The Twelve Apostles
Rick Aschmann

Last updated:

21-Oct-2019 at 13:53

(See History.)

(biblechronology.net/Apostles.html)

Contents

1. General Information

2. The Chart

3. The Three Groups of Four

4. Other Groupings in the Lists

5. Other Possible Identifications

5.1. Evidence: Several Mothers at the Cross

5.2. Were James and John Jesus’ cousins?

5.3. Was “James the Younger/Less” James [son] of Alphaeus?

5.4. Less Likely Possibilities

5.5. James [son] of Alphaeus was not James the brother of Jesus

1. General Information

The large chart below shows all of the lists of the twelve apostles given in the New Testament, arranged for comparison, plus additional information. These lists are interesting in a number of ways.

First, no list exactly matches the order of any other list; they each have some unique orderings. (It is interesting that two of the lists are compiled by Luke, the writer of Luke and Acts, but do not follow exactly the same order!)

Second, the way the lists are arranged into groups or pairs is important, and provides us with a lot of information. See The Three Groups of Four and Other Groupings in the Lists below.

John provides no complete list as such, though all but 3 of the 12 are mentioned somewhere in the book, as shown in the chart. Actually, John is the only one who mentions many of the apostles in situations other than these lists or the accounts of when Jesus calls them. In fact, other than the core group (Peter, James, and John) and Judas Iscariot none of the other apostles are even mentioned (with certainty) in the synoptic gospels except in these lists or in the accounts of when Jesus calls them. (But see the discussion under Other Possible Identifications below.)

We know the fathers of 8 of the 12, as shown in the chart, though the word “son” (υἱός) is almost never used in these cases (except in John 1:42), being implied by the genitive (e.g. “James of Zebedee”). (It is also possible that we know the names of the mothers of a few of them: see the discussion under Other Possible Identifications below.)

Another list of the Twelve is mentioned in Revelation 21:14, which says, “The wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them were the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb”. However, it does not provide us with the actual list, which leaves us wondering who exactly was on it. Obviously Judas was not, since he betrayed the Lord, as Peter makes clear in Acts 1:15-22. Was Matthias on it? Or was the apostle Paul the real replacement for Judas? (See comments in endnote 10 below.)

2. The Chart

Luke list

Mark list

Matthew list

mentioned in John

Acts list

Official choosing of the 12,
early in Jesus’ second year
of ministry, (mid 28 A.D.),
with the complete list
(reordered to match
the Matthew list)

A complete
list of the 12
(probably late
in 28 A.D.)
which clearly
divides the
list into
distinct groups

A list from
an informal
meeting of 7
disciples
(reordered to
match the
Matthew list)

Others
mentioned
in John
(if never
mentioned
marked
with —)

Other

Information

Another complete
list of the 11 after
Jesus’ ascension
(mid 30 A.D.)
which divides the
text into slightly
different groups

(not reordered)

Mentions
in Acts
after
chapter 1
and in the
letters[1]

Luke 6:14-16

Mark 3:16-19

Matthew 10:2-4

John 21:2

Initial Call

“Official” Call

Hometown

Occupation

Father

Other Info

Acts 1:13

Group 1

(Jesus’
intimate
group)

brothers

1. Simon

(Peter)

1. Simon

(Peter)

1. Simon

(Peter)

Simon

Peter

(often)

Simon Peter

(Cephas)

(Jn. 1:40-42)

Mt. 4:18-22

Mk. 1:16-20

Lk. 5:1-11

↑

(north shore
of Sea of
Galilee, early
28 A.D.)

