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Quick Summary
The twelve apostles were the inner circle of disciples Jesus chose to be with him and to send out to proclaim the kingdom of God. Their names, as Luke lists them, are:
Simon Peter
Andrew, Peter's brother
James son of Zebedee
John, James's brother
Philip
Bartholomew (likely Nathanael)
Matthew (Levi)
Thomas (Didymus)
James son of Alphaeus
Simon the Zealot
Judas son of James (Thaddeus)
Judas Iscariot, who betrayed Jesus
After Judas Iscariot's death, the remaining eleven chose Matthias to take his place (Acts 1:26). The Twelve are named in four places in the New Testament: Matthew 10:2-4, Mark 3:16-19, Luke 6:14-16, and Acts 1:13.
Who Were the Twelve Disciples of Jesus?
The twelve disciples, also called apostles, were more than followers of Jesus. They were his closest companions, chosen to learn from him and spread his message. Each had a unique story and calling, reflecting diverse backgrounds, personalities, and roles. They were not without their flaws, yet their lives show how ordinary people can be transformed by the love and teaching of Jesus.
Luke tells us that Jesus chose them after spending an entire night in prayer on a mountain (Luke 6:12-16). He later sent them out with "power and authority over all demons and to cure diseases" (Sending Out the Twelve, Luke 9:1-6). After the resurrection and Pentecost, these men became the pillars of the early church, tasked with spreading the good news and laying the foundation for Christianity's growth.
What Is the Difference Between a Disciple and an Apostle?
A disciple (Greek mathētēs) is a learner or student. Many people followed Jesus as disciples, including women such as Mary Magdalene, Joanna, and Susanna who traveled with him and supported his ministry (Luke 8:1-3). At one point Jesus sent out seventy disciples (Luke 10:1).
An apostle (Greek apostolos) is "one who is sent," a messenger or ambassador. Luke says Jesus chose twelve from among his disciples "whom he also named apostles" (Luke 6:13). Every apostle was a disciple, but not every disciple was one of the Twelve. Later, the word "apostle" was also used for others sent out by the church, most famously Paul, who was not one of the Twelve.
Why Did Jesus Choose Twelve Apostles?
The number was deliberate. Israel was made up of twelve tribes, descended from the twelve sons of Jacob. By choosing twelve, Jesus signaled that he was gathering and renewing the people of God. He told the apostles at the Last Supper that they would "sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel" (Luke 22:30). In the vision of the new Jerusalem, the city's twelve foundations bear "the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb" (Revelation 21:14).
That is also why the eleven felt the need to replace Judas before Pentecost. The number twelve mattered.
The Names of the 12 Apostles in the Bible
Several apostles are known by more than one name, which can be confusing. Some had a given name and a nickname (Simon called Peter, Thomas called Didymus). Some had a family name (Bartholomew means "son of Talmai"). Some are called by different names in different Gospels (Thaddeus and Judas son of James).
| Apostle | Also called |
|---|---|
| Simon Peter | Cephas ("rock"); Simon son of Jonah |
| Andrew | Peter's brother |
| James son of Zebedee | James the Greater; a Son of Thunder |
| John | A Son of Thunder; traditionally the beloved disciple |
| Philip | Philip of Bethsaida |
| Bartholomew | Likely Nathanael |
| Matthew | Levi son of Alphaeus |
| Thomas | Didymus ("twin") |
| James son of Alphaeus | Traditionally James the Less |
| Simon the Zealot | Simon the Cananaean (KJV: Canaanite) |
| Judas son of James | Thaddeus; Lebbaeus; Saint Jude |
| Judas Iscariot | Son of Simon Iscariot; replaced by Matthias |
The four lists always divide the Twelve into three groups of four. Peter always heads the first group, Philip the second, and James son of Alphaeus the third. Judas Iscariot always comes last, with a note about his betrayal.
1. Simon Peter
Peter, a fisherman by trade, was called by Jesus while working with his brother Andrew on the Sea of Galilee. In Luke's account, Jesus told him after a miraculous catch of fish, "from now on you will be catching people" (Luke 5:1-11). Jesus gave him the name Peter, from the Greek petros, "rock" (Aramaic Cephas).
Peter is known for both great faith and great failure. He walked on water toward Jesus and began to sink when doubt crept in (Matthew 14:28-31). He declared Jesus to be the Messiah (Luke 9:20). He also denied Jesus three times on the night of his arrest (Luke 22:54-62) and was later restored by the risen Christ (John 21:15-19). His sermon at Pentecost launched the church (Acts 2:14-41), and tradition says he was crucified in Rome. The early fourteenth-century painter Duccio captured his calling in The Calling of the Apostles Peter and Andrew (1308-1311). Read more: Who Was Peter in the Bible?
2. Andrew
Andrew, Peter's brother, was first a disciple of John the Baptist. According to John's Gospel, he was one of the first two to follow Jesus, and he immediately went and found his brother Simon (John 1:40-42). He appears later bringing a boy with five loaves and two fish to Jesus (John 6:8-9). Andrew is the disciple who keeps bringing people to Jesus. Tradition says he preached in Greece and was martyred at Patras on an X-shaped cross. One of the earliest images of him is a mosaic medallion in the Basilica of San Vitale in Ravenna. Read more: Who Was Andrew in the Bible?
