The twelve apostles of Jesus
Jesus chose 12 apostles: Simon Peter, his brother Andrew, James the son of Zebedee, his brother John, Philip, Bartholomew, Thomas, Matthew the tax collector, James the son of Alphaeus, Thaddaeus, Simon the Canaanite and Judas Iscariot, in the order of Matthew 10:2-4. Luke 6:13 says he chose them from his disciples, "whom also he named apostles". After Judas Iscariot betrayed Jesus and died, Matthias was chosen to take his place (Acts 1:26).
Updated October 25, 2026. The four lists are read from the King James Version and the World English Bible, and every position, name and count on this page is computed from the full text of both.
The four lists side by side
The Bible names the twelve four times. The table follows Matthew's order; each cell gives the apostle's place in that list and the King James wording.
| Apostle | Matthew 10:2-4 | Mark 3:16-19 | Luke 6:14-16 | Acts 1:13 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Peter | 1.Simon, who is called Peter | 1.Simon he surnamed Peter | 1.Simon, (whom he also named Peter,) | 1.Peter |
| Andrew | 2.Andrew his brother | 4.Andrew | 2.Andrew his brother | 4.Andrew |
| James son of Zebedee | 3.James the son of Zebedee | 2.James the son of Zebedee | 3.James | 2.James |
| John | 4.John his brother | 3.John the brother of James | 4.John | 3.John |
| Philip | 5.Philip | 5.Philip | 5.Philip | 5.Philip |
| Bartholomew | 6.Bartholomew | 6.Bartholomew | 6.Bartholomew | 7.Bartholomew |
| Thomas | 7.Thomas | 8.Thomas | 8.Thomas | 6.Thomas |
| Matthew | 8.Matthew the publican | 7.Matthew | 7.Matthew | 8.Matthew |
| James son of Alphaeus | 9.James the son of Alphaeus | 9.James the son of Alphaeus | 9.James the son of Alphaeus | 9.James the son of Alphaeus |
| Thaddaeus | 10.Lebbaeus, whose surname was Thaddaeus | 10.Thaddaeus | 11.Judas the brother of James | 11.Judas the brother of James |
| Simon the Zealot | 11.Simon the Canaanite | 11.Simon the Canaanite | 10.Simon called Zelotes | 10.Simon Zelotes |
| Judas Iscariot | 12.Judas Iscariot | 12.Judas Iscariot | 12.Judas Iscariot | not listed |
Some places never change: Peter first, Philip fifth and James son of Alphaeus ninth in all four lists. Judas Iscariot is last in all three Gospel lists and is missing from Acts 1:13, which comes after his death. The names also fall into three groups of four that never mix. Places 1 to 4 always hold Andrew, James son of Zebedee, John and Peter, led by Peter. Places 5 to 8 always hold Bartholomew, Matthew, Philip and Thomas, led by Philip. Places 9 to 12 hold James son of Alphaeus first, then Thaddaeus (Judas of James in Luke and Acts) and Simon the Zealot, tenth and eleventh in either order, and Judas Iscariot last. Only the order inside a group moves: Andrew is second in Matthew and Luke and fourth in Mark and Acts, and Thomas is sixth in Acts, seventh in Matthew and eighth in Mark and Luke.
Where the King James and the World English Bible differ
- Luke 6:16: KJV "Judas the brother of James", WEB "Judas the son of James".
- Acts 1:13: KJV "Judas the brother of James", WEB "Judas the son of James".
- Mark 3:18: KJV "Simon the Canaanite", WEB "Simon the Zealot".
- Matthew 10:3: KJV "Matthew the publican", WEB "Matthew the tax collector".
- Matthew 10:3: KJV "Lebbaeus, whose surname was Thaddaeus", WEB "Lebbaeus, who was also called Thaddaeus".
- Acts 1:13: KJV "Peter, and James, and John", WEB "Peter, John, James".
