Who Were the Twelve Disciples? Names, Jobs and Endings

Jesus picked twelve out of the crowd following him and called them apostles. The list appears four times: Mark 3, Matthew 10, Luke 6 and Acts 1.

The twelve names

Simon (Peter) — a fisherman, always first in every list. Andrew — Peter's brother, and the one who brought him to Jesus. James and John — the sons of Zebedee, whom Jesus nicknamed "sons of thunder". Philip, Bartholomew (probably the Nathanael of John's Gospel), Matthew (a tax collector, also called Levi), Thomas (called Didymus, the twin), James son of Alphaeus, Thaddaeus (also called Judas son of James), Simon the Zealot, and Judas Iscariot.

Why several have two names

This was ordinary at the time. Jewish men often carried a Hebrew name and a Greek one; some were renamed by Jesus (Simon became Peter, "rock"). That is why the four lists look slightly different while naming the same men.

What sort of people they were

This is worth pausing over. At least four were fishermen. One collected taxes for Rome. One was a Zealot — a member of an anti-Roman political movement. Matthew and Simon should have been enemies. Jesus put them in the same group of twelve and had them walk together for three years.

And he ordained twelve, that they should be with him, and that he might send them forth to preach.Mark 3:14 (KJV)

"That they should be with him" — the overlooked half

Mark is precise about the order: he appointed them first to be with him, and only then to send them out. Company came before commission. The three years were not a training course; they were a shared life.

After Judas

When Judas was gone, the remaining eleven cast lots and chose Matthias before Pentecost (Acts 1). The stated qualification: someone who had been with them "beginning from the baptism of John, unto that same day that he was taken up" — that is, an eyewitness.

What became of them

The Bible records only two endings plainly: Judas hanged himself, and James was killed with the sword by Herod (Acts 12). The rest come from church tradition and vary in reliability. What is worth noticing is this: the same men who scattered at his arrest almost all later paid for what they preached. Whatever happened in between is one of the strongest arguments for the resurrection.

Read Mark 3 beside Acts 1 in the BiblePro app and see where the lists differ; use AI search on each disciple's name to find every scene he appears in. And do look for a local church to read alongside others.