it to be so remarkable for establishing St. Peter's monarchy, Nor do we ever find this authority of St. Peter over his brethren, declared by Christ, or claimed by Peter, or owned by any of the rest of the Apostles; but find many Scriptures which appear to look a contrary way. See Matt. xxiii. 8-12: Acts xv. 13, &c. 2 Cor. xii. 11: Gal. ii. 11. The following is the order in which the Apostles are arranged in St. Matthew. St. Mark iii. 16. Simon who is call- Simon surnamed ed Peter Peter St. Luke vi. 13. Acts i. 13. John i. 42. ter Andrew his Bro- James Son of Ze- Andrew his Bro-James Simon called Kephas. James Son of Al-James Son of Al-James Son of Al-James Son of Simon the Canaan- Simon the Canaan- Judas Brother of Judas Brother ite Judas Iscariot ite Пéτpos] See iv. 18. James of James Christ changed the names of three disciples with whom he held more intimate familiarity, Simon, James, and John. See Stanhope, Ep. and Gosp. Vol. 1v. p. 359. - Ανδρέας ὁ ἀδελφὸς αὐτοῦ] See iv. 18, p. 99. · Ιάκωβος ὁ τοῦ Ζεβεδαίου] Scil. υιός. James and John were also fishermen: they dwelt at Capernaum, and seem to have been rather in better circumstances than Peter and Andrew; for the Gospels speak of their having hired servants to assist them in their business. John is thought to have been the youngest of all the Apostles, yet he was old enough to have been a follower of the Baptist, before he came to Christ. The two brothers obtained the surname of Boanerges, i. e. Sons of Thunder, perhaps because of the vehemence and impetuosity of their tempers. Accordingly their spirit shewed itself in the desire which they expressed to have the Samaritans destroyed by fire from heaven, because they refused to lodge Jesus on his way to Jerusalem. It appeared also in their ambition to become the great officers of state in their Master's kingdom, which they supposed would be a secular one. John's writings shew that he was of a warm and affectionate turn of mind. This warmth of temper gave him a singular fitness for friendship, in which he was not only amiable above the rest of the disciples, but happy as it rendered him the object of Christ's peculiar love. James's being put to death by Herod is a proof that his zeal was uncommon, and that it moved him to be more active and bold in the work of the Gospel. First of all the twelve he died a martyr for the Christian cause. These two were called at the same time with the two former, as they were fishing at the sea of Galilee. James is said to have preached to the Jews of the dispersion; but that his labours carried him at all out of Judea, or even from Jerusalem itself, no authentic history informs us. 3. ÞITTOS] Philip is said to have been a native of Bethsaida and is generally reckoned among the married disciples. He was originally a disciple of the Baptist; but he left him to follow Jesus, as soon as he became acquainted with him at Jordan; John i. 44. He was called the day after Andrew and Peter. He is said to have preached in the Upper Asia, and to have wrought many miracles in Hierapolis a city of Phrygia; in which place he is reported to have suffered martyrdom, by being fastened to a cross and stoned to death. We know not of any writings he left behind him, though the Gnostics are said to have alledged some such, in defence of their heresy. See Stanhope, Ep. and Gosp. iv. p. 265. Bapooλouaios] If we compare the order wherein the disciples are called, John i. with the order wherein they are for the most part reckoned, we shall find Bartholomew falling in at the same place with Nathanael: so that he is supposed to have been the same person. And the supposition is probable, were it for no other reason but this, that all the persons who became acquainted with Jesus at Jordan when he was baptized and who believed upon him there, were chosen of the number of Apostles. If so, why should Nathanael have been excluded? He was one of those who believed on Jesus then; and was a person of such probity that he obtained from Jesus the high character of an Israelite indeed, in whom there was no guile. And when Jesus shewed himself to the Apostles, at the sea of Tiberias after his resurrection, Nathanael is expressly mentioned by John (xxi. 1, 2,) among them. In this catalogue too, where the Apostles are thought to be coupled in pairs, as they were sent out to preach, Philip is joined with Bartholomew, which agrees very well with the supposition that Bartholomew was the same person with Nathanael for Philip was his intimate acquaintance and first : introduced him to Jesus. The difference of names is no objection to the supposition; Bartholomew signifying the son of Tolmai, may have been a patronymic; or he may have had two names as well as Matthew. Also, after the death of Judas Iscariot, Nathanael though still alive and associating with the disciples is not proposed as a candidate for the Apostleship; from which it is inferred that he enjoyed that office already. The antients also seem to have thought Bartholomew the same with Nathanael: for from what St. John tells us of the latter that he was of Cana, xxi. 2, they assign the honour of Bartholomew's nativity to the same town, and add that he was a person skilled in the law. He is said to have preached in India, Lycaonia and the greater Armenia; but in what order he travelled these countries is not agreed. St. Jerome says he died and was buried at Albanopolis a city of the latter country. See Stanhope, Epist. and Gosp. Vol. iv. p. 415, and the account of his death from the Roman breviary. Owuas] There is no mention made of Thomas before his conversion and three of the Evangelists take no other notice of him than what regards his call to the Apostleship. Though St. John mentions some particulars concerning him, yet we learn nothing concerning his descent and country, his education and business; but it is conjectured that like the rest he was of mean extraction; and because he is named among those who went a fishing, John xxi. 2, 3, it is supposed he was a fisherman by occupation, and perhaps concerned with Peter in carrying on that trade. He obtained the surname of