Mary, the Lord’s Sister
Does Jesus have a sister named Mary?
A Sister Named Mary
Among the 52 early Christian and Gnostic texts discovered at Nag Hammadi in 1945, one of the most enigmatic is a Valentinian text called the Gospel of Philip. This is one of several “Gnostic” texts which puts a special emphasis on the relationship between Mary Magdalene and Jesus. One of the more obscure sections concerns three Marys who were always with Jesus.
Three Women Named Mary
Three women always walked with the master: Mary his mother, <his> sister, and Mary of Magdala, who is called his companion. For “Mary” is the name of his sister, his mother, and his companion.
The word his in brackets is uncertain because of damage to the text but is repeated later in the text, so the reconstruction is likely correct. However, there is no record of Jesus having a sister named Mary.
3 Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary, the brother of James, and Joses, and of Juda, and Simon? and are not his sisters here with us? And they were offended at him. (Mar 6:3 KJV)
Jesus had some unnamed sisters and it isn’t unusual for a mother to give her name to a daughter. Still, beyond the passage from Philip, there is no record of Jesus having a sister named Mary who was always with him.