Bethsaida

(Jn. 1:44)

fisherman

(see “Official”
Call)

John

(Jn. 21,

1:42)

Wrote 1 and
2 Peter

1. Peter

Acts 2-5,
8-12, 15

Gal. 2:7-11

Group 1

(Jesus’
intimate
group)

2. his brother

Andrew

4. Andrew

2. his brother

Andrew

Jn. 6:8,
12:22

Andrew

(Jn. 1:35-42)

fisherman

(see “Official”
Call)

John

2. John

Acts 3,4,8,
(12:2)[2]

Gal. 2:9

brothers

3. James

2. James [son]
of Zebedee

3. James [son]
of Zebedee

the [son]s

of Zebedee

(never
by
name)

Bethsaida?
(because
business
partners
with the
above)

fisherman

(see “Official”
Call)

Zebedee

Died 44 A.D.[3]

(Acts 12:2)

3. James

Acts 12:2[4]

4. John

3. his brother
John

(Boanerges=

Sons of
Thunder)

4. his brother
John

(never
by
name)[5]

(John?)⁵

(Jn. 1:35-40)

fisherman

(see “Official”
Call)

Zebedee

Wrote 5 books:
John, 1 John,
2 John, 3 John,
Revelation

4. Andrew

—

Group 2

usually
grouped
together

5. Philip

Jn. 6:5-7,
12:21-22,
14:8-9

Philip

(Jn. 1:43-46)

Bethsaida

(Jn. 1:44,
12:21)

5. Philip

—[6]

Group 2

6. Bartholomew

←?=Nathanael[7]

Nathanael

(Jn. 1:45-51)

Cana in Galilee

(Jn. 21:2)

6. Thomas

—

usually
grouped
together

8. Thomas

7. Thomas

Thomas
(Didymus)[8]

Jn. 11:16,
14:5,
20:24-29

7. Bartholomew

—

7. Matthew

8. Matthew

the tax
collector

—

Mt. 9:9-17

Mk. 2:14-17

Lk. 5:27-31

↑

(Capernaum,
early 28 A.D.)

Capernaum?

tax collector

(Mt. 10:3)

(also see
“Official”
Call)

Alphaeus [9]

Wrote Matthew,
a.k.a. Levi
[son] of
Alphaeus

(Mk. 2:14-17,
Lk. 5:27-31)

8. Matthew

—

Group 3

9. James [son]

of Alphaeus

9. James [son]

of Alphaeus

9. James [son]

of Alphaeus

—

Alphaeus⁹

9. James [son]
of Alphaeus

—

Group 3

11. Judas [son]

of James

10. Thaddaeus

Judas (not
Iscariot)

Jn. 14:22

James

10. Simon

the Zealot

—

10. Simon

the Zealot

11. Simon

the Zealot

11. Simon

the Zealot

—

11. Judas [son]
of James

—

12. Judas
Iscariot, who
became a
traitor

12. Judas
Iscariot, who
betrayed him

Jn. 6:70-71,
12:4-6,
13:2,21-30,
18:2-5

probably

Kerioth south

of Hebron

treasurer
of the

disciples

(Jn. 12:6,
13:29)

Simon
Iscariot

(Jn. 6:71)

Committed
suicide 30
A.D.

(Mt. 27:5,

Acts 1:18-19)

(12. Judas
replaced
by Matthias,
Acts 1:26)[10]

—[11]

two other
disciples,
unidentified

↑

(all in
Bethany
beyond
Jordan,
26 or early
27 A.D.)

Red: Distinct names given to a particular individual or pair		A double line between cells indicates a break in the list, suggesting the		Explicitly called
Green: Out of the order given by Matthew, which is as close to a standard order as any		start of a new group (on some browsers it shows up as a very thick line).		brothers in the list

3. The Three Groups of Four

All four of the complete lists of the apostles given in the chart above group the 12 into the same 3 groups of 4, and each group always begins with the same person. So Peter is always number 1, Philip is always 5, and James son of Alphaeus is always 9. Also, Judas Iscariot is always listed last, as number 12. Other than this, the order within each group varies.

The meaning of the first group is clear: these are the 4 fishermen, and are also Jesus’ intimate group among the disciples, especially Peter, James, and John, whom Jesus often takes along with him separately, as in the transfiguration (Mt. 17:1-13, Mk. 9:2-13, Lk. 9:28-36), the healing of Jairus’ daughter (Mk. 5:37), and many other cases. (They are usually listed as “Peter, James and John”, though occasionally they are listed in other ways, like “Peter and the two sons of Zebedee” in Mt. 26:37, and in Luke as “Peter, John and James” in Lk. 8:51, 9:28.) Occasionally Andrew is mentioned as well, as in Mk. 1:29, 13:3.

