Jesus Apostles

• The Twelve (standard GNT list)
• Paul
• Gospels writers
• Significant Non-Twelve Figures
• Apostles of Jesus Lifespan
• Authors of the Greek New Testament
• Why 12 is related to the Zodiac
• Simon is Peter
• Peter has a Mother in Law
• The Apostles were Young, not Old
  • Jesus is taxable age, Peter may be, Other apostles do not qualify
  • Taxable age is 20 years old
  • Age of Paul
  • Why youths? What's the benefit?
• Apostolic Ignorance
• Apostolic Greed and Cowardice
• The Apostles were Eunuchs
• The Apostles preferred language was Koine Greek with Atticisms

The Twelve (standard GNT list)

There were 12 original diciples

From Matthew 10:2–4; Mark 3:16–19; Luke 6:14–16:

1. Σίμων ὁ λεγόμενος Πέτρος (Simon called Peter)
2. Ἀνδρέας (Andrew — Peter’s brother)
   • You can see the “brother” phrasing right in Matthew 10:2 (“…Simon… and Andrew his brother; James… and John his brother”). Oxford Academic
3. Ἰάκωβος (James son of Zebedee)
4. Ἰωάννης (John — James’s brother)
5. Φίλιππος (Philip)
6. Βαρθολομαῖος (Bartholomew, often identified with Nathanael)
7. Θωμᾶς (Thomas, called Didymus, "the Twin")
8. Ματθαῖος (Matthew the tax collector - (Levi))
9. Ἰάκωβος τοῦ Ἁλφαίου (James son of Alphaeus)
10. Θαδδαῖος (Thaddaeus, also called Lebbaeus or Judas son of James)
11. Σίμων ὁ Καναναῖος (Simon the Zealot)
12. Ἰούδας Ἰσκαριώτης (Judas Iscariot)
    • replaced by Matthias after Judas’s death, Acts 1:26

In the New Testament the symbolism of “twelve” points to the twelve tribes of Israel (e.g., “you will sit on twelve thrones judging the twelve tribes,” Matt 19:28; Luke 22:30)

The lists in Matthew, Mark, and Luke differ slightly (especially Thaddaeus/Judas son of James). Even the earliest tradition was unstable.

But we'll see shortly, that 12 is not everyone....

Paul

Paul isn’t in the canonical list of the Twelve.
Outsider status

The Twelve are the inner circle chosen by Jesus during his lifetime (names given in Matt 10, Mark 3, Luke 6). Paul comes later. In his own letters (e.g. Galatians 1:1, 1 Cor 15:8–9) he emphasizes that he was called “as one untimely born” (ὡσπερεὶ τῷ ἐκτρώματι) and that he is not one of the Twelve but an apostle by special vision/revelation.

After Judas Iscariot’s death, Acts 1:26 says the group replaced him with Matthias to restore the number to twelve. Paul is outside that system.

• Paul = later missionary, calls himself “apostle to the nations,” but never counted among “the Twelve.”

• Quote: Galatians 2 (“those who were reputed to be pillars”) sharpens the sense of rivalry between Paul and the Jerusalem circle.

Gospels writers

Canonical Gospels are attributed, then tradition names them as:

• Μᾶρκος (Mark) — companion of Peter, often identified with “John Mark” in Acts.
  • Consensus View: Around 70-75 CE.
• Ματθαῖος (Matthew) — traditionally one of the disciples, “the tax-collector.”
  • Consensus View: Around 75-85 CE.
• Λουκᾶς (Luke) — companion of Paul, physician, author of both the Gospel and Acts.
  • Consensus View: Around 80-90 CE.
• Ἰωάννης (John) — “the beloved disciple,” son of Zebedee, though modern scholars doubt the direct authorship.
  • Consensus View: Around 90-100 CE.

These four Gospels form the backbone of the Greek New Testament

The New Testament has many more authors: Paul is by far the most prolific (13 epistles under his name), then other letters attributed to Peter, James, John, Jude, and finally the anonymous author of Hebrews. The Apocalypse is ascribed to John.