- John 6:71: KJV "Judas Iscariot the son of Simon", WEB "Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot".
The Acts 1:13 order follows each translation: the King James has Peter, James, John; the World English Bible has Peter, John, James. Every other position is the same in both.
Thaddaeus, Lebbaeus, or Judas the brother of James?
The lists point to one man with three names, though the Bible never says so in words. Matthew 10:3 has "Lebbaeus, whose surname was Thaddaeus"; Mark 3:18 has "Thaddaeus". Luke 6:16 and Acts 1:13 have no Thaddaeus, and instead name "Judas the brother of James" in the King James Version, or "Judas the son of James" in the World English Bible. Match the lists name for name and Thaddaeus and Judas of James are left over, the one name each pair of lists has that the other pair lacks. So the lists read as one man under more than one name.
The translations differ because the Greek of Luke 6:16 says only Ioudan Iakōbou, "Judas of James", with no word for brother or son. Bible Hub's interlinear for Luke 6:16 prints the King James "the brother" in brackets as a supplied word. John's Gospel has a Judas who is "not Iscariot" speak once (John 14:22), without saying more about him.
Each apostle: other names, family and work
The Bible gives some of the twelve a second name, a brother or a trade, and says almost nothing about others. The count column is the King James Version, given only for names no one else in the Bible bears.
| Apostle | Also called | Family and work | Named (KJV) | Verses |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Simon Peter | Simon; Cephas, "a stone" (John 1:42); Simon Barjona (Matthew 16:17) | Brother of Andrew; a fisherman; married (Matthew 8:14) | 162 | John 1:42; Matthew 16:17; Matthew 4:18; Matthew 8:14; Mark 3:16 |
| Andrew | Brother of Simon Peter; a fisherman; from Bethsaida (John 1:44) | 13 | John 1:40; Matthew 4:18; John 1:44 | |
| James, son of Zebedee | Boanerges, "the sons of thunder", with John (Mark 3:17) | Brother of John; a fisherman, partner with Simon (Luke 5:10); killed by Herod (Acts 12:2) | shared name | Mark 3:17; Matthew 4:21; Luke 5:10; Acts 12:2 |
| John, son of Zebedee | Boanerges, with James (Mark 3:17) | Brother of James; a fisherman | shared name | Mark 3:17; Matthew 4:21; Mark 1:20 |
| Philip | From Bethsaida; brought Nathanael to Jesus (John 1:45) | shared name | John 1:43; John 1:44; John 1:45 | |
| Bartholomew | Named only in the four lists | 4 | Matthew 10:3; Mark 3:18; Luke 6:14; Acts 1:13 | |
| Thomas | Didymus (John 11:16, 20:24, 21:2) | Would not believe until he saw the print of the nails (John 20:25) | 12 | John 11:16; John 20:24; John 20:25; John 20:28 |
| Matthew | Levi, in the same call story (Mark 2:14, Luke 5:27) | A tax collector, "Matthew the publican" (Matthew 10:3) | 5 | Matthew 10:3; Matthew 9:9; Mark 2:14; Luke 5:27 |
| James, son of Alphaeus | Called by this name only in the four lists | shared name | Matthew 10:3; Mark 3:18; Luke 6:15; Acts 1:13 | |
| Thaddaeus | Lebbaeus (Matthew 10:3); Judas the brother of James (Luke 6:16, Acts 1:13; WEB: son of James) | John 14:22 has a "Judas ... not Iscariot" speaking to Jesus | 3 | Matthew 10:3; Mark 3:18; Luke 6:16; Acts 1:13; John 14:22 |
| Simon the Zealot | Simon the Canaanite (Matthew 10:4, Mark 3:18); Simon Zelotes (Luke 6:15, Acts 1:13) | Called by these names only in the four lists | shared name | Matthew 10:4; Mark 3:18; Luke 6:15; Acts 1:13 |
| Judas Iscariot | Son of Simon (John 6:71) | Kept the money bag (John 12:6); betrayed Jesus for thirty pieces of silver (Matthew 26:15) | shared name | John 6:71; John 12:6; Matthew 26:14-15; Matthew 27:5 |
Counts: Peter takes in "Peter" and "Peter's" (Cephas and Simon are separate); Thaddaeus takes in "Lebbaeus". "Shared name" means other men in the Bible have the name too (John the Baptist, Philip the evangelist, Simon of Cyrene and others), so a count would not be his alone.
