Brothers divided: Levi and James of Alphaeus

Discussion about the New Testament, apocrypha, gnostics, church fathers, Christian origins, historical Jesus or otherwise, etc.
Kunigunde Kreuzerin
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Brothers divided: Levi and James of Alphaeus

Post by Kunigunde Kreuzerin »

.
Some forum threads have already been dedicated to Levi of Alphaeus and James of Alphaeus. The most ambitious members were Ben and Greg, both of whom seek a solution in assumed sources of GMark and pre-Markan traditions.
Ben C. Smith wrote: Mon Jan 15, 2018 10:56 pm For those of us who think that there are probably lost texts and traditions behind all of our extant gospel materials, trying to figure out what those lost texts and traditions might have looked like can prove an irresistable temptation. By definition, we do not possess the purported lost materials, and it is not impossible that we are mistaken about their very existence, so by necessity we are relying mainly upon internal evidence rather than external. That is just the nature of the sport. It is a matter of coming up with informed and cohesive conjectures.

My current playing field involves the gospel characters known as Levi ...
In contrast, this thread presupposes

- absolute Markan priority
- that the pericopes of GMark are related in terms of content
- that GMark is dependent on Paul's letters
- that "Levi" is original in Mark 2:14
- that Levi of Alphaeus and James of Alphaeus should be interpreted as brothers by the reader

to answer the question of what "Markan" reason Levi is not called among the Twelve, but James is.

To set the stage, I will begin with a little observation:

In GMark there are a number of persons who are described with an inflected homonym. In Greek, these designations are formed by the first name, article and additionally the inflected father's name or son's name, e.g.:

Ἰάκωβον τὸν τοῦ Ζεβεδαίου Μαρία ἡ Ἰακώβου
literally: James the (one) (of) the Zebedee literally: Mary the (of) James

It is exclusively about the following people.

Mark 1:19, 3:17, (10:35) James of Zebedee and his brother John
Mark 2:14, 3:18 Levi of Alphaeus and James of Alphaeus
Mark 15:40
15:47
16:1
Mary of James the least and mother of Joses
Mary of Joses
Mary of James
(assuming that this Mary is just one person)

I would like to draw particular attention to the following point.

There are always two brothers involved and one of them is always called James and it starts and ends with James. :ugeek:

gryan
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Re: Brothers divided: Levi and James of Alphaeus

Post by gryan »

James and John Zebedee

Levi and James Alphaeus

James and Joses

Joses
James

----------

Kunigunde,

Thanks for the quotation from Ben on Levi and his quest for the original text:
viewtopic.php?t=3814

imho, "Mary the [mother] of the James" in 16:1 is the mother of James son of Alphaeus.
So, one would assume that she is mother of "Levi son of Alphesus" too.

But she is not "Mary the mother of Joses" because, in the hometown of Mary, the mother of Jesus, it is reputed that Jesus had siblings named James and Joses... and later it is clearly stated that Mary was "the mother of James the less and Joses". So, I assume the three mentions of Mary and Joses refer to the same mother and son.

I'm perplexed about what you are seeing.

Greg
Last edited by gryan on Thu Oct 06, 2022 5:58 am, edited 3 times in total.
gryan
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Re: Brothers divided: Levi and James of Alphaeus

Post by gryan »

PS. I've been thinking a lot about the disambiguation of "Mary the mother of Joses" vs "Mary the mother of James":
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1j-c ... tW52U/edit
Kunigunde Kreuzerin
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Re: Brothers divided: Levi and James of Alphaeus

Post by Kunigunde Kreuzerin »

gryan wrote: Thu Oct 06, 2022 5:40 am imho, "Mary the [mother] of the James" in 16:1 is the mother of James son of Alphaeus.
So, one would assume that she is mother of "Levi son of Alphesus" too.