Significant Non-Twelve Figures

• Paul (Saul of Tarsus)
  • Never among the Twelve.
  • Called himself an “apostle” on the basis of his visionary initiation (Galatians 1:1, 1 Cor 9:1).
  • Author of the earliest surviving letters, which shaped the theology more than almost any other single figure.
• Barnabas
  • Companion of Paul on missions (Acts 13–15).
  • Called an “apostle” in Acts 14:14, though not one of the Twelve.
  • Important mediator between Paul and Jerusalem leaders.
• James “the Brother of the Lord” (Ἰάκωβος ὁ ἀδελφόθεος)
  • Not one of the Twelve.
  • Became head of the Jerusalem community after Jesus’ death.
  • Tradition says he was martyred ~62 CE.
  • Sometimes called an apostle in a broader sense.
• Luke
  • Not one of the Twelve.
  • Companion of Paul (called “the beloved physician” in Colossians 4:14).
  • Author of the Gospel of Luke and Acts of the Apostles.
• Mark (John Mark)
  • Not one of the Twelve.
  • Traditionally linked to Peter (called his “interpreter”).
  • Credited with the Gospel of Mark.
• Matthias
  • Chosen by lot to replace Judas Iscariot (Acts 1:26).
  • Not among the original Twelve, but became part of the circle afterwards.
• Mary Magdalene (Μαρία ἡ Μαγδαληνή)
  • Not counted in the Twelve (since it is a male-coded list), but a key visionary figure.
  • First to see Jesus in the resurrection accounts (John 20).
  • Later Gnostic/alternative writings (Gospel of Mary) elevate her authority over the apostles.

So if we think in terms of power figures in the cult, the Twelve are just the ritualized list. The real forces shaping the movement also include Paul, James the Brother, Barnabas, Luke, Mark, and Mary Magdalene.

Apostles of Jesus Lifespan

Not part of original 12:

• Emphasis on how little is secure here: only James son of Zebedee’s death (44 CE) is directly attested in the New Testament, and James the Just’s death (62 CE) in Josephus. Everything else = legendary. This sharpens the argument about myth-making.

Authors of the Greek New Testament

Total NT size ≈ 138,000 words (Nestle 1904). Percentages approximate by word count.

• Apostles: birth/death mostly unknown; only James Zebedee’s death (44 CE) is attested in Acts. The rest = tradition.
• NT Authors: Luke (27%), Paul (28%), John (20%), Matthew (13%), Mark (7%), the rest small.
• Non-canonical works: mostly apocrypha written under their names in 2nd c.

• Paul + Luke together make up over half of the NT (~55%). That undermines the idea that “the Twelve” are the main voice.

All were written >30-70 years after Jesus's death.

Why 12 is related to the Zodiac

In a nutshell:

• Twelve tribes of Israel = solar/astral background.
• Heracles and Mithras also structure myth in 12’s.
• Jesus is re-enacting this “dodekad” scheme.

There are 12 disciples. That's not because of the 12 tribes. Jesus was establishing the Aionic order, the Dodekad. Just like Heracles did, by his 12 labors, established the worship of the 12. It's Zodiacal. Ancient Hebrews followed Zodiac worship.

This is why we say that Jesus and the ancient Hebrews were following the same tradition that was older.

Each boy represented a star-sign, just as in the Orphic and Mithraic mysteries the initiate passes through the 12 gates of heaven. The “fishermen” were not literal, but Piscine—Pisces. The “twins” echo Gemini. The traitor with the purse is Libra with its scales. When Jesus sets them in order, he is arranging the zodiacal table, a thiasos of astral tokens.

Art history around the Mediterranean?

• Late-antique synagogue mosaics in the Levant (Hammat Tiberias, Sepphoris, Beth Alpha) famously show a Greek-language zodiac wheel with Helios. SmarthistoryBryn Mawr Classical Review
• Medieval church portals and windows (e.g., Chartres) often pair the Zodiac with the Labors of the Months as a cosmic calendar; again, no apostle mapping. diglib.library.vanderbilt.eduemployees.oneonta.eduDeep Blue Repositories

Early-modern curiosity (closest you’ll get to a mapping):

• In 1627 Julius Schiller published Coelum Stellatum Christianum, a star atlas that replaced the zodiac with the Twelve Apostles (e.g., Aries = Peter, Taurus = Andrew, Gemini = James the Greater, Cancer = John, Leo = Thomas, Virgo = James the Less, Libra = Philip, Scorpio = Bartholomew, Sagittarius = Matthew, Capricorn = Simon the Zealot, Aquarius = Jude/Thaddaeus, Pisces = Matthias). It’s a pious re-labeling project from the 17th century—not an ancient tradition—but it’s the only explicit, complete mapping I can point to. Wikipedia

Simon is Peter

Peter has a Mother in Law

Sounds like Peter/Simon is married. (this doesn't prove taxable age).

The Apostles were Young, not Old

Let's pretend that they're bearded men around 30CE when Jesus died (25-50yrs old), then how did they live to ~70-110 CE to write the New Testament?

• If the apostles were already mature men in 30 CE, the later literary attributions strain biological plausibility and require layered redaction assumptions

The Gospels themselves call them neaniskoi νεανίσκοι, a term for sexual maturity neaniskos refers to young and small (mikros/μικρός says Heyschius, which means small) boys barely pubescent. The Gospel narrative repeatedly frames apostles around Jesus using youth-status language (νεανίσκος / παιδάριον), dependency markers, and guardian-style speech patterns, rather than settled adult householders. None have wives, nor homes.

