Jesus Apostles

• 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
  • The Apostles as Youths
  • Apostolic Ignorance
  • Apostolic Greed and Cowardice

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:

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

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

• 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

The Apostles as Youths

The Gospels themselves call them νεανίσκοι, young boys barely pubescent. They were not tax-collectors or gray-bearded sages. They were chosen because their bodies, like those of pharmakos victims, were considered ritually potent. Their blood and serum, under venom trials, produced antivenom. This is what they brought to the rite, not wisdom.

• 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

Their own 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. 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:

• 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.