Didymus, John xi. 16, probably because he was a twin. He made himself remarkable by continuing longer than his brethren to doubt of Christ's resurrection. The province assigned to this Apostle's labours, was Parthia; Chrysostom adds Æthiopia: Gregory Nazianzen, India: and though some have doubted of this last, the generally received opinion has been that he not only preached but suffered martyrdom in India. The account of him in "Jerome's Catalogue" is, Thomas the Apostle, as the common tradition goes, preached our Lord's Gospel to the Parthians, Medes, Persians, Germans, Hyrcanians, Bactrians and Magi: and died at the city Calamino in India. See Stanhope, Ep. and Gosp. IV. p. 41. -Marlaios o Teλwns] See p. 3. Michaelis understands —Ματθαῖος τελώνης] TOTÉ, Bos. Ell. Gr. 489: He who was formerly a publican. See also Glass. Phil. Sac. p. 7. St. Matthew alone makes this addition to his name intending no doubt thereby, to magnify the grace of God, and the condescension of our blessed Saviour, who did not disdain to take into the highest dignity of the Christian Church those whom the world rejected and accounted vile. Ιάκωβος ὁ τοῦ Ἀλφαίον] Scil. υἱὸς. Surnamed the Less or Younger, Mark xv. 40, to distinguish him from James the son of Zebedee, who was elder than he. He is also known by the title of James the Just, from his extraordinary sanctity, which was such that he is said to have had the privilege of entering at pleasure into the holy place. James the Less, Judas Thaddeus or Lebbeus, and Simon Zelotes were brothers, and sons of one Alpheus or Cleophas', (John xix. 25, comp. with Matt. xxvii. 56, and Matt. xiii. 55, and Mark iii. 18,) who was likewise a disciple, being one of the two to whom our Lord appeared on the road to Emmaus after his resurrection. They are called Christ's brethren, xiii. 55; i. e. his cousins, in which sense the word is used, Levit. x. 4. It seems their mother Mary, xxvii. 56, comp. with John xix. 25, was sister to Mary our Lord's mother: for it was no unusual thing among the Jews to have more children than one of a family called by the same name. This James was a person of great authority among the Apostles: and was by them made Bishop of Jerusalem the year after our Lord's passion. Hence in the council which met at Jerusalem to decide the dispute about the necessity of circumcision, we find him as president of the meeting, summing up the debate and wording the decree. He was the author of the general Epistle which is extant among the books of the New Testament. The occasion and manner of his death is related with the following circumstances. The governing part of the Jews, enraged at the disappointment of their malice against St. Paul by his appeal to Cæsar, revenged it upon St. James. The death of Festus gave them an opportunity of acting in this matter more arbitrarily than otherwise they durst have done. In the interval therefore between that and the arrival of his successor Albinus, Ananus the high priest summoned St. James, and required him to renounce the Christian faith. For the compelling him to do this in the most public manner, he was carried up to the battlements of the temple, and threatened to be cast down, in case of I Lightfoot says the Hebrew name may admit a double pronunciation; viz. either to sound Alphai or Cleophi. Hence that Alpheus who was the father of these Apostles is also called Cleophas, Luke xxiv. 18, which sufficiently appears from hence, that she who is called Mary the mother of James the Less and Joses, Mark xv. 40, by John is called Mary the wife of Cleophas, John xix. 25. Q refusal. He on the contrary with greater vehemence confessed and exhorted to the faith of Christ, in the presence of those who met to hear his renunciation of Him. Provoked by such inflexible constancy, they threw him headlong down. The fall broke his legs, yet he prayed: the rabble below received him with showers of stones: and at last one with a club, such as is used by Fullers in dressing their cloths, gave him a blow on the head, after which he presently expired. A fact condemned even by their own historian Josephus, (Ant. xx. 8,) and said by him to be so by all persons who bore any regard to justice or the laws. Insomuch that for this offence against both, the High Priest, by whose authority it was committed, was in a few months degraded, and another put in his stead. See Stanhope, Ep. and Gosp. IV. p. 266. -- Λεββαῖος ὁ ἐπικληθεὶς Θαδδαῖος] In some copies and versions ὁ ἐπικληθεὶς Θαδδαῖος are wanting, and in others Λεβ βαῖος ὁ ἐπικληθείς. Mill thinks Λεββαῖος ὁ ἐπικληθεὶς had been subjoined in the margin at the name Ματθαῖος (Λεββαίος being for Aevi) and afterwards inserted in the text by some transcriber who did not know to what name it belonged. But Aevi and Aeßßatos are quite different names, as is evident from their form. The person here meant is the 'Ioúdas of St. Luke vi. 16; of which addatos is a different inflexion, to distinguish this Apostle from Judas Iscariot: Judas in Syriac being Thaddai. Concerning the other name of Lebbeus, conjectures have been various. Some deriving it from a Hebrew word, which signifies the heart, will have it to intimate the extraordinary wisdom and courage of this Apostle. Others draw it from a root which imports a lion, and think it an allusion to that prophecy of Jacob which compares his son Judah to an old lion and a lion's whelp. Lightfoot thinks it may be a surname from Lebba a town of Galilee near mount Carmel, mentioned by Pliny, Hist. Nat. v. 19; and where he supposes this Apostle to have been born. After his call, we find nothing particular concerning him, except in one passage of St. John's Gospel xiv. 22, &c. He wrote the Epistle which goes under the name of Jude. He preached for some time about Judea and Galilee, then in Samaria, Idumæa, Syria and Mesopotamia: and is supposed at last to have travelled into Persia; and at the instigation of the Magi there, whom he had provoked with open rebukes for their idolatrous worship of the Sun, and for several other idle superstitions, to have been assaulted by the common people, and after other |