Verse 55 His brethren; near relatives, perhaps cousins. The words signifying the various degrees of relationship were used among the Jews with great latitude. The reason for supposing the persons here referred to to be the cousins of our Lord, is that apparently the same person who is named in John 19:25, as our Savior's mother's sister, Mary the wife of Cleophas, is mentioned, in Matthew 27:56, as the mother of James and Joses.