 |         |
                                 |         |
                             Zechariah   James
                           alive in the reign of Domitian

Interpersonal relationship with Jesus in the New Testament

See also: Rejection of Jesus and But to bring a sword

According to the Synoptic Gospels, and particularly the Gospel of Mark, Jesus was once teaching a large crowd near the home of his own family, and when this came to their attention, his family went to see him and "they" (not specified) said that Jesus was "... out of his mind."

“	Then he went home; and the crowd came together again, so that they could not even eat. When his family heard it, they went out to restrain him, for people were saying, ‘He has gone out of his mind.’	”
—Mark 3:20–21 NRSV

“	And he comes back home, and the crowd gathers again, to the point where they couldn't even eat a meal. Hearing of that, his folks came out [from Nazareth] intending to take him away, saying, 'He's gone mad!'	”
—Mark 3:20–21 (Andy Gaus, Unvarnished New Testament, 1991)

“	And He came home, and the crowd gathered again, to such an extent that they could not even eat a meal. When His own people heard of this, they went out to take custody of Him; for they were saying, 'He has lost His senses.'	”
—Mark 3:20-21 New American Standard Bible

In the narrative of the Synoptic Gospels, and of the Gospel of Thomas, when Jesus' mother and adelphoi are outside the house that Jesus is teaching in, Jesus tells the crowd that whoever does what God wills would constitute his mother and adelphoi. According to Kilgallen, Jesus' answer was a way of underlining that his life had changed to the degree that his family were far less important than those that he teaches about the Kingdom of God. The Gospel of John states that Jesus' adelphoi did not believe in him, because he would not perform miracles with them at the Feast of Tabernacles.

Some scholars have suggested that the portrayal in the Gospel of Mark of the initial rejection of Jesus by his family may be related to the tension between Paul of Tarsus and Jewish Christians, who held Jesus' family in high regard, for example at the Council of Jerusalem.

 

In popular culture

 

The idea of Jesus having relatives features in the following tales:

• Dogma (1999) relies on the idea that Jesus had half-siblings conceived by Mary with Joseph.
• The Good Man Jesus and the Scoundrel Christ presents "Jesus" and "Christ" as distinct people, with Jesus preaching the message while his brother Christ calculated how best to use that message to influence others.
• The Red Dwarf series ten episode "Lemons" includes the idea that Judas was actually the twin brother of Jesus, who died in his place to 'fake' the resurrection and spread Jesus' gospel.
• Robert Rankin introduced two siblings for Jesus in his novel Waiting for Godalming; Christine, Jesus's twin sister, and Colin, his half-brother.
• Anne Rice uses the idea that Jesus had step-siblings from widower Joseph's prior marriage in her two 'Christ the Lord' novels.

