The 12 Disciples

Jesus selected twelve men to accompany him as he spread the good news of the kingdom of God. The men were:

  • Peter (originally named Simon but has his named changed by Jesus)
  • Andrew
  • James (son of Zebedee)
  • John
  • Philip
  • Bartholomew (AKA Nathaniel in the book of John)
  • Thomas
  • Matthew
  • James (son of Alphaeus)
  • Thaddaeus (Lebbaeus) – Also called Judas the son of James by Luke
  • Simon the Cananite or “Zealot”
  • Judas Iscariot

Judas Iscariot betrayed Jesus and committed suicide. He was replaced by Matthias.1

These men were recorded in Matthew 10, Mark 3 and Luke 6. Luke has a different name for Thaddaeus. The most likely explanation is that Luke recorded his actual name of “Judas” with the aditional detail of his father to distinguish him from Judas Iscariot, while Matthew and Mark use an alternative name instead for clarity.

The

  1. Acts 1:13 ↩︎