Two pairs of brothers. Simon Peter and Andrew, and James and John the sons of Zebedee. All four were fishermen: Jesus found the first two "casting a net into the sea: for they were fishers" and the second two "in a ship with Zebedee their father, mending their nets" (Matthew 4:18-21). Jesus surnamed James and John "Boanerges, which is, The sons of thunder" (Mark 3:17). Peter, James and John are the three he took with him when others stayed behind (Mark 5:37; Matthew 17:1).
Matthew and Levi. Matthew 9:9 tells of a man "named Matthew, sitting at the receipt of custom" whom Jesus told "Follow me". Mark 2:14 and Luke 5:27 tell the same call with the name Levi, and Matthew 10:3 calls him "Matthew the publican", a tax collector. Mark 2:14 calls Levi "the son of Alphaeus", the same father's name as James, the ninth apostle. The Bible does not say whether it is the same Alphaeus.
Bartholomew and Nathanael. Bartholomew is named 4 times in the Bible, once in each list, and nowhere else. John's Gospel never names him; it names Nathanael 6 times, a man Philip brought to Jesus (John 1:45) and who was with the disciples at the sea after the resurrection (John 21:2). No other book names Nathanael. The Catholic Encyclopedia says "many scholars" identify the two, because the name Bartholomew means "son of Talmai" and may not be his own first name, and because it is coupled with Philip's in the lists of Matthew and Luke. It calls this "chain of circumstantial evidence" "ingenious and pretty strong". The Bible itself never says they are the same man.
Peter, the most-named of the twelve
"Peter" appears 162 times in the King James Version (162 in the World English Bible), 58 of them in Acts. No other of the twelve comes close: every "John" in the Bible together, John the Baptist included, comes to 133, and every "Simon" to 76. He goes by three names: Simon, Peter and Cephas. Jesus told him "thou shalt be called Cephas, which is by interpretation, A stone" (John 1:42); "Cephas" appears 6 times, 4 of them in 1 Corinthians. The full "Simon Peter" appears 20 times.
Paul, who was not one of the twelve, is named just as often: "Paul" appears 162 times in the King James Version, the same as Peter, and 161 in the World English Bible, 132 of them in Acts. The two split Acts between them. Peter is named 57 times in chapters 1 to 12 and once after. Paul, called Saul until Acts 13:9, is named only from chapter 13 on, 132 times.
Disciple or apostle? What the counts show
Luke 6:13 draws the line: Jesus "called unto him his disciples: and of them he chose twelve, whom also he named apostles." The two words are used in different parts of the New Testament.
| Word (all forms) | KJV | WEB | Most in | Where |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| disciple, disciples | 273 | 278 | John (81) | The Gospels and Acts only, plus Isaiah 8:16; never in the letters or Revelation |
| apostle, apostles | 79 | 81 | Acts (30) | 19 books in the KJV; only 8 times in the Gospels (Matthew 1, Mark 1, Luke 6), never in John |
| "the twelve" on its own | 22 | 23 | Mark (9) | The Gospels, Acts 6:2 and 1 Corinthians 15:5 |
The four Gospels use "disciple" or "disciples" 241 times and "apostle" or "apostles" 8, and John's Gospel never uses "apostle" at all. Acts uses both about equally (31 and 30). After Acts, "disciple" never appears again, while "apostle" runs on through the letters and Revelation. The exact phrase "twelve apostles" appears only 3 times: Matthew 10:2, Luke 22:14 and Revelation 21:14. "The twelve" is counted where it is the group's name, as in "one of the twelve", and not where a noun follows (the twelve tribes, the twelve apostles).
