Mary Salome and Zebedee with their Sons James the Greater and John the Evangelist

Zebedee ( ; grc, Ζεβεδαῖος, Zebedaîos; he, , Zəḇaḏyâ), according to all four Canonical Gospels, was the father of

James James is a common English language surname and given name: *James (name), the typically masculine first name James * James (surname), various people with the last name James James or James City may also refer to: People * King James (disambiguat ...

and John, two

disciples A disciple is a follower and student of a mentor, teacher, or other figure. It can refer to: Religion * Disciple (Christianity), a student of Jesus Christ * Twelve Apostles of Jesus, sometimes called the Twelve Disciples * Seventy disciples in ...

of Jesus. The gospels also suggest that he was the husband of

Salome Salome (; he, שְלוֹמִית, Shlomit, related to , "peace"; el, Σαλώμη), also known as Salome III, was a Jewish princess, the daughter of Herod II, son of Herod the Great, and princess Herodias, granddaughter of Herod the Great, an ...

: whereas Mark names the women present at the crucifixion as "

Mary Magdalene Mary Magdalene (sometimes called Mary of Magdala, or simply the Magdalene or the Madeleine) was a woman who, according to the four canonical gospels, traveled with Jesus as one of his followers and was a witness to crucifixion of Jesus, his cru ...

, and Mary the mother of

and of Joses, and Salome", the parallel passage in Matthew 27:56 has "Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James and Joses, and the mother of Zebedee's children." The '' Catholic Encyclopedia'' concludes that the Salome of Mark 15:40 is probably identical with the mother of the sons of Zebedee in Matthew. Zebedee was presumably a fisherman, "probably of some means.""Zebedee", J. D. Douglas (ed.), ''The New Bible Dictionary'' (London: The Inter-Varsity Fellowship, 1963), 1354. Although named several times in the gospels, the only times he actually appears are in Matthew 4:21- 22 and , where he is left in the boat after Jesus called James and John. Mark's note that Zebedee was left with the "hired men" implies the family had some wealth. Zebedee lived at or near

Bethsaida Bethsaida (; from gr, Βηθσαϊδά from Hebrew/Aramaic ''beth-tsaida'', lit. " house of hunting" from the Hebrew root ; ar, بيت صيدا), also known as Julias, is a place mentioned in the New Testament. Julias lay in an administrative d ...

Etymology

The name given in the Gospels, , is probably a transliteration of the Hebrew name ''Zəḇaḏyâ'' according to

Spiros Zodhiates Spiros Zodhiates ( el, Σπύρος Ζωδιάτης; March 13, 1922 – October 10, 200ref name="CTFP"> was a Greek-American Bible scholar, author, and ministry innovator. He was best known for his work in developing AMG (Advancing the Ministri ...

(''The Complete Wordstudy Dictionary''), or the truncated version ''Zabdî'' (), says ''BDB Theological Dictionary'', and so means " Yahweh (''or'' the Lord) has bestowed". Other popular interpretations of the name are: "abundant" (''Hitchcock's Bible Names Dictionary'') or "my gift" ('' Smith's Bible Dictionary''). A possibly more sinister interpretation of Zebedee may, for whatever reason, be derived from Strong’s Hebrew Lexicon #2061 z'êb, pronounced ''zeh-abe, meaning ''wolf'', and #1768 dîy, pronounced ''dee'' and meaning ''that'', rendering ''That (or The) Wolf'', possibly suggesting ''Wolf-Leader''.

References

External links

* {{Authority control People in the canonical gospels Family of Jesus People from Bethsaida Judean people

Etymology

See also

References

External links