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Μαρία ἡ Ἰακώβου τοῦ μικροῦ καὶ Ἰωσῆτος μήτηρ (Mk 15:40)

Posted: May 21st, 2021, 6:03 am
by Gregory Hartzler-Miller
οὐχ οὗτός ἐστιν ὁ τέκτων, ὁ υἱὸς τῆς Μαρίας καὶ ἀδελφὸς Ἰακώβου καὶ Ἰωσῆτος... Mk 6:3

Μαρία ἡ Ἰακώβου τοῦ μικροῦ καὶ Ἰωσῆτος μήτηρ Mk 15:40
Mary the mother of the lesser "James" and of Joses

Μαρία ἡ Ἰωσῆτος Mk 15:47

vs.

Μαρία ἡ τοῦ Ἰακώβου Mk 16:1
Mary the [mother] of the [relatively greater] "James" [the aforementioned "son of Alphaeus" Mk 3:18]

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My opening question pertains to the translation, "mother of the lesser 'James'". Is this unusual translation true to the Greek?

My secondary, but related question has to do with interpretation of context, with the three usages of the unusual spelling, Ἰωσῆτος, interpreted as indicators of one and the same person/family in each usage. And then with Ἰακώβου τοῦ μικροῦ distinguishing between two Jameses on a spectrum "from the least to the greatest of them" (ἀπὸ μικροῦ ἕως μεγάλου αὐτῶν Heb 8:11), alluding to the definition of "greatness" in Mark 10:43, "whoever wants to become great (μέγας) among you must be your servant"