Illustration created for this project.

Jude, brother of Jesus

One of the brothers of Jesus named in the gospels, and by tradition the author of the short letter that bears his name. He introduces himself there not as a brother of the Lord but as a servant of Jesus Christ and brother of James. The letter warns sharply against people who had crept in unnoticed, quotes a prophecy of Enoch, and ends with one of the great doxologies of the New Testament.

Role: Writer of the Epistle of Jude

Lived: 1st century

Born: Nazareth

What we know — and how we know it

Bible — stated in scripture (with verse) · 1 Ancient writers — non-biblical testimony · 1

Family & lineage

BibleA brother of Jesus and of James, who wrote a short letter warning the church against false teachers.

Jude 1:1; Mark 6:3

Life, role & deeds

Desconocido — Public domain (via Wikimedia Commons) Ancient writersHegesippus records that Jude's grandsons, humble farmers, were questioned by the emperor Domitian as heirs of David's line.

Hegesippus, quoted in Eusebius, Historia Ecclesiastica 3.19–3.20.7 — the grandsons of Jude (the desposynoi, of David's line) examined by the emperor Domitian; Loeb Classical Library ed. K. Lake (1926).

Where in scripture

Mark Jude

Isn’t this the carpenter, the son of Mary, and brother of James, Joses, Judah, and Simon? Aren’t his sisters here with us?” They were offended at him.
Mark 6:3 — Named among Jesus' brothers

Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James, to those who are called, sanctified by God the Father, and kept for Jesus Christ:
Jude 1:1 — 'Brother of James'

Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible, a public-domain translation.

Mark 6:3 Jude 1:1

Related reading

Jude, brother of Jesus

What we know — and how we know it

Where in scripture

Family

Places in their life