Don't Know Much About the Bible - Kenneth C. Davis [150]
James, called the son of Zebedee. (James is a form of the Hebrew “Jacob,” a common name among Jews in this period. There are four significant men named James in the New Testament, one of them a second disciple mentioned below.)
John, the brother of James; Jesus called James and John the “Sons of Thunder.” With Peter, they were the closest of the twelve to Jesus.
Philip is from Bethsaida, the city of Peter and Andrew. In John, Philip tells Nathaniel (next entry) about Jesus, saying Jesus is the one whom Moses and the prophets wrote about.
Bartholomew, or “son of Tolmai.” He is also identified as Nathaniel in John. Tradition holds that Bartholomew went on a missionary journey in Egypt, Persia, India, and Armenia, where he was flayed alive. For that he was named the patron saint of tanners!
Thomas, who would become known later as the “doubter” because in John he demands physical proof of Jesus’ resurrection. A Gnostic “Gospel According to Thomas” is attributed to him, and his name in Aramaic means “twin,” leading some scholars to identify him as Jesus’ twin brother—a sibling nowhere mentioned in the Bible.
Matthew, the tax collector, also identified as Levi. He is named the son of Alphaeus in Luke and Mark.
James is also called the son of Alphaeus, but apparently not the same one as Levi’s father. He is also called “the younger” or “the lesser” to distinguish him from James, son of Zebedee, although in some translations he is called “the little,” implying he was shorter than James, the “greater.”
Thaddeus; Luke substitutes the name Judas, son of James (the third New Testament James).
Simon the “Canaanean” or the “zealot.”
Judas Iscariot, the ultimate betrayer. While all the other disciples came from the area around Galilee, “Iscariot” may mean Judas is from Kerioth in Judea.
These twelve were the disciples singled out by Jesus. They were the followers most closely associated with Jesus, but there is frequent mention of many other “disciples,” a term used often in the Gospels and Acts. The word “disciples” literally means “learners,” or students of Jesus, although it has different connotations in each of the Gospels. The disciples of Jesus were generally those who listened to Jesus, understood him, and even taught what Jesus taught. In Luke, seventy more disciples are appointed by Jesus, in addition to the Twelve. Jesus then sent them out in pairs to precede him to the towns where he planned to go. The number seventy supposedly represented the number of nations in the world as recorded in Genesis. (Other ancient authorities mention seventy-two disciples, reflecting a disparity in translations. The Hebrew Bible says there are seventy nations; the Greek Bible says there are seventy-two nations.)
In addition to the Twelve and the additional seventy appointed disciples, there was a large and growing “community” of followers who welcomed Jesus and the Twelve when they came to a town.
The words “disciple” and “apostle” are often used interchangeably but mean quite different things. An apostle, from the Greek apostolos, for “one who is sent out,” generally means a messenger of the gospel. The author of Luke used the word “apostle” specifically for the twelve disciples who had been companions of Jesus, witnesses of the resurrection, and became leaders of the church—excluding Judas, who betrayed Jesus and killed himself. The word is later used in a wider sense to include Paul and other early preachers of the Gospel.
BIBLICAL VOICES
Go on your way. See, I am sending you out like lambs into the midst of wolves. Carry no purse, no bag, no sandals; and greet no one on the road. Whatever house you enter, first say, “Peace to this house!” And if anyone is there who shares in peace, your peace will rest on that person; but if not, it will return to you. Remain in the same house, eating and drinking whatever they provide, for the laborer deserves to be paid. Do not move about from house to house. Whenever you enter a town and its people welcome you, eat what is set before you; cure the