Mark 3:16-19

The following table shows the 12 disciples as they appear in the four lists that the Holy Spirit has given us in Scripture.

All four lists contain three groups of four names each. The same individuals head each group, though there is variation within each group. Probably these groups constituted ministry teams that broke up into pairs when the Twelve preached apart from Jesus (Mark 6:7).

Mark never used the double name "Simon Peter." Peter ("Rocky") was Simon’s second given name, his nickname. All the lists place Peter first, and they all put Judas Iscariot last, except for the Acts list that omits him. "Boanerges" is a Hebrew word, but why Jesus called James and John "sons of thunder" is unknown. Perhaps they had an impetuous nature (cf. Mark 9:38; Luke 9:54).

Bartholomew is not really a name but a patronym meaning "son of Talmai (Ptolemy)." He may have had another name, but the disciples consistently referred to him as Bartholomew. Matthew’s other name was Levi.

James the son of Alphaeus was James the Less (or little, Mark 15:40). Thaddaeus and Judas, the son or brother of James, may have been the same person. Likewise Simon the Cananaean was the same person as Simon the Zealot, "Cananaean" being the Aramaic form of "Zealot." The Zealots were a later political party bent on the overthrow of the Roman government, so it is unlikely that Simon was a member of this party. Probably the name "zealot" referred to Simon’s personality, not his political affiliation. "Iscariot" is a name of origin, but the exact location of Judas’ hometown is uncertain, though many believe it was a town in Judea named Kerioth. "Iscariot" means "man of Kerioth." [Note: See The New Bible Dictionary, 1962 ed., s.v. "Judas Iscariot," by R. P. Martin.]

"It was a strange group of men our Lord chose to be his disciples. Four of them were fishermen, one a hated tax collector, another a member of a radical and violent political party [?]. Of six of them we know practically nothing. All were laymen. There was not a preacher or an expert in the Scriptures in the lot. Yet it was with these men that Jesus established his church and disseminated his Good News to the end of the earth." [Note: Wessel, p. 643.]