Alphaeus
{{Short description|Biblical character, father of two Apostles}}
{{About|the Biblical figure}}{{Infobox person
| image = Mary Cleophas and Alphaeus (with the features of Frederick the Wise) with two of their sons (SM 1398b) (cropped).png
| alt = Painting of Alphaeus
| caption = Detail from Torgauer Altar by Lucas Cranach the Elder, 1509
| native_name = Ἀλφαῖος
| native_name_lang = grc
| spouse = Mary, mother of James
| children = {{ubl
}}
}}
Alphaeus ({{IPAc-en|æ|l|ˈ|f|iː|ə|s}}; {{Langx|grc|Ἀλφαῖος}}) is a man mentioned in the New Testament seemingly as the father of two of the Twelve Apostles: Matthew the EvangelistMark 2:14 and James, son of Alphaeus.Mark 3:18Matthew 10:3 However, Mark 2:14 in Codex Bezae uses the name Levi rather than Matthew. It is therefore highly probable that the Alphaeus in "James son of Alphaeus" and "Levi son of Alphaeus" are the same person.
He is implied to be the father of Joseph or Joses,Matthew 27:56Mark 15:40 and in Church tradition he is the father of Abercius{{Cite web|url=https://oca.org/saints/lives/2019/05/26/101539-martyrs-abercius-and-helen-children-of-the-apostle-alphus|title = Martyrs Abercius and Helen, children of the Apostle Alphæus}} and Helena.{{Cite web|url=https://oca.org/saints/lives/2019/05/26/101539-martyrs-abercius-and-helen-children-of-the-apostle-alphus|title = Martyrs Abercius and Helen, children of the Apostle Alphæus}}
Identity
=Identification with Matthew and James the Less=
Usually, in the Western Catholic tradition, there are believed to be two men named Alphaeus. One of them was the father of the apostle James and the other the father of Matthew (Levi).{{Cite web|url=http://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=1275|title=St. Alphaeus - Saints & Angels}} Though both Matthew and James are described as being the "son of Alphaeus," there is no Biblical account of the two being called brothers, even in the same context where John and James or Peter and Andrew are described as being brothers. Despite this, Eastern Church tradition typically states that Matthew and James were brothers.{{cite web| url=https://ru.wikisource.org/wiki/%D0%96%D0%B8%D1%82%D0%B8%D1%8F_%D1%81%D0%B2%D1%8F%D1%82%D1%8B%D1%85_%D0%BF%D0%BE_%D0%B8%D0%B7%D0%BB%D0%BE%D0%B6%D0%B5%D0%BD%D0%B8%D1%8E_%D1%81%D0%B2%D1%82._%D0%94%D0%B8%D0%BC%D0%B8%D1%82%D1%80%D0%B8%D1%8F_%D0%A0%D0%BE%D1%81%D1%82%D0%BE%D0%B2%D1%81%D0%BA%D0%BE%D0%B3%D0%BE/%D0%9E%D0%BA%D1%82%D1%8F%D0%B1%D1%80%D1%8C/9 | title=Dmitry of Rostov Lives of the Saints}}{{cite web| url=http://westserbdio.org/en/prologue/657-october-9 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170502033042/http://westserbdio.org/en/prologue/657-october-9 | url-status=dead | archive-date=2017-05-02 | title=Nikolaj Velimirović Prologue of Ohrid}}{{cite web| url=https://stnoufer.files.wordpress.com/2015/01/the-lamp-that-lights-the-darkness-ibn-kabar.pdf | title=Shams ibn Kabar The Lamp that Lights the Darkness in Clarifying the Service}} The apocryphal Gospel of Peter also refers to Levi as the son of Alphaeus.{{cite book|author=Walter Richard|title=The Gospel According to Peter: A Study|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vQtKAAAAMAAJ|publisher=Longmans, Green|date=1894|page=11|accessdate=2022-04-02}}
=Identification with Clopas=
In the Middle Ages, Alphaeus was said to be the husband of Mary the daughter of Clopas.{{Cite Catholic Encyclopedia|wstitle=St. Anne}} More recently, Alphaeus has been identified with Clopas, based on the identification from parallel Gospel accounts of Mary, the mother of James the third woman with Mary Magdalene and Salome, wife of Zebedee beside the cross in Matthew with Mary of Clopas, the third woman in John's account. Post-medieval scholars and translators often take the name 'Mary of Clopas' to mean Mary was the wife of Clopas, not his daughter. Mary is called the wife of Cleophas in the King James Version.John 19:25
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. 70–163 AD, Cleophas and Alphaeus are the same person: "Mary the wife of Cleophas or Alphaeus, who was the mother of James the bishop and apostle, and of Simon and Thaddeus, and of one Joseph"{{cite book|last1=of Hierapolis|first1=Papias|title=Exposition of the Sayings of the Lord. Fragment X|publisher=earlychristianwritings.com|url=http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/text/papias.html|access-date=10 September 2015}} According to the Anglican theologian J.B. Lightfoot this fragment quoted above is spurious.{{cite web|url=http://philologos.org/__eb-jbl/brethren.htm|title=The Brethren of the Lord by J.B. Lightfoot|access-date=2016-12-10|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180618231826/https://philologos.org/__eb-jbl/brethren.htm|archive-date=2018-06-18|url-status=dead}}{{cite web|title=Papias |url=http://www.textexcavation.com/papias.html |website=textexcavation.com |url-status=usurped |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151116063403/http://www.textexcavation.com/papias.html |archive-date=2015-11-16 }}
The Catholic Encyclopedia suggests that etymologically, the names Clopas and Alphaeus are different, but that they could still be the same person. Other sources propose that Alphaeus, Clophas and Cleophas are variant attempts to render the Aramaic H in Aramaic Hilfai into Greek as aspirated, or K.{{Cite web|url=http://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=1275|title=St. Alphaeus - Saints & Angels - Catholic Online|website=Catholic Online|access-date=2016-10-10}}