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 Gospel originally meant the Christian message (" the gospel"), but in the 2nd century it came to be used also for the books in which the message was set out. In this sense a gospel can be defined as a loose-knit, episodic narrative of the words a ...

, was the father of James and

John John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Secon ...

, 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 t ...

Jesus Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label= Hebrew/ Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and relig ...

. 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, a ...

: whereas

Mark Mark may refer to: Currency * Bosnia and Herzegovina convertible mark, the currency of Bosnia and Herzegovina * East German mark, the currency of the German Democratic Republic * Estonian mark, the currency of Estonia between 1918 and 1927 * Finn ...

names the women present at the

crucifixion Crucifixion is a method of capital punishment in which the victim is tied or nailed to a large wooden cross or beam and left to hang until eventual death from exhaustion and asphyxiation. It was used as a punishment by the Persians, Carthagi ...

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 his crucifixion and resurre ...

, and

Mary Mary may refer to: People * Mary (name), a feminine given name (includes a list of people with the name) Religious contexts * New Testament people named Mary, overview article linking to many of those below * Mary, mother of Jesus, also calle ...

the mother of James and of

Joses Joses ( grc-gre, Ἰωσῆς) is a name, usually regarded as a form of Joseph, occurring many times in the New Testament: * Joses, one of the four brothers of Jesus () * Joses or Joseph, son of a Mary and brother of a James ( James the Less acc ...

, 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 The ''Catholic Encyclopedia: An International Work of Reference on the Constitution, Doctrine, Discipline, and History of the Catholic Church'' (also referred to as the ''Old Catholic Encyclopedia'' and the ''Original Catholic Encyclopedia'') i ...

'' 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 ...

Etymology

The name given in the Gospels, , is probably a transliteration of the Hebrew name ''Zəḇaḏyâ'' according to Spiros Zodhiates (''The Complete Wordstudy Dictionary''), or the truncated version ''Zabdî'' (), says ''BDB Theological Dictionary'', and so means "

Yahweh Yahweh *''Yahwe'', was the national god of ancient Israel and Judah. The origins of his worship reach at least to the early Iron Age, and likely to the Late Bronze Age if not somewhat earlier, and in the oldest biblical literature he po ...

(''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 ''Smith's Bible Dictionary'', originally named ''A Dictionary of the Bible'', is a 19th-century Bible dictionary containing upwards of four thousand entries that became named after its editor, William Smith. Its popularity was such that condense ...

''). 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