Those stupid disciples!

[Charles Wilson]

Leibner, quoting Elizur, Settlements..., p. 417:

"Instead of a sound of weeping
a Devine [as given in the quote] voice was heard in Malchijah
"the youngsters gained a victory in Antioch"
The four heads of the tiger ( a symbol for the Greeks)
were shattered by the youngsters of Immer
in command of the guard (god)
To announce in the streets of Jabnit [Galilean Settlement given to the Mishmarot Group Immer]
that the spear has slashed
every Greek tongue"

Uzi Leibner, Settlement and History in Hellenistic, Roman, and Byzantine Galilee: An Archaeological Survey of the Eastern Galilee, ISBN-13: 978-3161498718, p. 417:

"It appears that the list [[of Priestly Courses associated with settlement sites in Galilee]] was intended to highlight the Hasmoneans' golden age or their conquest of the Galilee. In this connection, it is worth noting that most of the piyyutim dealing with the priestly courses deal with two occasions: mourning for the Ninth of Ab: and Hanukah - the holiday of the Hasmoneans (Yahalom, 1999: 113). This can be explained simply in connection with the extensive interest in priestly and Temple themes. The Hasmoneans, a family of priests, achieved and symbolized victory and the renewal of the Temple service...

"In light of our interpretation of the list being based on a memory of settlements from the Hasmoneans period, a thematic connection is apparent here between the holiday of the Hasmoneans and the settlements established by them. The extensive interest is priestly. Temple and Hasmonean motifs among the Jews of the Galilee of Late Antiquity led to a thematic web. The web connected the priestly courses that served in the Temple during the glorious days of the Second Temple and the settlements established following the conquest by the dynasty of Hasmonean priests. These motifs reflect a period of splendor, involving military victories and national independence. Since the settlements selected to represent the courses are all in Galilee, it is clear that the thematic web is a Galilean creation. In view of the settlements selected, we can assume that the list was created in the Lower Galilee..."

The Disciples were not "Stupid" but were concerned with the Temple. They were not STUPID because the coming of the Roman New Religion was not even a consideration to them. They had no idea that such a thing could occur! The Transvalued New Religion thus had to portray them as stupid in order to explain their actions that would appear to deny the divinity of the savior/god that had been created. "They did not understand due to the hardness of their hearts and the dullness of their minds".

Well, no.

CW

[bbyrd009]

The name Zebedee in the Bible
The name Zebedee occurs in the Bible only in connection with the phrase "the sons of Zebedee," who in turn are identified as James and John, and "joint venturers" with Simon Peter (LUKE 5:10) and thus Andrew his brother. In the story, Zebedee is a fisherman who works from his boat on the Sea of Galilee, but whose two sons leave their father's enterprise and follow Jesus (MATTHEW 4:21). Their associates Simon Peter and Andrew had just done likewise (MATTHEW 4:20).

In historical reality — and read for the difference between historical and narrative reality our extensive article on Mary — Zebedee is obviously some school of thought (see Jeremiah 16:16). There were quite many of those in first century Judea and the Greek word for son, υιος (huios), primarily means "member of a group" and only secondarily denotes biological offspring. Hence the "sons of Abraham", or "sons of Rechab" or even "sons of Belial" and "sons of God" are not the physical descendants of some eponymous ancestor but rather those who do the will of him (respectively: JOHN 8:39, Jeremiah 35:6, Deuteronomy 13:13, ROMANS 8:14).

The "Sons of Light" who are spoken of in the Essene library found at Qumran also receive two congenial nods from the evangelists (LUKE 16:8, JOHN 12:36). The "sons of Zadok" (better known as the Sadducees) frequently engaged in light-saber duels with the "sons of Persia" (better known as the Pharisees), but the evangelists condemned the former and favored the latter: after all, the first evangelists came from Persia (MATTHEW 2:1) and Nicodemus, Gamaliel, Nathanael, Simon the Host (LUKE 7:36), most probably Simon of Cyrene, the apostle Paul and even the historian Josephus were or had been Pharisees(for more on Josephus, see our article on Dalmanutha). Most spectacularly, the two criminals between whom Jesus was crucified on Golgotha obviously represented these two sects, with the Sadducees forever lost and the Pharisees at long last repentant (LUKE 23:39-43).

Jesus appears to have head-hunted quite a few sects and schools; John the Baptist lost part of his disciples to Jesus (JOHN 1:37; while some stayed: MATTHEW 11:2) and apparently even the Zealots (MATTHEW 10:4) and possible even the Sicarii (Simon and Judas Iscariot).

Zebedee also had a wife who in historical reality would correspond with the informal social response to whatever Zebedee was formally up to, as well as the informal social dynamic that brought forth whatever formal specialization James and John represented. She is not explicitly mentioned by name and while some commentators equate her with Salome or Mary of Clopas, these assertions come with little certainty.

She is also never called the wife of Zebedee but always the "mother of the sons of Zebedee" and she's the one who famously asked Jesus if he could possibly arrange to be sandwiched between her sons in the Kingdom (MATTHEW 20:20-28). That caused a bit of a stir among the disciples, and Jesus' nickname of the two brothers — namely Boanerges or Sons Of Thunder — may quite possibly be partly due to their tempestuous mother. The evangelist Matthew nevertheless places her beneath the cross, together with Mary Magdalene and Mary "she of James and of Joses the mother" (MATTHEW 27:56).

The name Zebedee occurs 12 times in the New Testament; SEE FULL CONCORDANCE.

Etymology of the name Zebedee
Zebedee meaning

[John2]

Why is it a big deal that the disciples had some difficulty understanding Jesus' suffering "son of man" philosophy? Who didn't? Paul even opposed Christians to the point of using violence against them, but he eventually came around, as did (presumably) the disciples in Mark, given what Jesus says in 14:27-28:

Then Jesus said to them, “You will all fall away, for it is written: ‘I will strike the Shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered.’ But after I have risen, I will go ahead of you into Galilee.”

It doesn't matter if the women who went to Jesus' tomb didn't tell anyone he had resurrected, since Jesus already told the disciples what would happen in 14:28, and according to 1 Cor. 15:5-7 Jesus had "appeared to Cephas and then to the Twelve ... Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles."

So I think the disciples are the least "stupid" of the characters in Mark, since they followed Jesus while he was alive and Mark was presumably aware that they had eventually figured out his suffering "son of man" philosophy. Otherwise, how else did anyone (including Mark) learn about Jesus?