Who was Cleopas in the Bible?

Luke 24:18. One of the two disciples who were walking to Emmaus on the day of the resurrection, when the Lord drew near and talked with them. He is supposed to be the same as CLEOPHAS (or CLOPAS as in the Greek) mentioned in John 19:25.

See CLEOPAS.

And now we read, "And one of them, whose name was Cleopas, answering, said to him, Art thou only a stranger in Jerusalem?" Now you might have thought it strange because I said just now this couple were man and wife. I have pretty good reason for thinking so. Here we get the name of the man — Cleopas. If you turn to the nineteenth chapter of John, you there apparently get his wife spoken about. "Now there stood by the cross of Jesus his mother, and his mother's sister, Mary the wife of Cleopas, and Mary Magdalene" (John 19:25). Then you might say to me, That would not be conclusive. No, but their invitation to the Lord, "Abide with us" (Luke 24:29), would show that they lived together, that is pretty certain. And there is yet another reason I can advance. Do you know why the Spirit of God in the fifteenth chapter of 1st Corinthians, when citing the testimonies to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, selects only five out of the eleven appearings? Turn to it and just see what I mean.

Because of their hardening (v. 25) and their sorrow at supposedly losing the Lord, their eyes were turned inward and downward (v. 17). Cleophas or Clopas (v. 18) answered the Lord's questions (v. 17). Perhaps this is the same person mentioned in John 19:25, in which case his wife would have been one of the women who stayed by the cross when all the others had left. If so the lessons in this story are particularly encouraging for believing couples (though, of course they are encouraging for all, even if both disciples were men).

Journey to Emmaus. — Up to this in our gospel we have read of no appearances of the Lord to any of His own on that first day of the week. Luke will now tell us of three different appearances, and of two of them he writes somewhat at length, indicating again in this his independence of his brother evangelists. To Emmaus, a village north-west of Jerusalem, and distant about sixty furlongs, going on to eight miles, two disciples were proceeding on foot, the name of one being Cleopas; that of the other is unknown. Evidently he was not an Apostle (ver. 33); that is all we know. Ere leaving the city they had become acquainted with the report of the women that the Lord was risen, but clearly had not heard of His appearance to any one (vers. 22-24). They must then either have left Jerusalem before Mary Magdalene had told the disciples, "I have seen the Lord" (John 20:18), or had not been present when she announced that joyous fact. Much of deep interest had those two to speak about with reference to the events of the last few days, an interest now increased by the visit of the women to the tomb, and the vision of angels which they had seen there who affirmed that the Lord was alive. Pondering over these things, a stranger, as they supposed, drew near, and probably from behind. Talking together, they did not accost the stranger, but He accosted them, and asked what the communications were which they had one with another. Aroused probably by His interrogatory to the fact of His presence, they stopped, and, as Luke graphically describes it, "they stood still, looking sad" (ver. 17).

602 Luke 24:18. — "Cleopas": not to be confounded, as by Alford, with Alphaeus. The name here is an abbreviation of Cleopater (Wellhausen). As to the belief that Luke himself was the other, see note 2; also paper of Carr in Expositor., Feb., 1904.

MARY His mother and His mother's sister, Mary the wife of Cleopas, and Mary Magdalene; John 19:25. Mary Magdalene, and Mary mother of James and Joses; Matthew 27:56. Mary Magdalene, and the other Mary; Matthew 27:61, and chapter 28:1. Mary Magdalene, and Mary (mother) of Joses; Mark 15:47. Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James; Mark 16:1. Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James the less, and Joses; Mark 15:40. Mary Magdalene, and Joanna, and Mary (mother) of James; Luke 24:10.

JAMES Jude brother of James; Jude 1. James son of Alpheus; Matthew 10:3. Judas (brother) of James; Luke 6:16. James son of Alpheus; Mark 3:18, Luke 6:15. James, and Joses, and Judas, and Simon, Christ's brethren, and His (Christ's) sisters; Mark 6:3. James the Lord's brother; Gal. 1:19.

On comparing these statements, there cannot, I think, be any doubt that Mary the mother of Jude, James and Joses, and "The other Mary," constantly associated with Mary Magdalene, are the same, nor that Mary the wife of Cleopas is also. Jude is brother of James, and James is son of Alpheus, alleged to be the same as Cleopas, and James Jude) and Joses sons of Mary, I suppose wife of Cleopas. Thus the identity and connection of persons is evident. Mary called "The other Mary," the constant companion of Mary Magdalene, was wife of Cleopas and mother of James, Jude, Joses, and Simon, and these were immediate relations of Christ; whether by Cleopas or Mary does not appear. This does not affect the question as to Mary's having a family after the birth of Christ, nor her living with Joseph, of which I think Scripture leaves no doubt. But further, this would determine that James the Lord's brother is the apostle James the less, because James the Lord's brother is brother of Jude; Mark 6:3. And James the apostle is Jude's brother; Luke 6:16; and son of Alpheus. And, I think, from the place James holds in the Acts, and in the Galatians, it is the same James, and not another. For in Galatians it is "James the Lord's brother," and "Certain came from James"; and in Acts "Tell it to James," and James presides, in a sense, in Acts 15. The absence of all addition in the case of James is the natural proof of his being the well-known James.

