Seventy disciples

Analysis

This is the only mention of the group in the Bible. The number is seventy in some manuscripts of the Alexandrian (such as Codex Sinaiticus) and Caesarean text traditions but seventy-two in most other Alexandrian and Western texts. Samuel Dickey Gordon notes that they were sent out as thirty-five deputations of two each.

The number may derive from the seventy nations of Genesis 10 or the many other occurrences of the number seventy in the Bible, or the seventy-two translators of the Septuagint from the Letter of Aristeas. In translating the Vulgate, Jerome selected the reading of seventy-two.

The Gospel of Luke is not alone among the synoptic gospels in containing multiple episodes in which Jesus sends out his followers on missions. The first occasion () is closely based on the "limited commission" mission in , which, however, recounts the sending out of the twelve apostles, rather than seventy, though with similar details. The parallels (also , , and ) suggest a common origin in the hypothesized Q document. Luke also mentions the Great Commission to "all nations" () but in less detail than Matthew's account, and mentions the Dispersion of the Apostles.

What has been said to the seventy (two) in is referred in passing to the Twelve in :

Feast days

The feast day commemorating the seventy is known as the "Synaxis of the Seventy Disciples" in Eastern Orthodoxy, and is celebrated on January 4. Each of the seventy disciples also has individual commemorations scattered throughout the liturgical year (see Eastern Orthodox Church calendar).

Lists of the disciples' names

Attributed to Hippolytus

A Greek text titled On the Seventy Apostles of Christ is known from several manuscripts, the oldest in Codex Baroccianus 206, a ninth-century palimpsest lectionary. The text is ancient, but its traditional ascription to Hippolytus of Rome is now considered dubious. An 1886 translation is:

1. James the Lord's brother, bishop of Jerusalem
2. Cleopas, bishop of Jerusalem
3. Matthias, who supplied the vacant place in the number of the twelve apostles
4. Thaddeus, who conveyed the epistle to Augarus (Abgar V)
5. Ananias, who baptized Paul, and was bishop of Damascus
6. Stephen, the first martyr
7. Philip, who baptized the Ethiopian eunuch
8. Prochorus, bishop of Nicomedia, who also was the first that departed, 11 believing together with his daughters
9. Nicanor died when Stephen was martyred
10. Timon, bishop of Bostra
11. Parmenas, bishop of Soli (either in Cyprus or in Asia Minor) .
12. Nicolaus, bishop of Samaria
13. Barnabas, bishop of Milan
14. Mark the Evangelist, bishop of Alexandria
15. Luke the Evangelist
16. : These two [Mark and Luke] belonged to the seventy disciples who were scattered by the offence of the word which Christ spoke, "Except a man eat my flesh, and drink my blood, he is not worthy of me." But the one being induced to return to the Lord by Peter's instrumentality, and the other by Paul's, they were honored to preach that Gospel on account of which they also suffered martyrdom, the one being burned, and the other being crucified on an olive tree.
17. Silas, bishop of Corinth
18. Silvanus, bishop of Thessalonica
19. Crisces (Crescens), bishop of Carchedon in Galatia
20. Epænetus, bishop of Carthage
21. Andronicus, bishop of Pannonia
22. Amplias, bishop of Odessus
23. Urban, bishop of Macedonia
24. Stachys, bishop of Byzantium
25. Barnabas, bishop of Heraclea
26. Phygellus, bishop of Ephesus. He was of the party also of Simon
27. Hermogenes. He, too, was of the same mind with the former
28. Demas, who also became a priest of idols
29. Apelles, bishop of Smyrna
30. Aristobulus, bishop of Britain
31. Narcissus, bishop of Athens
32. Herodion, bishop of Tarsus
33. Agabus the prophet
34. Rufus, bishop of Thebes
35. Asyncritus, bishop of Hyrcania
36. Phlegon, bishop of Marathon
37. Hermes, bishop of Dalmatia
38. Patrobulus, bishop of Puteoli
39. Hermas, bishop of Philippopolis (Thrace)
40. Linus, bishop of Rome
41. Caius, bishop of Ephesus
42. Philologus, bishop of Sinope
43. Olympus and ...
44. ...Rhodion were martyred in Rome
45. Lucius, bishop of Laodicea in Syria
46. Jason, bishop of Tarsus
47. Sosipater, bishop of Iconium
48. Tertius, bishop of Iconium
49. Erastus, bishop of Paneas
50. Quartus, bishop of Berytus
51. Apollos, bishop of Cæsarea
52. Cephas, bishop of Iconium of Colophon
53. Sosthenes, bishop of Colophonia
54. Tychicus, bishop of Colophonia
55. Epaphroditus, bishop of Andriaca (there are at least two ancient towns called Andriaca, one in Thrace and one in Asia Minor),
56. Cæsar, bishop of Dyrrachium
57. Mark, cousin to Barnabas, bishop of Apollonia
58. Justus, bishop of Eleutheropolis
59. Artemas, bishop of Lystra
60. Clement, bishop of Sardis
61. Onesiphorus, bishop of Corone
62. Tychicus, bishop of Chalcedon
63. Carpus, bishop of Berytus in Thrace
64. Evodus, bishop of Antioch
65. Aristarchus, bishop of Apamea
66. Mark, who is also John, bishop of Byblos
67. Zenas, bishop of Diospolis
68. Philemon, bishop of Gaza
69. Aristarchus, bishop of Apamea
70. Pudes
71. Trophimus, who was martyred along with Paul