What about the other two groups? They must mean something; otherwise they would not be consistent among the four lists in spite of other variation. And it seems that they do: the second group is the second most important group in terms of (positive) involvement in Jesus’ ministry, as we can see from how many times they are all mentioned in the gospels, as shown in the chart. The third group includes those who have the least (positive) involvement in Jesus’ ministry. James son of Alphaeus and Simon the Zealot are never mentioned at all outside the lists (but see the discussion under Other Possible Identifications below), and Judas son of James is only mentioned once, in Jn. 14:22, as “Judas (not Iscariot)”.

As for Judas Iscariot, he had lots of involvement in Jesus’ ministry, but all of it was negative, before, during, and after the betrayal of Jesus.

Thus the three groups apparently serve to rank the apostles according to how useful they were to Jesus. For more information about this question, a few helpful links I found are edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2011/01/30/introducing-and-ranking-the-twelve-apostles and various comments at biblehub.com/commentaries/matthew/10-2.htm.[12]

4. Other Groupings in the Lists

In English when we enumerate a list of more than 2 items, we only use the word “and” before the last one, as in “Peter, Andrew, James, and John”. However, in Greek this is not the usual practice; instead, “and” (καὶ) is inserted between all of the items in the list: “Peter and Andrew and James and John”. What is unusual is when a break is made in such a list by leaving out the “and” between two people in the list. This actually indicates the beginning of a new list, and Matthew uses this to break the second and third groups into 4 pairs of individuals, which is what the double lines ═══════ between cells indicate in his list in the chart. The Acts list has different groupings, as shown in the chart. We could surmise that these groupings mean something, but in most cases it is unclear what the association would be, except for the cases I have already discussed above or in the footnotes.

5. Other Possible Identifications

This section is somewhat speculative, so take it with a grain of salt.

5.1. Evidence: Several Mothers at the Cross

Many commentators have noted that, if we compare the three parallel lists of the women who were standing within sight of the cross during the crucifixion, we may be able to gain some additional information about some of Jesus’ 12 apostles and their connections to him. The three parallel passages are the following:

Matthew 27:55-56: 55 There were also many women there, looking on from a distance, who had followed Jesus from Galilee, ministering to him, 56 among whom were Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of James and Joseph and the mother of the sons of Zebedee.

Mark 15:40: There were also women looking on from a distance, among whom were Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James the younger and of Joses, and Salome.

John 19:25: …but standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother and his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene.

All three passages mention at least three women in particular. John 19:25 is a bit unclear as to whether it is talking about 3 women or 4, specifically, whether “his mother’s sister” and “Mary the wife of Clopas” are one woman or two. However, the vast majority of commentators conclude that they are two women, including Baker’s New Testament Commentary, The Wycliffe Bible Commentary, and 6 of 7 commentators who express their opinion on the question at biblehub.com/commentaries/john/19-25.htm. The main reason given is that it would be unlikely that two sisters would both be named Mary. Also, the Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges says, “S. John is fond of parallel expressions; ‘His mother and His mother’s sister, Mary of Clopas and Mary Magdalene’ are two pairs set one against the other.” We have already seen above that this kind of grouping is not uncommon in the Greek New Testament.

Furthermore, many commentators propose that the women in the three passages be identified as in the following table:

John 19:25	his mother	his mother’s sister	Mary [the wife] of Clopas	Mary Magdalene
Matthew 27:56		the mother of the sons of Zebedee	Mary the mother of James and Joseph	Mary Magdalene
Mark 15:40		Salome	Mary the mother of James the younger and of Joses	Mary Magdalene

This would mean that of the 4 women, 3 of them are identified as mothers!

5.2. Were James and John Jesus’ cousins?

This would also mean that Zebedee’s wife and the mother of James and John was named Salome, that she was Jesus’ aunt, and that James and John were Jesus’ cousins. This has been used to explain why James and John were part of Jesus’ intimate group, and why their mother dared to make the request of Jesus that she makes in Matthew 20:20-23 and Mark 10:35-40. She thought being his aunt would give her an in!