3. James Son of Zebedee
James and his brother John were fishermen who left their father Zebedee in the boat to follow Jesus. With Peter and John, James was part of Jesus' inner circle, present at the raising of Jairus' daughter, the transfiguration, and the prayer in Gethsemane. Jesus nicknamed James and John "Boanerges," Sons of Thunder (Mark 3:17). He is sometimes called James the Greater to distinguish him from James son of Alphaeus. James was the first of the Twelve to be martyred, executed by Herod Agrippa I around AD 44 (Acts 12:2). Rembrandt's Saint James the Elder (1661) shows him as a pilgrim with a staff, a reminder of the tradition that connects him with Santiago de Compostela in Spain.
4. John Son of Zebedee
John, the brother of James, was also part of the inner circle. Christian tradition identifies him with "the disciple whom Jesus loved" in John's Gospel, who leaned against Jesus at the Last Supper and stood at the cross, where Jesus entrusted his mother to him (John 19:26-27). Tradition credits him with the Gospel of John, three letters, and Revelation, and says he lived to old age in Ephesus. Hans Burgkmair's woodcut Saint John on Patmos (1518) shows him writing Revelation on the island where he was exiled. Read more: Who Was John in the Bible? and who wrote the Gospel of John.
5. Philip
Philip came from Bethsaida, the hometown of Andrew and Peter. Jesus called him directly ("Follow me"), and Philip immediately found Nathanael and told him, "Come and see" (John 1:43-46). Jesus tested Philip before feeding the five thousand (John 6:5-7), and at the Last Supper Philip asked, "Lord, show us the Father," prompting Jesus' answer, "Whoever has seen me has seen the Father" (John 14:8-9). He is a different man from Philip the evangelist, who baptized the Ethiopian official in Acts 8, though the two were often confused in later tradition. Read more: Who Was Philip in the Bible?
6. Bartholomew (Nathanael)
Bartholomew appears only in the lists of the Twelve, always next to Philip. Most scholars identify him with Nathanael, the man Philip brought to Jesus in John 1. When Nathanael first heard about Jesus, he asked, "Can anything good come out of Nazareth?" Jesus called him "an Israelite in whom there is no deceit," and Nathanael confessed, "Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!" (John 1:47-49). Tradition says Bartholomew preached in India and Armenia and was martyred in Armenia, the scene in Jusepe de Ribera's The Martyrdom of Saint Bartholomew (1634). Read more: Nathanael in the Bible: Under the Fig Tree in John 1
7. Matthew (Levi)
Matthew was a tax collector sitting at his booth when Jesus said, "Follow me." Luke tells the story using his other name, Levi, and adds that Levi left everything and threw a great banquet for Jesus with tax collectors and sinners (Jesus Calls Levi, Luke 5:27-32). His calling shows Jesus' welcome for people the religious world wrote off. Tradition credits him with the Gospel of Matthew (see who wrote Matthew). Caravaggio's The Calling of Saint Matthew (1599-1600) is one of the most famous paintings of any apostle: light falls across the table as Jesus points, and Matthew gestures toward himself as if to ask, "Me?"
8. Thomas (Didymus)
Thomas was also called Didymus, Greek for "twin." He is best remembered for his doubt after the resurrection: "Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands, and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe" (John 20:25). But when Jesus appeared and invited him to touch his wounds, Thomas made the highest confession in the Gospels: "My Lord and my God!" (John 20:28). Earlier, when Jesus decided to return to Judea, Thomas said, "Let us also go, that we may die with him" (John 11:16). Tradition says he carried the gospel to India, where the Mar Thoma Christians still trace their faith to him. Giovanni Francesco Romanelli painted the scene in Doubting Thomas in the seventeenth century. Read more about Thomas.
9. James Son of Alphaeus
James son of Alphaeus is one of the least-known apostles. He never speaks in Scripture. Tradition usually identifies him with "James the younger" or "James the Less," whose mother Mary stood near the cross (Mark 15:40). He is a different man from James the brother of Jesus, who led the church in Jerusalem (Acts 15:13-21), though Western tradition long confused the two. Peter Paul Rubens painted him as Saint James the Minor around 1612-1613. Read more: Who Was James Son of Alphaeus?
10. Judas Thaddeus (Judas Son of James)
Luke and Acts call him "Judas son of James," while Matthew and Mark call him Thaddeus, and some manuscripts call him Lebbaeus. His only recorded words come at the Last Supper, when he asks, "Lord, how is it that you will reveal yourself to us, and not to the world?" (John 14:22). Catholic tradition knows him as Saint Jude, patron of hopeless causes. Georges de La Tour's Saint Jude Thaddeus (c. 1650) shows him holding the medallion of Christ associated with his legend. Read more: Who Was Judas Thaddeus?