References

1. ^ Paul the Apostle refers to James as "the Lord's brother" (Galatians 1:19) and as a "pillar" alongside Cephas and John (Galatians 2:9)
2. ^ Julius Africanus, The Epistle to Aristides, p. 242
3. ^ Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon
4. ^ ^{a b} Funk, Robert W. and the Jesus Seminar. The acts of Jesus: the search for the authentic deeds of Jesus. HarperSanFrancisco. 1998.
5. ^ 6:3
6. ^ Matthew 13:55-56
7. ^ Galatians 1:19
8. ^ "Jerusalem." Cross, F. L., ed. The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church. New York: Oxford University Press. 2005
9. ^ ^{a b c} "Brethren of the Lord" Cross, F. L., ed. The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church. New York: Oxford University Press. 2005
10. ^ John Painter, Just James: The Brother of Jesus in History and Tradition (University of South Carolina Press, 2004), page 326.
11. ^ Raymond Edward Brown, Paul J. Achtemeier. Mary in the New Testament: A Collaborative Assessment by Protestant and Roman Catholic Scholars. Paulist Press, 1978 ISBN 0-8091-2168-9 pp. 65-68
12. ^ Eusebius of Caesarea, Church History, Book III, ch. 11.
13. ^ ^{a b} Funk, Robert W. and the Jesus Seminar. The acts of Jesus: the search for the authentic deeds of Jesus. HarperSanFrancisco. 1998. "Mark," p. 51-161
14. ^ Funk, Robert W. and the Jesus Seminar. The acts of Jesus: the search for the authentic deeds of Jesus. HarperSanFrancisco. 1998. "What do we really know about Jesus" p. 527–534.
15. ^ ^{a b} "Jerusalem." Cross, F. L., ed. The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church. Oxford University Press. 2005
16. ^ Galatians 1:19
17. ^ 1 Corinthians 15:7
18. ^ ^{a b} "James, St." Cross, F. L., ed. The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church. Oxford University Press. 2005
19. ^ The original text can be found at Bibliotheca Augustana
20. ^ The original text of this passage too can be found at Bibliotheca Augustana
21. ^ Cited in "brethren of the Lord." Cross, F. L., ed. The Oxford dictionary of the Christian church. New York: Oxford University Press. 2005
22. ^ Tragedy and civilization: an interpretation of Sophocles 1999 p184 Charles Segal - 1999 "word for "brother," adelphos, from a- ("same," equivalent to homo-) and delphys ("womb," equivalent to splanchna)."
23. ^ ^{a b c d e f} "brethren of the Lord." Cross, F. L., ed. The Oxford dictionary of the Christian church. New York: Oxford University Press. 2005
24. ^ Hastings Encyclopedia of Religion and Ethics 1927 Part 4 - Page 653 "In later times, but still within the period covered by the Bible, the grandson often gets the name of the grandfather."
25. ^ Brother of Jesus p94 Hershel Shanks, Ben Witherington - 2004 p254-255 "(Matthew 13.55-56) There was indeed a word for cousin in Greek, anepsios, and it is never used of James or the other siblings ... how the second-century Christian writer Hegesippus distinguishes between those who were cousins of Jesus (anepsioi) ..."
26. ^ A Short Life of Christ p58 Everett F. Harrison - 1968 -"In opposition to Helvidius, Jerome (Hierony- mus, hence the name Hieronymian for his view) insisted that the brethren were kinsmen, specifically first cousins, being sons of Mary's sister, namely, that Mary who was the wife of Clopas "
27. ^ e.g., Origen's Commentary on Matthew, §10.17
28. ^ See quotations from Luther's works in Martin Luther on Mary's Perpetual Virginity
29. ^ "I firmly believe that [Mary], according to the words of the gospel as a pure Virgin brought forth for us the Son of God and in childbirth and after childbirth forever remained a pure, intact Virgin" (Zwingli, Ulrich; Egli, Emil; Finsler, Georg; Zwingli-Verein, Georg; Zürich (1905). "Eini Predigt von der ewig reinen Magd Maria.". Huldreich Zwinglis sämtliche Werke (in German) 1. C. A. Schwetschke und Sohn. p. 385. Retrieved 2008-07-01. 
30. ^ "I believe that He was made man, joining the human nature with the divine in one person; being conceived by the singular operation of the Holy Ghost, and born of the blessed Virgin Mary, who, as well after as before she brought Him forth, continued a pure and unspotted virgin" (The Works of the Rev. John Wesley p. 112)
31. ^ "So James, according to this view, would be Jesus' younger half-brother." Witherington, Ben III, "Jesus' Extended Family," Bible Review, 19:3, pg.30–31. In addition, the Nelson Study Bible (NKJV) lists the traditional authors of the Epistles of James and Jude as "James, the half brother of Jesus, traditionally called "the Just"" (pg 2102) and "Jude the brother of James and the half brother of the Lord Jesus" (pg. 2156). The term "half brother" is used to denote parentage, not genetics. In this view, the other brothers and sisters listed in the Gospel passages would have the same relationship to Jesus. However, some Protestants reject the term "half brother" because it is too specific; the Gospel accounts refer to these relatives as brothers and sisters of Jesus, without specifying their parents, and refer to Mary only in relation to Jesus.
33. ^ For instance, in 16 of the 36 verses of the chapter Genesis 37
34. ^ 2 Samuel 13
35. ^ 2 Samuel 3:2-3
36. ^ John J. Rousseau, Rami Arav, Jesus and His World (Fortress Press 1995 ISBN 978-0-80062903-8)
37. ^ Frontline, "Jesus' Family Tree"
38. ^ Wilson, A. N. [Jesus: A Life. 1992. New York: Norton & Co.] has hypothesized that the negative relationship between Jesus and his family was placed in the Gospels (especially in the Gospel of Mark) to dissuade early Christians from following the Jesus cult that was administered by Jesus’ family. Wilson says: “… it would not be surprising if other parts of the church, particularly the Gentiles, liked telling stories about Jesus as a man who had no sympathy or support from his family (p. 86).” Butz (2005) [Butz, Jeffrey. The brother of Jesus and the lost teachings of Christianity. 2005. Rochester, Vermont: Inner Traditions.] is more succinct: “… by the time Mark was writing in the late 60s, the Gentile churches outside of Israel were beginning to resent the authority wielded by Jerusalem where James and the apostles were leaders, thus providing the motive for Mark’s antifamily stance… (p. 44).” Other prominent scholars agree (e.g., Crosson, 1973 [Crosson, John Dominic. “Mark and the relatives of Jesus”. Novum Testamentum, 15, 1973]; Mack, 1988 [Mack, Burton. A myth of innocence: Mark and Christian origins. 1988. Philadelphia: Fortress]; Painter. 1999 [Painter, John. Just James: The brother of Jesus in history and tradition. 1999. Minneapolis: Fortress Press)."

