8. The Four Lists of the Twelve Apostles
It is interesting to compare the four lists of Jesus' chosen apostles as given by Matthew, Mark, Luke, and Acts.
| [Mark 3:16] f. | [Matthew 10:2] f. | [Luke 6:14] f. | Acts 1:13 f. | |
| 1. | Simon Peter | Simon Peter | Simon Peter | Simon Peter |
| 2. | James | Andrew | Andrew | James |
| 3. | John | James | James | John |
| 4. | Andrew | John | John | Andrew |
| 5. | Philip | Philip | Philip | Philip |
| 6. | Bartholomew | Bartholomew | Bartholomew | Thomas |
| 7. | Matthew | Thomas | Matthew | Bartholomew |
| 8. | Thomas | Matthew | Thomas | Matthew |
| 9. | James the son of Alpheus | James the son of Alpheus | James the son of Alpheus | James the son of Alpheus |
| 10. | Thaddeus | Thaddeus | Simon the Zealot | Simon the Zealot |
| 11. | Simon the Cananæan | Simon the Cananæan | Judas the brother of James | Judas the brother of James |
| 12. | Judas Iscariot | Judas Iscariot | Judas Iscariot |
Let us examine the names here given.
(1) The lists are given some time after the selection was made, and hence represent a later grouping according to later developments in this inner circle. The primacy of Peter in these lists does not mean necessarily that he was the acknowledged leader at first. See discussion under (4) below. The point to note here is that we are not to think of Peter as the formal leader of the Twelve before the death of Christ. Jesus was himself that leader.
(2) One mark of an apostle was that he should have been with the Lord from the baptism of John until the day that he was received up (Acts 1:21 f.). Perhaps no great stress is to be laid on any exact time here, provided it began in the time of John. An apostle must know the Lord. Hence Paul received the vision of Christ. We have some knowledge of seven of these apostles before this time. If we infer from [John 1:41] that John followed the example of Andrew in finding his own brother, it was not long till James was a disciple as well as John, Andrew, and Peter. Philip and Nathanael are soon added to the list ([John 1:43] f.). Later Matthew hears the call of the Saviour, too ([Matt. 9:9; Mark 2:13] f). Of the other five we have no knowledge previous to this occasion. Jesus had "found" them by the same insight that led to his other selections. He chose Judas, though knowing that he was a devil.
(3) Observe the three groups of four, headed by Simon Peter, Philip, and James the son of Alpheus, respectively. The great variety in the arrangement of the other names makes this uniformity significant. It seems clear that there are three recognized groups among the apostles (Bengel, Broadus, Clark). Each group has the same persons in every list, although there is such a variety in the order. In the first group Matthew and Luke have the same order, while Mark and Acts agree. In the second group Mark and Luke have a like order, while Matthew and Acts agree in putting Matthew at the end of this group. In the third group Matthew and Mark agree exactly, while Luke and Acts are identical save the dropping out of Judas Iscariot from the list in Acts because of his apostasy and death. No great importance can be attached to the precise order within the groups since Luke, in the Gospel and Acts, gives a different arrangement in the first and second groups.
(4) Observe also that Simon Peter not only stands at the head of his group, but at the head of all the groups, while Judas Iscariot is always at the bottom till he drops out entirely. Simon finally occupied a position of precedence of some sort. He was one of the inner circle of three that was so close to the Saviour's heart. Perhaps it was this, rather than any notion of primacy in authority or power. He was the spokesman because of his natural impetuosity. The question as to who should be greatest among the apostles illustrates the spirit of rivalry about precedence that existed among them. In the October, 1916, Journal of Theol. Studies, Dr. A. Wright argues that the critical text in [Mark 14:10] means "Judas Iscariot the first of the Twelve." The Koiné did sometimes use heis as an ordinal (see Moulton, Prolegomena,, p. 96 and my Grammar of the Greek New Testament, pp. 671 f.). But the disputes among the Twelve show that they themselves considered Jesus only as leader till his death. See my article on "The Primacy of Judas Iscariot," the Expositor (London) for April, 1917, and one by Rendel Harris in the June, 1917, issue, and Wright's reply in the November, 1917, number.
(5) There are among the Twelve three pairs of brothers—Simon and Andrew, James and John, James the son of Alpheus and Judas the brother of James. The first two pairs form the first group of the Twelve. It is, however, uncertain whether Judas is the brother or the son of James. The Greek is ambiguous, James's Judas. The Revised Version translated it "Judas son of James," but the Epistle of Jude begins "Judas a servant of Jesus Christ and brother of James." But the Jude of the Epistle and the Judas of the Twelve were hardly the same. Cf. Broadus, Comm. on Matt., p. 216.