11. Simon the Zealot
Luke calls him "Simon, who was called the Zealot," and Matthew and Mark call him "Simon the Cananaean," from an Aramaic word meaning "zealous." His title may point to fierce devotion to God's law or to the movement that opposed Roman rule. Either way, Jesus placed him in the same band as Matthew, who had collected taxes for Rome. Tradition says he preached in Persia with Jude. El Greco's Saint Simon (c. 1609) gives him the artist's characteristic elongated, intense form. Read more: Who Was Simon the Zealot?
12. Judas Iscariot
Judas Iscariot kept the disciples' common purse and betrayed Jesus to the chief priests for thirty pieces of silver (Matthew 26:14-16). He identified Jesus with a kiss on the Mount of Olives (Luke 22:47-48). Afterward, he was seized with remorse and died (Matthew 27:3-5; Acts 1:18-19). His betrayal set in motion the events of the cross. Eilif Peterssen's Judas Iskariot (1878) shows him alone in shadow, a picture of his isolation. Read more: Who Was Judas Iscariot?
Matthias: The Apostle Who Replaced Judas
After the ascension, Peter told the believers in Jerusalem that someone must take Judas' place, someone who had been with Jesus from his baptism by John to his ascension and could be "a witness with us to his resurrection" (Acts 1:21-22). They proposed two men, Joseph called Barsabbas and Matthias, prayed, and cast lots. "The lot fell on Matthias; and he was added to the eleven apostles" (Acts 1:26). That restored the Twelve just before the Holy Spirit came at Pentecost. Matthias is never mentioned again in the New Testament.
How Did the Twelve Apostles Die?
The New Testament records the death of only two of the Twelve: Judas Iscariot (Matthew 27:5; Acts 1:18) and James son of Zebedee, executed by Herod Agrippa I (Acts 12:2). Everything else comes from church tradition, which varies in reliability.
Peter: crucified in Rome under Nero, upside down according to later tradition
Andrew: crucified at Patras in Greece
James son of Zebedee: killed with the sword in Jerusalem (Acts 12:2)
John: died of old age in Ephesus, the only one of the Twelve tradition says was not martyred
Philip: martyred at Hierapolis in Asia Minor
Bartholomew: flayed in Armenia
Matthew: martyred in Ethiopia or Persia, depending on the tradition
Thomas: speared to death in India
James son of Alphaeus: traditions vary; crucified in Egypt or stoned
Thaddeus: martyred in Persia or Armenia
Simon the Zealot: martyred in Persia
Judas Iscariot: died soon after the betrayal
Sean McDowell's The Fate of the Apostles weighs these traditions carefully and concludes that the evidence is strongest for Peter, Paul, James son of Zebedee, and Thomas, and much thinner for the others. What is certain is that the Twelve remained committed to proclaiming the risen Jesus, and the church they helped found spread across the Roman world within a generation.
What the Twelve Apostles Teach Us
The twelve disciples were not perfect men. Peter denied Jesus. James and John wanted to call down fire on a Samaritan village. Thomas doubted. All of them ran away on the night of the arrest. One betrayed him. Yet Jesus chose them, spent a night in prayer over the decision, and trusted them with his mission.
This list includes a few men we know well and several we barely know at all. It includes a tax collector and a zealot, fishermen and a skeptic. Jesus called them as they were and changed them along the way. Their stories remind us that, despite our flaws, we too are called to follow Jesus, learn from him, and share his message with the world.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are the names of the 12 apostles? Simon Peter, Andrew, James son of Zebedee, John, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James son of Alphaeus, Simon the Zealot, Judas son of James (Thaddeus), and Judas Iscariot. Matthias later replaced Judas Iscariot.
Where are the 12 apostles listed in the Bible? Matthew 10:2-4, Mark 3:16-19, Luke 6:14-16, and Acts 1:13 (which lists the eleven after Judas' death).
What is the difference between the 12 disciples and the 12 apostles? They are the same twelve men. "Disciple" means learner and applies to all of Jesus' followers. "Apostle" means one who is sent and was the title Jesus gave to the Twelve.
Why did Jesus choose 12 apostles? The number matches the twelve tribes of Israel. Jesus was gathering and renewing God's people, and he promised the apostles they would judge the twelve tribes (Luke 22:30).
Which apostles were brothers? Peter and Andrew were brothers, as were James and John, the sons of Zebedee. Some have suggested that Matthew and James son of Alphaeus were brothers because both had a father named Alphaeus, but the Gospels never say so.
Who replaced Judas as an apostle? Matthias, chosen by lot in Acts 1:15-26.
Was Paul one of the 12 apostles? No. Paul was called an apostle because the risen Jesus appeared to him and sent him to the Gentiles, but he was not one of the Twelve.
Which apostle was not martyred? According to tradition, John son of Zebedee was the only one of the original apostles (besides Judas) who was not martyred. He is said to have died of old age in Ephesus.
Who was the first apostle to die? Judas Iscariot died first, shortly after the betrayal. James son of Zebedee was the first apostle martyred, around AD 44 (Acts 12:2).
Scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright © 1989 the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Works Consulted
Richard Bauckham, Jesus and the Eyewitnesses
Joseph A. Fitzmyer, The Gospel According to Luke I-IX (Anchor Bible)
John P. Meier, A Marginal Jew, Volume 3: Companions and Competitors
Sean McDowell, The Fate of the Apostles
