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Who was their father?
If they were sons of the Virgin Mary, Joseph must have been their father. But Matthew ([x, 3]) and Mark ([iii, 18]) state that James the Less was “the son of Alpheus.” According to John (compare [John xix, 25] with [Matthew xxvii, 56]) Cleophas was their father.
Referring to this and the preceding discrepancy, Smith’s “Bible Dictionary” says: “This is one of the most difficult questions in the Gospel history.”