Clopas is a figure of early Christianity. The name appears in the New Testament, specifically in John : He is often identified with another figure of a similar name, Cleophas, one of the two disciples who met Christ during the road to Emmaus appearance. There is some variation of the Greek manuscripts of both John 19:25 and Luke 24 as to the spelling Κλοπᾶς, and the John "Clopas" is rendered "Cleophas" in the KJV.
Parallel passages
The identity of the other women in the parallel passages in and is given as Mary Magdalene, "Mary the mother of James and Joses," and "Salome the mother of Zebedee's children", "Salome". Luke does not mention the women watching near the cross. The parallels continue again with accounts of the burial. Matthew 28:1 has "Mary Magdalene and the other Mary" with no mention of John's mother Salome, Mark 16:1 has again Mary Magdalene, "Mary the mother of James" and Salome. Luke says "they," John mentions only Mary Magdalene. As a result of these parallels commentators have identified "Mary of Clopas" with Mary mother of "James, son of Alphaeus." Alphaeus was also the name of the father of Matthew the Apostle. The Aramaic name Hilfai, or Hebrew name Halfi have been proposed by a variety of sources including Joseph Henry Thayer who argued in his Lexicon that dropping the Hebrew "H" and rendering the Hebrew "H" as "K" in Greek were both possible. Perhaps under the influence of this tradition, Franz Delitzsch's modern Hebrew New Testament does in fact use the Hebrew name Yaakov ben Khalfi for James son of Alphaeus. The Aramaic name Halfai is evidenced on Aramaic panels of the period, and the name Hilphai in rabbinic literature.
Interpretations
In the Gospel of Pseudo-Matthew, which was probably written in the seventh century, states that Mary of Cleophas was daughter of Cleophas and Anna: The most common interpretation is that "of Clopas" indicates the husband of this Mary and subsequently the father of her children, but some see "of Clopas" as meaning this Mary's father. In medieval tradition Clopas is the second husband of Saint Anne and the father of "Mary of Clopas". Catholic and Orthodox traditions believed that Clopas is a brother of Saint Joseph, and that he is the same person with Cleopas.
A few modern writers identify Mary of Clopas with Jesus' mother, such as James Tabor who has postulated that Clopas, whom he accepts as a brother of Joseph, became the second husband of Jesus' mother. Tabor argues that Clopas married Mary according to the Levirate law, which however would only apply in case of a childless widow - though this view is not widely accepted.
