Who was Zebedee in the Bible?

Father of James and John, two of the apostles of the Lord, but only mentioned as such. Zebedee was probably the husband of Salome (comp. Matt. 27:56 with Mark 15:40.) Matt. 4:21; Matt. 10:2; Mark 1:19-20; Luke 5:10; John 21:2; etc.

Zebedee. — Of Zebedee we learn, it is true, but little. Yet that little is to his credit. He followed the industrial occupation of a fisherman on the lake of Galilee, and lived very likely at Capernaum, in which city Peter, originally a native of Bethsaida (John 1:44), had come to reside (Mark 1:21, 29). A man of some means, seeing that he had hired servants working under him (Mark 1:20), he nevertheless took part personally in the labour of fishing. And when the Lord, as He walked on the shore of the lake, uttered the irresistible words, which made his two sons throw up their secular calling, Zebedee was in the boat with them, all busily engaged in mending their nets. Few and simple, surely, were the words of Christ, and without any promise of temporal reward connected with them. Yet they were inducement enough. For straightway James and John left their father, the hired servants, the boat, and their nets, and followed the Lord. Apparently Zebedee was quite satisfied at their immediate compliance with the call of Christ. We read of no word of complaint or of expostulation. He continued his occupation, not called to forsake it as they were, whilst his two sons commenced that career, which will lead them to sit on thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. Thus far have we any record about Zebedee. A quiet and an industrious man we must believe him to have been, but who not unlikely had departed this life before Salome stood by her sorrowing sister at the foot of the cross.

Salome. — Of her we must now speak. Comparing Mark 15:40 with John 19:25, we conclude that she was the virgin's sister. Her two sons, therefore, were first cousins to the Lord. As the wife of Zebedee, she had temporal resources at her command, beyond doubtless those possessed by her sister the virgin Mary. For we find her forming one of that female band, which ministered to the Lord when He was in Galilee (Mark 15:41). The first occasion, however, on which she is personally mentioned, and then as the mother of Zebedee's children, was, when she approached Christ with her two sons in the presence of the other Apostles, and asked for James and John places of special honour by His side in His kingdom. From Matthew's Gospel (20:20-21), it appears that she was the speaker on that occasion, though the Lord addressed His answer directly to her sons. Graciously asking her what she desired, as she approached and made obeisance to Him, full liberty she obtained to prefer her request. Remembering her relationship to the Lord's mother, and that she was, as such, the Lord's aunt, her request, viewed in the light of nature, was not so extraordinary as it might otherwise have seemed; and it explains to us, how she could have been the speaker on that occasion. Lacking in spiritual perception she surely was to have asked it; but a mother's desire for her children prompted it, and her relation to the Lord after the order of nature might have encouraged her to prefer it.

"Jesus, walking by the sea of Galilee, saw two brethren, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea: for they were fishers. And He saith unto them, Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men. And they straightway left their nets, and followed Him. And going on from thence, He saw two other brethren, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in a ship with Zebedee their father, mending their nets; and He called them. And they immediately left the ship and their father, and followed Him." (Matt. 4:18-22). This is our introduction in the New Testament to Zebedee and his children. From Luke 5 we learn that Simon and Andrew were their partners in the fishing business, and from Mark 1 we learn that Zebedee not only had his two sons helping him, but "hired servants" also.

We know more of John than we know of any other author of the Gospels. He was one of the two sons of Zebedee. Zebedee was probably a prosperous fishermen on the shore of lake Galilee and he employed hired servants (Mark 1:19-20). John and James' mother was Salome (Math. 27:55-56; Mark 15:40). She bade the Lord Jesus to have her two sons sit on His right and His left hand in his kingdom (Math. 20:20).

John's calling to be a disciple of the Lord is described in the synoptic Gospels (Math. 4:21-22; Mark 1:19-20; Luke 5:10-11). John and his brother James were full of zeal for the Lord Jesus. This is probably why he named them Boanerges (the sons of thunder, Mark 3:17). Luke reports two occurrences where John shows great zeal (Luke 9:49.54).

The father of one of the apostles named James. Matt. 10:3; Mark 3:18; Luke 6:15; Acts 1:13.

John was the son of Zebedee and Salome, and the younger brother of James. Though his father was a fisherman, it appears from the Gospel narrative that they were in good circumstances. Some of the ancients speak of the family as wealthy, and even as nobly connected. But these traditions are not reconcilable with the facts of scripture. We read however, of their "hired servants," and they may have owned more vessels than one. And Salome we doubt not was one of those honoured women who ministered to the Lord of her substance. And John had a house of his own (Luke 8:3; John 19:27) We may safely infer from these facts; that their position was considerably above poverty. As many have gone to extremes in speaking of the apostles as poor and illiterate, we think it well to notice the few hints of scripture on these subjects.

Of the character of Zebedee we know nothing. He made no objection to his sons leaving him at the call of the Messiah. But we hear no more of him afterwards. We frequently find the mother in company with her sons, but no mention of the father. The probability is that he died soon after the call of his sons.

John's parents, then, are by no means unknown to us. We can fancy Zebedee in his boat, engaged in his secular calling. We can picture, too, Salome hastening in the early morning to the tomb, and therefrom hurrying away with her companions to give to the weeping disciples (Mark 16:10) the message from their risen Lord. Zebedee's willingness to forego the accustomed help of his two sons at the call of Christ, and Salome's readiness to minister to Him who had not where to lay His head, speak to us of those who gave to Christ, the one what was asked, the other what she could.

This John was, it would seem, the younger of the two sons of Zebedee and Salome (cf. Matt. 27:56 with Mark 15:40). The Gospels "according to" Matthew and Mark both always name James first; and so Luke generally, but twice the third Evangelist writes "John and James" (Luke 8:51, Luke 9:28).

The Synoptic Gospels would lead us to suppose that theirs was a Galilean family, and probably of Bethsaida (Cf. John 1:45 with Luke 5:9), in easy circumstances (Mark 1:20). Until the brothers became permanently attached to JESUS they followed the calling of fishermen (see, further, notes on John 1:35 and John 18:15).

John's family had a successful fishing business. The reason I say this is that when the Lord called James and John they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired servants (Mark 1:20), and the business evidently went on under Zebedee's leadership. Scripture definitely mentions James and John as business partners with Peter and Andrew (Luke 5) and in John 18 it mentions that he was known to the high priest.

The native place of our apostle was Bethsaida, on the sea of Galilee (John 1:44). He and his brother were in partnership with Zebedee and his sons in what seems to have been a large fishing business. At any rate, they had "hired servants" (Mark 1:20). This being so, we must not understand Acts 4:13 to mean that these men were altogether uneducated. "Unlearned and ignorant" would simply mean that they had had no such professional training as their ecclesiastical antagonists.