Jesus’ Wife Mentioned on Fourth-Century Papyrus Fragment
Elizabeth Lopatto, Bloomberg:
A scrap of papyrus dated to the fourth century has written on it in the ancient Coptic language, “Jesus said to them, my wife,” reopening the debate about whether Jesus was married, as some early Christians believed.
Neat. I found this part pretty fascinating too:
“One of the things we do know is that very rarely in ancient literature was the marital status of men discussed,” [Professor Karen] King said in a conference call with reporters. “Silence in marital status is normal.”
Only women were identified in terms of family relationships, as someone’s sister, mother, or wife, King said. The question of whether Jesus married came up later when people wanted to use him as a model for their lives, she said.