![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.bartehrman.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/Joshua-Schachterle-Bart-Ehrman-Author-1-1.png\" "\\"Joshua")
<\/span><\/p>\nWritten by <\/a>Joshua Schachterle, Ph.D<\/a><\/p>\n Author | Professor | Scholar<\/p>\n Author | Professor | BE Contributor<\/p>\n Verified! See our editorial guidelines<\/a><\/p>\n Verified! See our guidelines<\/a><\/p>\n\nDate written: November 28th, 2023\n \nDate written: November 28th, 2023<\/p>\n Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily match my own. – Dr. Bart D. Ehrman<\/p>\n Who were the 12 disciples of Jesus? What is a disciple?<\/strong> While the New Testament refers frequently to Jesus\u2019 disciples, most of us don\u2019t know where the term came from or what it really meant in the ancient world. I\u2019ll define this term in its original context and talk a bit about who Jesus\u2019 twelve disciples really were.<\/p>\n The term disciple has become so common after two thousand years of Christian history that many never think about what it actually meant in Jesus\u2019 time. So where does this term originally come from?<\/p>\n The entire New Testament was written in Greek. The biblical Greek word we translate into English as \u201cdisciple,\u201d is mathetes<\/em> (our word \u201cdisciple\u201d comes from the Latin equivalent discipulus<\/em>). These days, many consider a disciple a follower of any charismatic leader. However, when we look at how the word was used before the New Testament, another translation comes to mind: student.<\/p>\n In ancient Greece, a mathetes<\/em> was the student of a philosopher. Famous Greek philosophers such as Plato and Aristotle had disciples, students who learned philosophy from them. Frederick William Danker<\/a> notes that the word meant “one who engages in learning through instruction from another, pupil, an apprentice.” There was a bit more to it, though.<\/p>\n The Roman philosopher Seneca, a contemporary of Jesus and his disciples, had this to say about Cleanthes<\/a>, a disciple of the well-known Stoic philosopher Zeno:<\/p>\n Cleanthes could not have been the express image of Zeno, if he had merely heard his lectures; he also shared in his life, saw into his hidden purposes, and watched him to see whether he lived according to his own rules.<\/strong> Plato, Aristotle, and the whole throng of sages who were destined to go each his different way, derived more benefit from the character than from the words of Socrates.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Pierre Hadot<\/a> writes that a disciple was not simply someone who listened to lectures or read the writings of a philosopher. He lived day to day with the teacher, following his example and, in some ways, actually trying to become a living reflection of that teacher.<\/p>\n This makes sense with the 12 disciples of Jesus. It\u2019s clear from the stories in the New Testament that they were with him day in and day out, learning from him but probably also attempting to imitate his way of life.<\/p>\n TEST YOUR KNOWLEDGE of the Historical Jesus!<\/p>\n Think you know the Jesus of the Bible? Uncover the historical figure behind the texts!<\/p>\n __CONFIG_colors_palette__{“active_palette”:0,”config”:{“colors”:{“10c55”:{“name”:”Main Accent”,”parent”:-1}},”gradients”:[]},”palettes”:[{“name”:”Default”,”value”:{“colors”:{“10c55”:{“val”:”rgb(255, 133, 34)”}},”gradients”:[]},”original”:{“colors”:{“10c55”:{“val”:”rgb(19, 114, 211)”,”hsl”:{“h”:210,”s”:0.83,”l”:0.45,”a”:1}}},”gradients”:[]}}]}__CONFIG_colors_palette__ <\/span> sTART QUIZ<\/strong><\/span><\/span> <\/a> <\/p>\n It’s free!<\/em><\/p>\n One more thing: what is an apostle?<\/a> Since the disciples are also called apostles<\/a> in the New Testament, let me briefly define apostle. The Greek word is apostolos, which means \u201cone who is sent, a messenger.\u201d This makes sense because Jesus does send them out to preach to others.<\/p>\n In Luke 10, mention is made of 70 apostles whom Jesus sends out to preach. In this case, the others were likely followers of Jesus while the twelve disciples\/apostles were Jesus\u2019 inner circle. Paul<\/a>, who never met the earthly Jesus, is thus never called a disciple<\/a>. He considers himself an apostle, having been sent to preach to Gentiles by the resurrected Jesus.<\/p>\n As usual, the Synoptic Gospels<\/a> largely agree with each other about the identity of the 12 disciples Jesus called during his lifetime. The Gospel of John<\/a>, however, while it never makes a clear list like the other Gospels, mentions some different names. Take a look at the chart below.<\/p>\n![\"12](\"https:\/\/www.bartehrman.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/12-Disciples-of-Jesus-Names-Professions-and-Characteristics.png\" "\\"12")
<\/span><\/p>\nFirst Things First: Definition of Disciple<\/h2>\n
Disciple vs. Apostle<\/h2>\n
Who Were Jesus\u2019 12 Disciples?<\/h2>\n
The 12 Disciples of Jesus’ Names in Each Gospel:<\/h3>\n
![\"Disciple](\"https:\/\/www.bartehrman.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/disciple-definition-or-what-is-a-disciple.png\" "\\"Disciple")
<\/span><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.bartehrman.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/The-Unknown-Gospels-300x169.png\" "\\"The")
<\/a><\/span> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"