CLOPAS

(Cloʹpas).

The husband of one of the Marys that stood beside Jesus as he hung on the torture stake. (John 19:25) Presumably he was the husband of “the other Mary,” and father of the apostle James the Less and his brother Joses. (Matt. 27:56; 28:1; Mark 15:40; 16:1; Luke 24:10) It is quite probable and generally recognized that Clopas was the same person that was called Alphaeus (Matt. 10:3; Mark 3:18; Luke 6:15; Acts 1:13), the difference being explained either as a variation in the pronunciation of the Aramaic root or because the same individual had two names used interchangeably, a practice not uncommon at the time. That Clopas was a brother of Joseph, the foster father of Jesus, is a conjecture based entirely on tradition.