Further reading

• Kilgallen, John J., A Brief Commentary on the Gospel of Mark, Paulist Press, 1989.
• Tabor, James D., The Jesus Dynasty, Simon & Schuster, 2006.

External links

• "From Jesus to Christ: Jesus' Family Tree" — PBS
• Catholic Encyclopedia: The Brethren of the Lord

The Prodigal Son - Story Summary:

Points of Interest from the Story:

Questions for Reflection:

PRINCESS DIANA

The Aftermath Dream and Events

by Dee Finney

From Sean David Morton:

The current British royal family are imposters. The House of Windsor is a fraud. They are Asiatic/Mongols who usurped the true power of the Stewart clan in recent times, and in ancient times conspired with the Roman Catholics to commit Regicide and Theocide by murdering King Dagobert and his son Sigisbert. Sigisbert escaped with his sister to carry on the bloodline  Even the flag of the Windsor's and the Prince of Wales is the Red Dragon which shows their descendence from CHINA, whose symbol is the same red dragon.

Windsor Castle is used by Queen Elizabeth II as her official residence and a flag flies above the castle when she is in residence. The State Apartments are the formal rooms which are used for ceremonial, official and state occasions

The "Birthright " of the Queen Mother, the mother of Elizabeth II, has been questioned since her birth, when it was widely known in England, that she was quite possibly the true daughter of one of the King's maids. All British birth certificates must be filed within 9 days of birth. The Queen Mum's was not filed for nearly 3 months, while a debate raged in the palace. The official excuse was that the Royal Family had simply "Forgot".

But the lineage of Lady Diana Spencer goes back to Charles II of the House of Stewart. The Stewarts are *TRUE* royalty, being direct descendents of The House of David of Judah, and Jesus and Mary the Magdalene. So, Diana's sons, William and Harry, have three-quarters true nobility in their blood, and everyone in England knows that Diana was of "Bluer" blood, and closer to the Royal Lineage than Charles or the rest of his Imposter Family.

St. George's cult in England began when the Crusaders returned from the Holy Land with tales of how King Richard "the Lionheart" had fought under his banner at the Siege of Antioch in 1098 and won a great victory. He became the "knight in shining armour" to which every young Englishman aspired. His tales of heroism became legendary and his exploits were gradually transferred from Palestine to England.

His most famous legend tells how he rescued a princess by slaying a dragon on a Berkshire hill. This fire-breathing monster had been terrorising the local townsfolk who had attempted to appease it with the daily sacrifice of a live sheep. When this tact failed, they turned to the local maidens. When the king's beautiful daughter was chosen for this fate, she went to her doom dressed as a bride. At the very last minute, St. George appeared on a white charger and won the day.

Over the centuries, St. George has been associated with six British kings. His cross, red on white, is flown as the flag of England. His emblem, the rose, which comes from Persia, is the symbol of the British Empire. And King George VI, during the Second World War, created the George Cross and George Medal as decorations for gallantry, second only to the Victoria Cross.

The beasts in St. George's Hall, Windsor Castle, were a Golden Wedding present to the Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh from the City of London. In the foreground can be seen a unicorn wearing a royal coronet as a collar, a lion royally crowned is in the background. The use of the lion and unicorn as supporters to the royal arms dates back to the accession of James VI (of Scotland) and I (of England) in 1603. (To the right can be seen part of the equestrian figure of the King's Champion. The Champion used to ride in to the Coronation Banqet in Westminster Hall to throw down his gauntlet and challenge anyone to deny the new sovereign. This ceremony ceased after George IV's coronation in 1821)

What are The Queen's Beasts?

