Who was their father?

If they were sons of the Virgin Mary, Joseph must have been their father. But Matthew (x, 3) and Mark (iii, 18) state that James the Less was “the son of Alpheus.” According to John (compare John xix, 25 with Matthew xxvii, 56) Cleophas was their father.

Referring to this and the preceding discrepancy, Smith’s “Bible Dictionary” says: “This is one of the most difficult questions in the Gospel history.”