But she is not "Mary the mother of Joses" because, in the hometown of Mary, the mother of Jesus, it is reputed that Jesus had siblings named James and Joses... and later it is clearly stated that Mary was "the mother of James the less and Joses". So, I assume the three mentions of Mary and Joses refer to the same mother and son.
Hi Greg, I've never thought deeply about it. But Occam's razor tells me the "Mary of James the less and mother of Joses" is just one Mary. Maybe I'll change my mind. Nevertheless, it's not that important for this thread.
gryan
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Re: Brothers divided: Levi and James of Alphaeus

Post by gryan »

Kunigunde Kreuzerin wrote: Wed Oct 05, 2022 12:22 pm
- absolute Markan priority
- that the pericopes of GMark are related in terms of content
- that GMark is dependent on Paul's letters
- that "Levi" is original in Mark 2:14
- that Levi of Alphaeus and James of Alphaeus should be interpreted as brothers by the reader

to answer the question of what "Markan" reason Levi is not called among the Twelve, but James is.
This thread is titled "Brothers divided" and it focuses on the two "sons of Alphaeus" in Mark:
Levi and James.

Levi
And as he passed by, he saw Λευεὶν τὸν τοῦ Ἀλφαίου sitting at the tax booth, and he said to him, “Follow me.” And he rose and followed him.

James
And he went up on the mountain and called to him those whom he desired, and they came to him. And he appointed twelve (whom he also named apostles) so that they might be with him and he might send them out to preach and have authority to cast out demons. He appointed the twelve:
Simon (to whom he gave the name Peter); καὶ
Ἰάκωβον τὸν τοῦ Ζεβεδαίου καὶ Ἰωάνην τὸν ἀδελφὸν τοῦ Ἰακώβου, καὶ
(to whom he gave the name Boanerges, that is, Sons of Thunder);
Andrew, and
Philip, and
Bartholomew, and
Matthew, and
Thomas, καὶ
Ἰάκωβον τὸν τοῦ Ἁλφαίου, καὶ
Thaddaeus, and
Simon the Zealot, and
Judas Iscariot,
who betrayed him.

----------

Why is Levi not called among the Twelve, but James is?

I'm still perplexed.
gryan
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Re: Brothers divided: Levi and James of Alphaeus

Post by gryan »

RE: Why is Levi not called among the Twelve, but James is?

Mk 3:13-14a
And he went up on the mountain and called to him those whom
he wanted (ἤθελεν), and they came to him. He appointed twelve of them...

Mk 6:19
So Herodias nursed a grudge against John and
she wanted (ἤθελεν) to kill him. But she was not able to...

Mk 6:48
And he saw that they were making headway painfully, for the wind was against them. And about the fourth watch of the night he came to them, walking on the sea.
He wanted (ἤθελεν) to pass by them...

Mk 7:24
And from there he arose and went away to the region of Tyre and Sidon. And he entered a house and did not want (ἤθελεν) anyone to know, yet he could not be hidden.

Mk 9:31
They went on from there and passed through Galilee. And he did not
want (ἤθελεν) anyone to know, because he was teaching his disciples. He said to them, "The Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men. They will kill him, and after three days he will rise."

--------

I'm pondering.
Last edited by gryan on Fri Oct 07, 2022 7:49 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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Re: Brothers divided: Levi and James of Alphaeus

Post by Kunigunde Kreuzerin »

.
The problem in its entirety
rgprice wrote: Tue Sep 27, 2022 3:52 amWhy would Mark write a calling of Levi son of Alphaeus, and then never mention Levi again, and also not explain that Levi is Matthew? Makes no sense. Clearly the calling of Levi son of Alphaeus was originally the calling of James son of Alphaeus. This may actually make the most sense and would explain the surname in order to distinguish between him and the other James.
imho, RG's view is not correct in the end, but it is very understandable. It is indeed a problem that Levi was not called among the Twelve. The calling of the first four and the calling of Levi of Alphaeus are so similar in GMark that it seems incomprehensible why the first two sets of brothers belonged to the Twelve and Levi did not, but his presumed brother James of Alphaeus did. A closer look also reveals that Mark deliberately shaped the two callings to be similar. He used similar words and told similar circumstances and similar ways of behavior. This similarities create an expectation that is disappointed. In the list of the twelve, Levi is desperately wanted but missing. As if mocking the attentive readers, his brother James is appointed. One would expect Levi at least alongside his brother as number 10, but that spot is taken by Thaddaeus.