After Judas: Matthias, Paul and the other apostles
With Judas gone, the Gospels and Acts speak of "the eleven" (Matthew 28:16; Acts 2:14). Acts 1:21-22 sets the rule for his replacement: a man who had "companied with us all the time", beginning from the baptism of John, to be "a witness with us of his resurrection".
| Apostle | What the Bible says | Verse |
|---|---|---|
| Matthias | Chosen by lot to take Judas Iscariot's place, "numbered with the eleven apostles" | Acts 1:26 |
| Paul | "Called to be an apostle"; he calls himself "the least of the apostles" (1 Corinthians 15:9) | Romans 1:1 |
| Barnabas | Called an apostle with Paul: "the apostles, Barnabas and Paul" | Acts 14:14 |
| James the Lord's brother | Paul says "other of the apostles saw I none, save James the Lord's brother" | Galatians 1:19 |
Matthias is the only one of these counted among the twelve. Paul says he did not go up to Jerusalem "to them which were apostles before me" (Galatians 1:17), and places himself after the twelve, "as of one born out of due time" (1 Corinthians 15:8). So the Bible calls more than twelve men apostles, but the twelve stay twelve.
How did the apostles die?
The Bible tells the deaths of two of the twelve. Judas Iscariot "went and hanged himself" (Matthew 27:5), and Acts 1:18 says that "falling headlong, he burst asunder in the midst". Herod the king "killed James the brother of John with the sword" (Acts 12:2). Jesus foretells Peter's death, "signifying by what death he should glorify God" (John 21:19), but the Bible does not tell it. The Bible does not say how the other apostles died.
Twelve thrones and twelve foundations
Jesus promised the twelve a place in the age to come: "ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel" (Matthew 19:28; compare Luke 22:30). In John's vision of the new Jerusalem, "the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and in them the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb" (Revelation 21:14). The gates of the same city carry the names of the twelve tribes of Israel (Revelation 21:12).
Which apostles wrote books of the Bible?
Peter is the only one of the twelve whom a book names as its writer and calls an apostle (1 Peter 1:1, 2 Peter 1:1). James, Jude and Revelation name a James, a Jude and a John without saying they were of the twelve. Paul, an apostle but not one of the twelve, is named as the writer of more books than anyone: his name opens 13 letters, Romans to Philemon, and 9 of them call him an apostle in the first verse. The other books that say who wrote them:
| Book | Writer, in the book's own words | Verse |
|---|---|---|
| 1 Peter | Peter, "an apostle of Jesus Christ" | 1 Peter 1:1 |
| 2 Peter | Simon Peter, "a servant and an apostle" | 2 Peter 1:1 |
| James | James, "a servant of God", without saying which James | James 1:1 |
| Jude | Jude, "brother of James" | Jude 1:1 |
| Revelation | John (Revelation 1:1, 1:4, 1:9, 22:8), not called an apostle | Revelation 1:1 |
| 2 John | "The elder", no name | 2 John 1:1 |
| 3 John | "The elder", no name | 3 John 1:1 |
| John | "the disciple" whom Jesus loved (John 21:20, 24), no name | John 21:24 |
Matthew, Mark, Luke, Acts, Hebrews and 1 John name no writer. Later writers fill the gaps. The church historian Eusebius wrote in his Church History (book 3, chapter 24) that "of all the disciples of the Lord, only Matthew and John have left us written memorials". He adds that John's Gospel and first letter were accepted without dispute while the other two letters were disputed and opinions on Revelation were "still divided".
Questions about the twelve apostles
Who were the 12 apostles?