• Mark 14:51 (the fleeing νεανίσκος)
• Mark 16:5 (νεανίσκος at the tomb)
• Elsewhere as a social-age descriptor language (dependency markers, and guardian-style speech patterns, no wives, homes)
  • Peter, who is older, may have had a wife (his mother-in-law appears in Mark 1:29–31)
  • The others are never depicted functioning as household heads, property owners, or legally independent family units.
• see neaniskos - For philological analysis of neaniskos's biological maturity.

Only one of them (Jesus) qualified (of age) to pay to the tax-collectors (attested in the NT), none were gray-bearded sages. Read on for the source text evidence:

Jesus is taxable age, Peter may be, Other apostles do not qualify

In the didrachma episode (Matt 17:24–27), payment is ultimately rendered for Jesus, which presupposes that Jesus himself is within the class that could be expected to pay.

Jesus's argument asserts status-based exemption (υἱοί vs. ἀλλότριοι) for the other apostles as "sons" below the taxable age...

NOTE: In the Greek New Testament, Σίμων (Simon) and Πέτρος (Peter) are two names for the same individual.

• δίδραχμα corresponds to the half-shekel Temple tax, payable by adult males.
• sons here appears to be a term of endearment (our male youths), or a ritual term (son of god), for the other younger apostles

Notice:

• The collectors approach outside, in public
• the tax collectors approach only Peter, seeking his teacher
• the tax collectors are only seeking Jesus
• the tax collectors name no one else
• The tax collectors do not ask Peter for his taxes, only for his teacher's taxes, as if he's the oldest responsible boy, but not of age for taxes
  • as if Peter's the oldest one in charge to go get adult help here
  • if multiple adult males were liable, they would be addressed
• Peter enters the house to get Jesus who is of age to pay
• Jesus speaks first, framing the legal reasoning
• Jesus’ argument hinges on υἱοί vs. ἀλλότριοι - sons vs. non-sons.
• The exemption logic only works if those present are not assumed to be taxable adults.
• Payment is arranged without Peter exercising independent authority
• Ultimately Jesus pays for "me and you"
  • assuming this is Peter, may place Peter of taxable age.

This is exactly how a senior household member interacts with a dependent younger male in Greek narrative.

Nowhere in the Gospels:

• Are James, John, Andrew, Philip, etc. asked for tax
• Are they depicted independently handling money
• Are they shown as householders or heads of taxable units

Instead, they are repeatedly:

• Called neaniskos νεανίσκοι / παιδίσκοι (small male youths, just pubescent in maturity)
• Sleeping together
• Traveling under guardianship
• Spoken for by others

This is consistent, not accidental.

Bottom Line:

• Jesus is of taxable age
• Peter may be of taxable age
• the other apostles are consistently portrayed as non-liable dependents, most plausibly younger than taxable age
• the other apostles here, seem to be exempt from taxes, therefore younger than taxable age.

Taxable age is 20 years old

In 30 CE, the age at which a male became liable for the Temple half-shekel (δίδραχμα) was twenty years old — and this is attested directly in the Greek Septuagint, not later rabbinic tradition.

Age of Paul

There is no Gospel tax scene involving Paul, because:

• Paul is not part of the Jesus movement during the Gospel period
• He appears later, in Acts and his letters

However, Paul:

• Explicitly discusses tax obligation as binding (Romans 13)
• Moves freely as a legally autonomous male
• Is treated by authorities as a responsible adult citizen

That places Paul categorically differently from the Gospel νεανίσκοι — not as a youth-initiate, but as a trained, independent agent.

Bottom Line:

• Likely that Paul is of taxable age.
• Unlike the Gospel disciples, Paul is never framed as a dependent youth or spoken for by others.

Why youths? What's the benefit?

See The Apostles were Eunuchs writeup below... for more.

For those with ears to hear, here.

• Eunuchs were created, and then utilized, to experience the kingdom of heaven.

They were chosen because their bodies, like those of venom pharmakos victims, were considered ritually potent. Their blood and serum, under venom exposure, produced antivenom. This is what they brought to the rite, not wisdom.

they helped Jesus see the kingdom of heaven.

• See Mark 14-51 Translation from Source for the n4k3d youth (gumnos neaniskos) running away as Jesus is arrested in a public park at 4am.
• See Dragon Master - Neal and Neaniskos - an article that digs deep into the meaning of neaniskos, a maturity, not an age, refers to pubescent (freshly fertile) male youths, but typically maps to between 10-20yrs old.