James is a name of frequent occurrence among the Jews, and, on this account, the name is not easy of identification, apart from some distinguishing epithet. In the New Testament we read of (1) James of Zebedee, (2) James of Alphaeus, (3) James the Lord's brother, and (4) James the Less. The first is clear, but scholars are divided in their opinions as to the number of persons referred to by the following terms, whether three, two or one. A few words must suffice here upon what has been the subject of much controversy.

James [the son] of Alphaeus only occurs in each of the various lists of the apostles. But it has been supposed that Alphaeus is the Greek name for the Hebrew Cleophas (Clopas, John 19:25), whose wife stood by the cross with the other Marys, and is called the mother of James (Luke 24:10). In any case, that James of Alpheus was an apostle is fully established.

Next our Evangelist gives us fully and with the most touching detail that appearing of the risen Lord which the Gospel of Mark sums up in a single verse: "After that he was manifested in another form to two of them as they walked going into the country."

Here I cannot doubt that it is a testimony to the walk of faith to which the Lord, no longer known after the flesh, would lead on His own. It is of no consequence who the unnamed one may have been. They were disciples staggered by the crucifixion of the Messiah, whom grace would comfort, founding their faith on the Word and giving the saints to see Jesus unseen, Whom they knew not while they looked on with natural eyes. One of the ancients, Epiphanius, conjectured the companion of Cleopas to be Nathaniel; among moderns the learned Lightfoot is confident that he was Peter. We may rest assured that both were mistaken, and that he could not have been an apostle; for on returning to Jerusalem the two found "the eleven" among those gathered together. (Verse 33.) The grand point of moment is the Lord's grace in leading them out of human thoughts to Himself as the Object of all the Scriptures, and this, too, as first suffering, then entering His glory.

"And behold, two of them were going on the same day to a village, distant sixty stadia from Jerusalem, called Emmaus; and they conversed with one another about all these things which had taken place. And it came to pass while they conversed and reasoned, that Jesus himself drawing nigh went with them. But their eyes were holden so as not to know him. And he said to them, What words [are] these which ye interchange with one another as ye walk and are downcast?†601 And one [of them], named Cleopas,602 answering said to him, Dost thou sojourn alone in Jerusalem and knowest not602a the things come to pass in it in these days? And he said to them, What things? And they said to him, The things concerning Jesus the Nazarean,‡ who was603 a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people; and how the chief priests and our rulers delivered him to [the] judgment of death and crucified him. But we had hoped that he was [the one] about to redeem604 Israel; but then also§ with all these things, this is the third day since these things came to pass. And withal, certain women from among us astonished us, having been early at the sepulchre, and, not having found his body, came, saying that they had also seen a vision of angels who say that he is alive. And some of those with us went to the sepulchre, and found even as the women also had said; but him they saw not."605 "Sixty": so Edd., after ABDL, etc. "One hundred and sixty" is in ℵ[Kpm Npm Π, etc., and Old Lat. †The reading of the Sinaitic, Alexandrian (first hand it would seem), Vatican, Parisian (L. ἔστησαν), confirmed by some excellent ancient versions [Egyptian], is ἐστάθησαν [R.V. "stood still"], the effect of which would be to close the Lord's question with "as ye walk," and to present the words "and they stood downcast" as the consequence before Cleopas answers. This appears to me as remarkably graphic as it is according to the manner of Luke. (B.T.) So Tisch., Treg., W. H., and Weiss. Blass, following D, omits περιπατοῦντες καὶ ἔστε, and also rejects ἐστάθη αν. ‡"Nazarean": so Blass, after ADN, etc. Edd. "Nazarene," with ℵBL. §"Also": so Edd. with ℵBDL, 1, 33, and Arm. It is not in ANP, etc.

We are now made to accompany two disciples, of whom we have heard nothing before and shall hear nothing again; and of whom we only know the name of one, Cleopas, upon a sorrowful walk to Emmaus, a village sixty furlongs outside Jerusalem. Their backs upon the city at such a time, and under the peculiar circumstances which they themselves relate, is surely significant. Perplexity and discouragement have taken hold of them; and in such a condition a backward course is inevitable.*

While, then, they were on the road discussing the events that had happened, "Jesus Himself drew near and went with them." It is a sign of their condition that "their eyes were holden, that they did not know Him." In answer to His inquiries, the whole thing comes out, and "we trusted that it had been He who is going to redeem Israel" tells the tale of doubt and trouble. Yet they have heard the women's story of His being alive, and of Peter's visit to the sepulchre. What to think they know not.

This name occurs but once, John 19:25: it is really 'Clopas;' the word 'wife' which is added in the A.V. is probably correct. By comparing together the following passages, Matt. 27:56, 61; Matt. 28:1; Mark 15:40, 47; Mark 16:1; and Luke 24:10, it appears probable that 'the other Mary,' and 'Mary the mother of James (or James the less) and Joses' allude to the same person, and she may have been the wife of Clopas. In John 19:25 this Mary is said to be the sister of the Lord's mother, if we allow the word 'and' to separate the persons, which is the most obvious sense; and it is natural that as this is the only place where we read of the Lord's mother having a sister, it should say who she was. Thus there would be three Marys mentioned in the verse, and not four. That the Lord's mother should have a sister also called Mary may appear improbable, but the MSS vary, and there may have been a slight difference, as in the two modern names of Mary and Maria.