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Clopas (, ; Hebrew: possibly , ; Aramaic: חילפאי, Ḥilfài) 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 (Κλεοπᾶς), 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 Κλεοπᾶς, and the John "Clopas" is rendered "Cleophas" in the KJV.
As a result of these parallels commentators have identified "Mary of Clopas" with Mary mother of James, son of Alphaeus. Alphaeus (Greek Ἀλφαῖος) was also the name of the father of Matthew the Apostle (Mark 2:14). The Aramaic name Hilfai (חילפאי), or Hebrew name Halfi () have been proposed by a variety of sourcesDavid Francis Bacon (1813-1865) Lives of the apostles of Jesus Christ 1836- Page 390 "Now, both of these differences can, by a reference to the original Hebrew word, be shown to be only the results of the different modes of expressing the same Hebrew letters ; and the words thus expressed may, by the established rules of.." including Joseph Henry Thayer who argued in his Lexicon that dropping the Hebrew heth ( ḥ, which has no corresponding letter in Greek) and rendering the Hebrew heth as kappa (Κ) in Greek were both possible.Thayer Greek Lexicon entry Alphaeus 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.Franz Delitzsch Hebrew New TestamentJohn Cunningham Geikie The life and words of Christ Volume 1 1884 "Alphaeus, or Alpheus __, and Clopas are different ways of pronouncing in Greek the Hebrew name ___ (Chal'phai)." The Aramaic name Halfai is evidenced on Aramaic panels of the period,Seth Schwartz Imperialism and Jewish society, 200 B.C.E. to 640 C.E. - Page 262 - 2001 "(Panel 3, in Aramaic) May Yosi and Azrin and Haziqin sons of Halfai be remembered for good. / Whoever causes faction between men and their fellows, or recounts / slander about his fellow to the nations 'amemayah, or steals / the .." and the name Hilphai in rabbinic literature.Ben-Zion Rosenfeld Torah centers and rabbinic activity in Palestine, 70-400 CE 2010 Page 136 "A tannaitic sage by the name of Abba Hilphai b. Keruya is referred to in rabbinic literature as a pious person. Rabban Gamliel of Yavneh apparently came to visit him and asked Abba Hilphai to pray for him."
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 Church and Eastern Orthodox traditions believed that Clopas is a brother of Saint Joseph, and that he is the same person with Cleopas.
all with one consent pronounced Symeon, the son of Clopas, of whom the Gospel also makes mention; to be worthy of the episcopal throne of that parish. He was a cousin, as they say, of the Saviour. For Hegesippus records that Clopas was a brother of Joseph.
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