Apostolic Ignorance

Despite referencing exclusively the more technical Greek Septuagint, which contains a very Hellenic and Orphic version of the inner cosmos...

...the apostle's own testaments & writings betray ignorance. They constantly fail to understand the logos. They fall asleep in Gethsemane, they scatter in fear, they deny their master. This is not wisdom; it is the normal result of drugged boys at the threshold of ecstasy. Their “visions” are pharmaka-induced:

• tetramorph cherubim,
• fiery chariots,
• tongues of fire,
• kingdom of heaven
  • ἡ βασιλεία (basileía) - domain/kosmos - functional mode of ordering, not geographic
  • τῶν οὐρανῶν (ouranon/sky/plerouma) - the upper ordering principle of the kosmos, not altitude
  • In Greek cosmology — especially in Orphic and pre-Platonic thought — the κόσμος is structured through a vertical polarity: Γαῖα (earth, material grounding, generation) and Οὐρανός (upper order, pattern, mind, visibility, law). Οὐρανός functions as a mental and noetic register, the place where form, measure, and ordering intelligence reside.

What they saw was real only in the same sense that the Eleusinian saw Persephone in a flash of light.

• Ignorance: “They understood none of these things” (Luke 18:34).
• Greed: “Who is the greatest?” (Mark 9:34).
• Cowardice: “They all left him and fled” (Mark 14:50).

Apostolic Greed and Cowardice

Far from paragons, they are repeatedly shown as squabbling over who is greatest, betraying for silver, or fleeing naked into the night leaving only a sindon (medical grade fine linen bandage) behind. With further context for the sindon, evidence of venom poisoning given by Mark 14-51 Translation from Source:

• Oxos/Vinegar antidote given
• Extreme thirst is a symptom of venom poisoning
• Early coma discovered while breaking legs of the other lestes on crosses

From a Hellenic lens this is not a tale of divine heroes, but of misused ritual youths, bound into a rite that parodied our older mysteries. Their greed, their fear, and their ignorance expose the poverty of the sect.

The Apostles were Eunuchs

Evidence in the Early Christian Cult:

• let the one who can receive this, receive it - is an explicit esoteric marker:
  • this saying is not for everyone
  • only for those with ears to hear

Eunuchs were created for the "kingdom of heaven", Jesus's kingdom, by men or by themselves.
There's a chemical castration technology used in antiquity via Hemlock held to the testicles using a Sindon bandage. A practice that goes back to pre-christian traditions, like Eleusis.

• see Eunuchs for more information on this practice

The Apostles preferred language was Koine Greek with Atticisms

Apostles used Greek, they did not rely on another language for doctrine, scripture, or theology, just Greek.

• New Testament primary source was written in Koine Greek with Atticisms, and references the Greek Septuagint
• Septuagint (Old Testament) was written in Koine Greek with Atticisms
• Koine Greek (with Atticisms) was just a slight simplification of grammar from the Attic Greek, if you know Attic, you know Koine
  • the Greek of the New Testament clearly shows Atticizing tendencies (especially in vocabulary, particles, and syntax). If someone knows classical Attic, Koine is indeed mostly a simplification: fewer optatives, streamlined participial constructions, reduced case nuance.
  • Not all NT authors write at the same register (Luke–Acts vs Mark, for example).
• The Greek Septuagint was quoted by the Apostles when they wrote the Greek New Testament, not the Hebrew.
  • Therefore We know that Christianity was founded on the Ancient Greek Language.
  • The overwhelming majority of explicit OT quotations in the Greek New Testament align with the Septuagint, often against later Hebrew traditions. This is a strong and well-established scholarly point.
  • Its key theological terms (λόγος, σωτηρία, ζωή αἰώνιος, πνεῦμα, μυστήριον, χριστός) are Greek concepts, not translations.
  • Its earliest communities operate in Greek-speaking urban centers.
• Greek was the authoritative language from 290BCE to 405CE, then Jerome created the Latin Vulgate for Catholicism (Orthodox ignored it, still uses Greek as authority).
  • In 382CE Latin Vulgate is produced from the Greek Septuagint.
  • In 405CE Latin Vulgate is produced from local town Hebrew versions with Greek filling in missing detail (% Hebrew vs Greek contribution, is unknown).
  • Koine Greek dominates: Administration, Trade, Education, Philosophy, Religion
• Orthodox never switched to Latin, kept the greek, to today.
• Catholic (western world) switched to secondary sources and never looked back to the primary, (it seems that they have never really "read the bible", only derivatives).

Logical Conclusion, the apostles didn't have another language to refer to, or it wasn't relevant... so they used Greek because it was natural and already authoritative.

• see Greek is the Original Language of Christianity for more.