Endnote 12 – All in the Family

Apart from the information that members of the third generation of the family of Jesus were still active in Christian leadership, the most interesting aspect of the story is what it tells us about the farm that the brothers held in partnership. The size and value given are so precise that it is likely that they rest on accurate detail. The farm was not divided between the brothers but owned jointly, no doubt because this family continued the old Jewish tradition of keeping a small holding undivided as the joint property of the “father’s house,” rather than dividing it between heirs. So, two generations back, this farm would have belonged to Joseph and his brother Clopas. Unfortunately, since the plethron has two possible sizes, it seems impossible to determine whether the farm was about 12 or 24 acres. In either case, this is not much land to support two families, and Joseph had at least seven children to feed. It is not surprising that he (and later Jesus) supplemented the family income by working as a carpenter.