''Book of the Bee''

Similar to an earlier list attributed to Irenaeus, Bishop Solomon of Basra of the Church of the East in the 13th century Book of the Bee offers the following list:

1. James, the son of Joseph
2. Simon the son of Cleopas
3. Cleopas, his father
4. Joses
5. Simon
6. Judah
7. Barnabas
8. Manaeus (?)
9. Ananias, who baptised Paul
10. Cephas, who preached at Antioch
11. Joseph the senator
12. Nicodemus the Archon
13. Nathaniel the chief scribe
14. Justus, that is Joseph, who is called Barshabbâ
15. Silas
16. Judah
17. John, surnamed Mark
18. Mnason, who received Paul
19. Manaël, the foster-brother of Herod
20. Simon called Niger
21. Jason, who is (mentioned) in the Acts (of the apostles)
22. Rufus
23. Alexander
24. Simon the Cyrenian, their father
25. Lucius the Cyrenian
26. Another Judah, who is mentioned in the Acts (of the apostles)
27. Judah, who is called Simon
28. Eurion (Orion) the splay-footed
29. Thôrus (?)
30. Thorîsus (?)
31. Zabdon
32. Zakron
33. : These are the seven who were chosen with Stephen:
34. Philip the Evangelist, who had three daughters that used to prophesy
35. Stephen
36. Prochorus
37. Nicanor
38. Timon
39. Parmenas
40. Nicolaus, the Antiochian proselyte
41. : [the next three are listed with the preceding seven]
42. Andronicus the Greek
43. Titus
44. Timothy
45. : These are the five who were with Peter in Rome:
46. Hermas [of Philippopolis]
47. Plîgtâ
48. Patrobas
49. Asyncritus
50. Hermas [of Dalmatia]
51. : These are the six [sic; seven names follow] who came with Peter to Cornelius:
52. Criscus (Crescens)
53. Milichus
54. Kîrîțôn (Crito)
55. Simon
56. Gaius, who received Paul
57. Abrazon (?)
58. Apollos
59. : These are the twelve who were rejected from among the seventy, as Judas Iscariot was from among the twelve, because they absolutely denied our Lord's divinity at the instigation of Cerinthus. Of these Luke [recte 1 John] said, "They went out from us, but they were not of us;" and Paul called them "false apostles and deceitful workers".
60. :# Simon
61. :# Levi
62. :# Bar-Ḳubbâ
63. :# Cleon
64. :# Hymenaeus
65. :# Candarus
66. :# Clithon (?)
67. :# Demas
68. :# Narcissus
69. :# Slikîspus (?)
70. :# Thaddaeus
71. :# Mârûthâ
72. : In their stead there came in these:
73. Luke the physician
74. Apollos the elect
75. Ampelius
76. Urbanus
77. Stachys
78. Popillius (or Publius)
79. Aristobulus
80. Stephen (not the Corinthian)
81. Herodion the son of Narcissus
82. Olympas
83. Mark the Evangelist
84. Addai
85. Aggai
86. Mâr Mârî

Others

Other lists are

• One attributed to Dorotheus of Tyre, completed some time before AD 811.
• One attributed to Epiphanius of Salamis

Matthias, who would later replace Judas Iscariot as one of the twelve apostles, is also often numbered among the seventy.

Some accounts of the legendary Saint Mantius of Évora regard him as one of the disciples, having witnessed the Last Supper and Pentecost.

References

References

1. {{bibleref2. Luke. 10:1–21. DRA
2. Catholic Encyclopedia: [https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/05029a.htm Disciple]: "The disciples, in this disciples, in this context, are not the crowds of believers who flocked around Christ, but a smaller body of His followers. They are commonly identified with the seventy-two (seventy, according to the received Greek text, although several Greek manuscripts mention seventy-two, as does the Vulgate) referred to {{bibleref2. Luke. 10:1) as having been chosen by Jesus. The names of these disciples are given in several lists (Chronicon Paschale, and Pseudo-Dorotheus in Migne, P.G., XCII, 521–24, 543–45, 1061–65); but these lists are unfortunately worthless."
3. "Synaxis of the Seventy Apostles". OCA.
4. Gordon, S. D. (1906), [https://gutenberg.org/cache/epub/12529/pg12529-images.html#ch03-1 Quiet Talks on Service], via [[Project Gutenberg]], accessed 15 January 2024
5. [[Bruce Metzger]], ''Textual Commentary on the Greek NT''.
6. (1886). "The Ante-Nicene Fathers: Translations of the Writings of the Fathers Down to A. D. 325". Christian Literature Company.
7. (2022-02-25). "List of Apostles and Disciples, by Pseudo-Irenaeus". North American Society for the Study of Christian Apocryphal Literature.
8. (1886). "The Book of the Bee: The Syriac Text Edited from the Manuscripts in London, Oxford, and Munich with an English Translation". Clarendon Press.
9. (February 2022). "List of the Apostles and Disciples, by Pseudo-Dorotheus of Tyre". North American Society for the Study of Christian Apocryphal Literature.
10. (January 2022). "List of the Apostles and Disciples by Pseudo-Epiphanius of Salamis". North American Society for the Study of Christian Apocryphal Literature.
11. {{cite Catholic Encyclopedia
12. Cardoso, Jorge. (1666). "Agiologio lusitano dos sanctos, e varoens illustres em virtude do Reino de Portugal, e suas conquistas". Officina de António Craesbeeck de Mello.