Real Bible People: The Family of Zebedee

The Family Ministries of Jesus

Zebedee and His Sons: A Working Family

Jesus calls James and John

Three Families that Supported Jesus

Within the circle of disciples around Jesus, more than half of the twelve apostles came from just three different families. These families were 1) Zebedee the professional fisherman with his wife Salome and his two sons, John and "Big"  James;  2) Jonah the retired fisherman, his two sons Andrew and Peter, Peter's wife, and his wife's mother; and 3: Mary wife of Alpheus and her two sons Joses and "Little" James, plus Matthew son of Alpheus and his family. These middle-class working households no doubt included a few bondservants, as well as hired help for their businesses and perhaps for their homes.

Two Families that Opposed Jesus

The principal people that were against Jesus were inter-related among themselves also. These families were 1) King Herod Antipas, his second wife Herodias, and Herodias' daughter Salomé; and 2) Annas the senior high priest, his five sons who were also high priests, his son-in-law Caiaphas the designated high priest during the ministry of Jesus, and numerous related Sadducees and their extended families.

Here we'll begin to take a look at these five families and attempt to reconstruct their personal lives as real people, building on what we know of the named people and the times within  which they lived. For this post, we'll take a look at Zebedee.

The Zebedee Family:  Commercial Fishing in Bethsaida

Jesus Calls the Two Sons of Zebedee

Zebedee was the apparent leader, or major partner, of a fishing consortium that plied the waters of the Sea of Galilee. His boat was probably of a type widely used on the lake: 27 feet long by 7.5 feet wide, almost flat-bottomed to allow fishing in shallow waters, and requiring a crew of five to properly handle it with its four rowing positions, mast, sail, and rudder.

To staff the boat he had his grown son James and his almost-grown son John, plus two servants. These were likely bondservants, in a covenant relationship with Zebedee, who was committed to feeding and housing them in exchange for willing work on their part. Among the rich upper classes bondservants could be bought and sold as needed or desired, but among the working class these covenants were often lifelong alliances, with the servants treated as if they were extended family. Zebedee's wife may have also had a household servant. Such a servant was often a young woman from a poor family who had little likelihood of finding a husband for her.

The family home was in the small Jewish fishing community of  Bethsaida on the north shore of the Sea of Galilee. It was located in the Roman Province of Trachonitis under Herod Philip, a son of  Herod the Great. Very near to Bethsaida, Herod Philip was building a Greek-inspired city, named Julias in honor of the emperor of Rome. It was to include a stadium for equestrian events, and Herod Philip hoped to populate it with Greek-speaking people who would be faithful to Rome.

Father Zebedee:

Zebedee was head of the family and active in the fishing business. His name is a Greek transliteration of the Hebrew name Zebadiah, and means "Yahweh has bestowed." Jesus called his two sons "Sons of Thunder," which could possibly have been in reference to Zebedee's character, or his loud voice. He respected Jesus as (at least) a man of God and a prophet, allowing his sons to leave his fishing business to follow Jesus. This would have reduced the family income, as he would have had to hire more crew during the fishing season to handle his boat. Because of his sons' association with Jesus, he used his boat on occasion as a passenger vehicle to ferry Jesus' many followers back and forth across the Sea of Galilee.

Mother Salome:

Zebedee's wife was protective and sometimes manipulative with her two sons. Salome is the feminine form of the name Solomon, with a connotation of wisdom and power. Its root meaning in Hebrew is Shalom, or peace. One might say this is an early feminist name denoting power, peace, and wisdom. Salome believed that Jesus was the Messiah and future king. She persuaded her two sons to ask Jesus that they might sit at his right and his left when he "came into his kingdom" (Matthew 20:20). She accompanied Jesus during his last trip to Judea and was present at the crucifixion. Another woman named Salome (or Salomé) was in the family of Herod Antipas, and will be dealt with in a later post.

Elder Son James:

Among Jesus' 12 apostles were two men named James, so this James son of Zebedee became known as "Big James" (or James the Great) to differentiate him from "Little James" (or James the Less). In English he is called "James," but in Spanish, German, French, and the original Greek he is named Jacob, after the founder of the twelve tribes of Israel. This was one of the most popular names at the time, and there are four others named Jacob in the Greek New Testament.

James' first meeting with Jesus is not recorded, but he may have been one of Jesus' first disciples, along with his brother John and four others who met Jesus at the Jordan River. He and John and Andrew and Peter became the "inner circle" of disciples around Jesus. He may have had a boisterous character, for he and his brother asked Jesus if they should call down fire on a Samaritan village which had rejected them (Luke 9:54). This may have been the occasion which brought Jesus to calling them "Sons of Thunder." James was the first of the Twelve to be martyred, when a later Herod had James "killed with the sword." Perhaps James' fiery preaching brought this about, or perhaps even an ill-advised swordfight. His many experiences with Jesus should have brought him close to realizing that Jesus was "real God."

Younger Son John:

John's name in Greek stems from the Hebrew name Johannes. He shares this name with John the Baptist, John (or Jonas) the father of Peter and Andrew, John Mark, and John the relative of Annas the high priest. The name means "Yahweh is gracious." He was a close friend of Andrew, the younger brother of Simon Peter. He and Andrew were the first two disciples to meet Jesus. His boisterousness could perhaps be attributed to the influence of his older brother, for in his later life and in his writings we do not see that character trait.

John is recognized as the youngest of the twelve disciples by every Bible scholar willing to hazard a guess. (The only possible rival might be Judas Thaddeus, grandson of Alpheus.) Among teachers with a following of disciples, it was a tradition that the youngest disciple (or else the newest disciple) would take up the duty of attending to the personal needs of the teacher. He would be the closest to the teacher, leaving his side only to attend to his needs. We can see an example of this with the incident of the woman at the well. All the disciples (except John) had gone into town to buy food, leaving John as the only witness to the astounding conversation between Jesus and this Samaritan woman.

John may have been as young as 13 or 14 when he and his friend Andrew met Jesus, too old for the Bible writers to call him a "child." We meet these two when they were down at the Jordan River calling themselves disciples of John the Baptist. He was out of place there, for he should have been up at the Sea of Galilee working for his father. Something must have happened to bring these two youngsters to follow this man in the wilderness who was shouting, "Repent! Repent, for the Kingdom of God is near!"

As the disciples of Jesus followed him, they did not understand who he truly was. "Who is this guy, who can command the sea to be calm?" The crucifixion left them scattered and confused, but they gathered in an upper room to see what might happen next. The falling down of the Holy Spirit and the preaching of Simon Peter renewed their hope and woke up their conviction that they had been following the Son of God.

In later life, after 30 years of contemplation, John wrote a book whose first chapter is the greatest writing in the realm of Christendom. John came to realize and preach that Jesus is the voice of God--the Logos--at whose command the heavens and the earth were created. This was the real God, and they had been walking with him, talking with him, and eating with  him. John captured his essence and preached his commandment of love in his Gospel and his letters. Sent into exile on the island of Patmos, he was given a vision that he wrote about in the book of Revelation.

Near the end of his life, he became the overseer of the church in Ephesus. The young men would come and carry his aged body to church each week, while he loudly called out, "Love one another! Love one another!" Finally one of the young men asked him, "Teacher, why do you keep shouting that?" John replied, "For if you love one another, it will be enough."

Next Week:

Next week we will look at another family--the family of Jonas (John), who was the father of Simon Peter and Andrew.