1. A brother by the same mother, a uterine brother, Matthew 4:21; Matthew 20:20 . 2. A brother, though not by the same mother, Matthew 1:2 . 3. A near kinsman, a cousin, Matthew 13:55; Mark 6:3 . Observe, that in Matthew 13:55 , James, and Joses, and Judas, are called the αδελφοι , brethren, of Christ, but were most probably only his cousins by his mother's side; for James and Joses were the sons of Mary, Matthew 27:56; and James and Judas, the sons of Alpheus, Luke 6:15-16; which Alpheus is therefore probably the same with Cleopas, the husband of Mary, sister to our Lord's mother, John 19:25 .