Zebedee ( ; ; ), according to all four
Canonical Gospels
Gospel originally meant the Christian message (" the gospel"), but in the second century AD the term (, from which the English word originated as a calque) came to be used also for the books in which the message was reported. In this sen ...
, was the father of
James and
John, two
apostles of
Jesus
Jesus (AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, and many Names and titles of Jesus in the New Testament, other names and titles, was a 1st-century Jewish preacher and religious leader. He is the Jesus in Chris ...
. The gospels also suggest that he was the husband of
Salome
Salome (; , related to , "peace"; ), also known as Salome III, was a Jews, Jewish princess, the daughter of Herod II and princess Herodias. She was granddaughter of Herod the Great and stepdaughter of Herod Antipas. She is known from the New T ...
; whereas
Mark names the women present at the
crucifixion
Crucifixion is a method of capital punishment in which the condemned is tied or nailed to a large wooden cross, beam or stake and left to hang until eventual death. It was used as a punishment by the Achaemenid Empire, Persians, Ancient Carthag ...
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 crucifixion of Jesus, his cr ...
, and
Mary the mother of
James and of
Joses, 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 Encyclopedi ...
'' 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.
[
]
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 was an Ancient Semitic religion, ancient Semitic deity of Weather god, weather and List of war deities, war in the History of the ancient Levant, ancient Levant, the national god of the kingdoms of Kingdom of Judah, Judah and Kingdom ...
(''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''). A possibly more sinister interpretation of Zebedee may 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''.
Veneration
Zebedaeus is venerated in the Roman Catholic Church as a saint. His feast day is 15 March.
See also
* Mary Salome and Zebedee
References
External links
*
{{Authority control
People from Bethsaida
Judean people
1st-century Christian saints
Family of Jesus
Followers of Jesus
Gospel of Mark
Saints from the Holy Land
Christian saints from the New Testament
Ancient Christian saints
People in the canonical gospels
Ancient Jewish fishermen
Gospel of Matthew