Peter, Andrew, James son of Zebedee, John, Philip, Bartholomew, Thomas, Matthew, James son of Alphaeus, Thaddaeus, Simon the Zealot and Judas Iscariot, in the order of Matthew 10:2-4. Mark 3:16-19 and Luke 6:14-16 give the same men, and Acts 1:13 repeats the list after Judas Iscariot's death with eleven names. Where Matthew and Mark have Thaddaeus, Luke and Acts have "Judas the brother of James" (the World English Bible says "son of James").
What is the difference between a disciple and an apostle?
The twelve were disciples first and apostles second. Luke 6:13 shows the order: Jesus "called unto him his disciples: and of them he chose twelve, whom also he named apostles." Mark 3:14 gives the purpose: "that they should be with him, and that he might send them forth to preach." In the King James Version "disciple" or "disciples" appears 273 times, all but one of them in the Gospels and Acts, and never in the letters. "Apostle" or "apostles" appears 79 times, 30 of them in Acts and none in the Gospel of John.
Who replaced Judas as an apostle?
Matthias. The apostles put forward two men who had been with them from the baptism of John, "Joseph called Barsabas, who was surnamed Justus, and Matthias" (Acts 1:23). Then they prayed and cast lots: "the lot fell upon Matthias; and he was numbered with the eleven apostles" (Acts 1:26). He is named twice in the Bible, both times in Acts 1.
Was Paul one of the twelve apostles?
No. Paul calls himself "called to be an apostle" (Romans 1:1), but he was not one of the twelve. He lists Jesus appearing to "Cephas, then of the twelve" and then "last of all ... of me also, as of one born out of due time", and calls himself "the least of the apostles" (1 Corinthians 15:5-9). Matthias, not Paul, filled Judas's place (Acts 1:26).
Which apostle wrote the most books of the Bible?
Paul, by the Bible's own openings: 13 letters, Romans to Philemon, begin with his name, and 9 of them call him an apostle in the first verse. Among the twelve, Peter is the only one named as a writer and called an apostle in the same breath (1 Peter 1:1, 2 Peter 1:1). Revelation names its writer John but does not call him an apostle, and the Gospel of John and the three letters of John give no writer by name.
How did the apostles die?
The Bible tells the deaths of two of the twelve. Judas Iscariot "went and hanged himself" (Matthew 27:5; Acts 1:18 adds that "falling headlong, he burst asunder"). Herod "killed James the brother of John with the sword" (Acts 12:2). Jesus foretells Peter's death in John 21:18-19 but the Bible does not tell it. The Bible does not say how the others died.
Sources
- The King James Version (1769) and the World English Bible, both public domain: every verse quoted, every list position and every count on this page, from the text at github.com/seven1m/open-bibles, counted by scripts/lists/twelve-apostles.mjs (read and counted 2026-10-25).
- Bible Hub, Luke 6:16 interlinear: the Greek "Ioudan Iakōbou" and the King James "the brother" marked as supplied (read 2026-10-25).
- Catholic Encyclopedia (1907), "St. Bartholomew", New Advent: the identification of Bartholomew with Nathanael and its reasons (read 2026-10-25).
- Eusebius, Church History, book 3, chapters 24-25, New Advent: the tradition on what Matthew and John wrote (read 2026-10-25).
Read the lists in Matthew, Mark, Luke and Acts. Word counts: Peter, apostle, disciple, Judas, Thomas and twelve. What the twelve saw and heard is on the miracles of Jesus and the parables of Jesus; the titles they used for him are on the names of Jesus. The books they and Paul wrote are on the New Testament books in order. More counts are on the Bible by the numbers.
Counted by Bible Says About from the full public-domain text of the King James Version (1769 edition) and the World English Bible. Verse text only: headings and psalm titles are left out. A word is a run of letters: a hyphenated name like Beer-sheba counts as two, and an apostrophe stays inside its word (LORD'S is one). Matching ignores capital letters. Data compiled 2026-10-25.