Week 42 Acts 1
When the Lord left the earth there were eleven disciples who watched him go and Luke lists them in chapter one: Peter John James Andrew Philip Thomas Bartholomew Matthew James (Alphaeus’ son) Simon (the Zealot) Judas (James’ son).
I knew that some of the gospels listed the disciples and so I checked them for comparison. There’s a couple of differences among the four lists.
Two of the writers call Peter Peter and two call him Simon
Two just call John John but two add family connections (James’ brother & Zebedee’s son)
Two add that James was Zebedee’s son
Two say that Andrew was Peter’s brother
All four just name Philip Thomas Bartholomew & Matthew. No differences & no add-ons
All four say that the other James was Alphaeus’ son and that the other Simon was the Zealot
Two identify the other Judas as the son of James and two call him Thaddeus.
So some writers call a person by one name and not another. Some point out family connections or make the point that there were two Simons’ & two Judas’.
There’s only a couple of minor differences or variations in the lists. No disagreement.
Well…there is one big difference. Acts’ list only has eleven names. Luke seems to be making the point: ‘we started with twelve but one defected’. The twelfth man – Judas Iscariot – had to be replaced. And most of chapter one tells that story.
Note: the lists are in Acts 1:13 Matthew 10:2-4 Mark 3:16-19 & Luke 6:14-16