References (19)
As he went on from there, he saw two other brothers, James, the son of Zebedee, and his brother John. [They were also fishermen.] They were sitting in the boat with their father Zebedee, mending their nets. He called them [in the same way he had called Simon Peter and Andrew].
These are the names of the twelve apostles:
first
Simon, who is called Peter,
and Andrew, his brother,
[then] James, the son of Zebedee,
and John, his brother,
Six days later, Jesus took Peter,
James, and his brother John up a high mountain where they could be alone
(in seclusion).
[According to tradition, it is Mount Tabor, but it is more likely that it is Mount Hermon near Caesarea Philippi, which is the last place Jesus visited, see . It is likely that Matthew is referring to how Moses went up Mount Sinai and after six days saw God, see . Jesus is the second Moses spoken of in and the one who fulfills Moses' calling.]A little further on, he saw James, the son of Zebedee, and his brother John, who were mending their nets in their boat.
[In Capernaum lived Peter, his wife, his mother-in-law, and his brother Andrew, see . Jesus also lived here during his active time in Galilee. Peter's wife accompanied him on his later journeys, see .] Jesus immediately left the synagogue and went to Simon and Andrew's house, together with
[the brothers] James and John.
[According to Jewish custom, the main meal on the Sabbath was eaten at midday, immediately after the service.] James, the son of Zebedee,
John, the brother of James – Jesus gave them [James and John, the Hebrew] the name Boanerges, which means sons of thunder (tumult) [perhaps because of their hot temper, see ] –
Jesus did not allow anyone to accompany him except Peter, James, and his brother John.
Six days after this, Jesus took Peter,
James, and John with him and led them up a high mountain, alone in seclusion.
[The Bible does not specify which mountain this took place on. They had recently been in Caesarea Philippi in the north, see , and afterwards it is mentioned that they are in Galilee, see . The two most common alternatives suggested by Bible scholars are the high mountain Hermon in the north, not far from Caesarea Philippi, or Mount Tabor in southern Galilee, which can be reached in four days from Caesarea Philippi.]His appearance was transformed before them,
Then James and John, the sons of Zebedee [together with their mother Salome, see ], came to him and said, "Teacher, we want you to give us whatever we ask of you."
When the other ten heard this, they were very upset with James and John (they felt deep pain and anger because something wrong had happened).
[Jesus goes to the Mount of Olives, located one and a half kilometers east of Jerusalem. From there, they could see all of Jerusalem and the temple they had just left.] When Jesus sat down on
the Mount of Olives opposite the temple, Peter,
James, John, and Andrew asked him privately:
He took Peter, James, and John with him, and began to tremble (a sudden wave of fear came over him) and a tremendous weight came upon him (the strongest Greek word for mental pressure).
so also [equally speechless were] James and John, the sons of Zebedee, who were companions of Simon.
Jesus said to Simon: "Do not be afraid, from now on you will catch (spare, free) people." [The word "catch" literally means to catch alive, save and spare lives. Whoever is 'caught' by Jesus receives new life. The word is only used here and in , where it is used of people held captive in the devil's snare. Both Peter and the devil capture people, but Jesus' servants "capture" to free and the devil to bind to do his will.]
Simon, whom he also named Peter,
and his brother Andrew,
and James,
and John,
and Philip,
and Bartholomew [also called Nathanael],
When he arrived at the house, he did not allow anyone to accompany him except Peter, John, James, and the girl's father [Jairus] and mother.
About eight days after Jesus said this
[that he would come in glory and that some of them would see the kingdom of God with their eyes, see ], he took Peter, John, and
James with him and went up the mountain to pray.
[The Bible does not specify which mountain this took place on. They had recently been in Caesarea Philippi in the north (), and afterwards it is mentioned that they were in Galilee (). The two most common alternatives suggested by Bible scholars are the high mountain Hermon in the north, not far from Caesarea Philippi, or Mount Tabor in southern Galilee, which can be reached in four days from Caesarea Philippi.]When his disciples James and John [the brothers whom Jesus called "sons of thunder," see ] found out about this, they said, "Lord, do you want us to call down fire from heaven to destroy them [just as Elijah did]?" []
When they arrived, they went up to the upper room where they used to be
(had a habit of gathering):
Peter and
James and John
and Andrew;
Philip and Thomas,
Bartholomew
[also called Nathanael] and Matthew;
James, the son of Alphaeus,
and Simon the Zealot
[Zealot literally means "the devoted, zealous, fanatical," and may imply that he was a member of the Jewish resistance movement against the Roman Empire.] and Judas, the son of
James.
[Three groups emerge when the apostles are listed. Peter, Philip, and James are always mentioned as the first names in each group, see ; ; . In the original text, all names except Peter, Philip, Bartholomew, and James are preceded by the Greek kai, the word "and". A linguistic detail for grouping.]Herod [Agrippa I] executed James, the brother of John [son of Zebedee, one of the twelve disciples], with the sword.
[James belonged to the inner circle of Jesus' disciples. He had been with Jesus on the Mount of Transfiguration together with his brother John and Peter, see . This chapter describes how James is killed while Peter receives a visit from angels and is freed, see . Why is Peter saved but not James? The Bible does not answer this question, but says that we must always be ready to depart. The persecution also intensified prayer in the church. Jesus' words to James came true, see . Jesus' words to Peter that he would grow old must also come true, see .]