But as Baker’s New Testament Commentary says, “It must be stressed, however, that this harmony, though not improbable, cannot be proved.”

5.3. Was “James the Younger/Less” James [son] of Alphaeus?

“James the younger” (ESV, NIV, and most modern translations) or “James the less” (NASB and KJV) is evidently distinguished by this title from James the son of Zebedee. Most commentators suggest that he is the apostle James [son] of Alphaeus listed in the four lists of apostles above. Part of the logic for this lies in the fact that both the name Clopas and the name Alphaeus are probably originally the same name in Aramaic, חַלְפַי /ḥalˈp̄ay/ (see biblehub.com/greek/256.htm). If this is the case, then this apostle is mentioned in two other verses as well, both in reference to his mother Mary: Mark 16:1 and Luke 24:10, so he would be mentioned in all three of the synoptic gospels. His mother Mary is mentioned in three other verses, in Mark 15:47 as “Mary the mother of Joses”, and in Matthew 27:61 as simply “the other Mary” with Mary Magdalene to see where Jesus was laid, and again in Matthew 28:1 as “the other Mary” with Mary Magdalene and others on resurrection morning at the tomb.

The odd thing about this information is that we never find James [son] of Alphaeus saying or doing anything, but we (possibly) see his mother present in three different scenes at the crucifixion and burial of Jesus! He is one of the Group-3 disciples, so it is interesting that we (possibly) even get any further information about him.

I think that these two suggested connections are probably the most likely of any that have been made. Even so, they are based to a certain extent on conjecture and implication.

5.4. Less Likely Possibilities

Others have pointed out that there is one other context in which two brothers named James and Joseph/Joses are mentioned: in reference to Jesus’s own family, that is, his own half brothers! In fact the second brother is called Joseph by Matthew and Joses by Mark in both contexts.

Matthew 13:55: Is not this the carpenter’s son? Is not his mother called Mary? And are not his brothers James and Joseph and Simon and Judas?

Mark 6:3: Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary and brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon? And are not his sisters here with us?” And they took offense at him.

Churches like the Catholic Church that believe in the perpetual virginity of Mary say that these were not really Jesus’ brothers from the same mother, and some have suggested that this other Mary was some close relative of Joseph or Mary, making these cousins rather than brothers of Jesus. However, the Bible does not teach the perpetual virginity of Mary; instead it makes clear that after Jesus’ birth she and Joseph had a normal marriage relationship, as Matthew 1:24-25 (NIV) makes clear: “24 When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. 25 But he did not consummate their marriage until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus.” So the plain meaning of Matthew 13:55 and Mark 6:3 is that these were Jesus’ younger (half) brothers, children of his mother Mary with Joseph.

So could Matthew 27:56 and Mark 15:40 possibly be referring to Jesus’ own mother and brothers? In the context of the verses themselves this is not impossible, but it seems very improbable. Matthew has already told us that this Mary was Jesus’ mother in Matthew 1 and 2, and that these were his brothers in Matthew 13:55, so why would he adopt such an indirect reference in Matthew 27:56? It doesn’t seem likely.

So what do we know for sure about any of these suggestions? Nothing much with certainty, but they are certainly tantalizing!

5.5. James [son] of Alphaeus was not James the brother of Jesus

However, one thing is quite clear: James [son] of Alphaeus could not have been the same as James the brother of Jesus, in spite of some traditions that maintain that he is! The New Bible Dictionary entry for James points out that Jesus’ brothers, including James, “apparently did not accept the authority of Jesus before the resurrection (see Mk. 3:21 and Jn. 7:5). After the risen Jesus had appeared to him (1 Cor. 15:7), he became a leader of the Jewish-Christian church at Jerusalem (Gal. 1:19; 2:9; Acts 12:17).” So he clearly was not one of the 12 apostles. And in any case, he was the son of Joseph, not the son of Alphaeus or Clopas!