Heraldic beasts have been depicted since medieval times as supporters in coats of arms, and carved stone figures of such creatures were widely used to decorate castles, palaces and public buildings, particularly in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. One example is the series of King's Beasts mounted on the bridge leading to the entrance of Hampton Court Palace - originally placed there to celebrate Henry VIII's marriage to Jane Seymour, the beasts were demolished in William III's reign and subsequently replaced in 1909. The figures on the bridge today date from 1950.

For the coronation of The Queen in 1953, a special series of ten heraldic beasts was devised and created to illustrate her ancestry. The beasts were 6 feet tall, and positioned at Westminster Abbey to mount guard over the place of The Queen's crowning. A set of The Queen's Beasts was carved in stone and these can be seen in the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew.

The ten beasts, and the shields they hold, portray The Queen's royal ancestry. The are: the lion of England supporting the royal arms of the United Kingdom; the griffin of Edward III holding the badge of the Royal House of Windsor; the falcon of the Plantagenets bearing the golden fetterlock badge of the House of York; the black bull of Clarence supporting the royal arms used from 1405 to 1603; the white lion of Mortimer holding a badge with the white rose of York; the Beaufort yale (a heraldic antelope able to swivel its horns to counter an attack from any side), representing the House of Lancaster, bearing a crowned portcullis badge; the greyhound of Richmond supporting a Tudor rose badge; the red dragon of Wales supporting the arms of the princes of North Wales; the unicorn of Scotland holding a shield of the old royal arms of Scotland; and the white horse of Hanover supporting the royal arms used from 1714 until 1800.

Other examples of royal heraldic beasts can be seen at St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle, where 76 beasts of 14 different types are represented; known as the Windsor Beasts, they decorate the Chapel roof. Among the fourteen different types, there are six beasts unique to this Windsor series: the white swan of Bohun holds the arms of Bohun (the family of Henry IV's first wife Mary); the white hart of Richard II supports a shild depicting a badge of broom-pods (planta genista - a pun on the name Plantagenet); a silver antelope, wearing a golden circlet and chained, bears the arms of France and England quartered; the black dragon of the Earls of Ulster supports the red cross on gold of the de Burgh family, from whom the Yorkist kings were descended; and the unicorn of Edward III and the hind of Edward V hold vanes (a type of flag) rather than shields.

What is a Dragon?

Prince William's Heraldry - (received on his 18th birthday)
L O N D O N, July 10 — British royals mark their coming of age a bit differently than the rest of the world.

Rather than showing off a driver’s license as proof of maturity and almost all-grown-up status, a royal displays a coat of arms.

And when the coat of arms of 18-year-old Prince William was unveiled Sunday, the son of the late Princess Diana made his first mark on the traditions of the royal family.

The Prince asked that a small, red scallop shell be incorporated into the design of his personal coat of arms. The shell has been a motif in the coats of arms of Diana’s ancestors, the Earls Spencer, since the 16th century, and was used by Diana in her own coat of arms.

Every member of the royal family gets to choose a way to personalize the royal arms a little bit. It’s called a “mark of difference.”

But William’s little shell is a big deal. Traditionally, the chosen mark of difference is derived from the symbols of the father’s side of the family, not the mother’s.

“It is a welcome innovation to incorporate maternal symbols into the royal family’s arms and it is something that Prince William and his family wanted to do,” said Peter Gwynne-Jones, who is responsible for royal heraldry. “In the fullness of time, Prince William’s arms will change, as the Prince of Wales’s shall, but a precedent has been set here that others in the royal family may well follow.”

The shell design appears four times in the coat of arms for the future king, wherever the “label” appears: on the shield, on the necks of the lion and the unicorn supporting the shield, and on the neck of the small lion device above the shield.

As heir to the heir of the throne, William’s label has three points. Other grandchildren of the monarch have labels with branches of five points.

Prince William’s arms also incorporate aspects of the royal arms used by his grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II, and those of his father, Prince Charles. Both Charles and the Queen have approved William’s coat of arms, and a royal license is being drawn up to officially grant it to the Prince.