The first four 14 And after the delivering up of John, Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God 15 and saying, “The time has been fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has drawn near; repent and believe in the gospel.” 16 And passing by (παράγων) besides the Sea (παρὰ τὴν θάλασσαν) of Galilee, He saw Simon and Andrew, the brother of Simon, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen. 17 And Jesus said to them, “Come after Me, and I will make you to become fishers of men.” 18 And immediately, having left the nets, they followed Him. 19 And having gone on a little, He saw James the son of Zebedee and his brother John, and they were in the boat mending the nets. 20 And immediately He called them, and having left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired servants, they went away after Him. 16 And He appointed the Twelve; and to Simon He added the name Peter; 17 and James the son of Zebedee, and John the brother of James, and He added to them the name Boanerges, which is, Sons of Thunder; 18 and Andrew,
Levi 13 And He went forth again beside the sea (παρὰ τὴν θάλασσαν), and all the crowd was coming to Him, and He taught them. 14 And passing by (παράγων), He saw Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax booth, and says to him, “Follow Me.” And having arisen, he followed Him. and Philip, and Bartholomew, and Matthew, and Thomas, and James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus, and Simon the Cananean, 19 and Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed Him.


This problem did not go unnoticed. Both Matthew and Luke, as well as some copyists of GMark and the church tradition "solved" it in their own way.

- Matthew (author) removed the name Levi and named the tax collector Matthew, who was called among the twelve
- Luke suppressed the similarity of the callings by rewriting the call of the first four and by removing Levi's father's name. Because of these changes, there is no expectation that Levi will be called among the Twelve in GLuke and no puzzling about the appointment of James.
- some "Western" copyists put James' name in Mark 2:14 (call of Levi)
- other "Western" copyists changed the name from Thadddaeus to a Latinized Levi, thus "Lebbaius" in Mark 3:18 (appointment of the Twelve)
- Church tradition mixed GMark and GMatthew, equating Levi with Matthew


All these people in ancient times understood the "Levi problem" in GMark that we are discussing too.
gryan
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Re: Brothers divided: Levi and James of Alphaeus

Post by gryan »

Kunigunde Kreuzerin wrote: Sun Oct 09, 2022 8:17 am .
The problem in its entirety
rgprice wrote: Tue Sep 27, 2022 3:52 amWhy would Mark write a calling of Levi son of Alphaeus, and then never mention Levi again, and also not explain that Levi is Matthew? Makes no sense. Clearly the calling of Levi son of Alphaeus was originally the calling of James son of Alphaeus. This may actually make the most sense and would explain the surname in order to distinguish between him and the other James.
imho, RG's view is not correct in the end, but it is very understandable. It is indeed a problem that Levi was not called among the Twelve. The calling of the first four and the calling of Levi of Alphaeus are so similar in GMark that it seems incomprehensible why the first two sets of brothers belonged to the Twelve and Levi did not, but his presumed brother James of Alphaeus did. A closer look also reveals that Mark deliberately shaped the two callings to be similar. He used similar words and told similar circumstances and similar ways of behavior. This similarities create an expectation that is disappointed. In the list of the twelve, Levi is desperately wanted but missing. As if mocking the attentive readers, his brother James is appointed. One would expect Levi at least alongside his brother as number 10, but that spot is taken by Thaddaeus.

The first four 14 And after the delivering up of John, Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God 15 and saying, “The time has been fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has drawn near; repent and believe in the gospel.” 16 And passing by (παράγων) besides the Sea (παρὰ τὴν θάλασσαν) of Galilee, He saw Simon and Andrew, the brother of Simon, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen. 17 And Jesus said to them, “Come after Me, and I will make you to become fishers of men.” 18 And immediately, having left the nets, they followed Him. 19 And having gone on a little, He saw James the son of Zebedee and his brother John, and they were in the boat mending the nets. 20 And immediately He called them, and having left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired servants, they went away after Him. 16 And He appointed the Twelve; and to Simon He added the name Peter; 17 and James the son of Zebedee, and John the brother of James, and He added to them the name Boanerges, which is, Sons of Thunder; 18 and Andrew,
Levi 13 And He went forth again beside the sea (παρὰ τὴν θάλασσαν), and all the crowd was coming to Him, and He taught them. 14 And passing by (παράγων), He saw Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax booth, and says to him, “Follow Me.” And having arisen, he followed Him. and Philip, and Bartholomew, and Matthew, and Thomas, and James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus, and Simon the Cananean, 19 and Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed Him.


This problem did not go unnoticed. Both Matthew and Luke, as well as some copyists of GMark and the church tradition "solved" it in their own way.

- Matthew (author) removed the name Levi and named the tax collector Matthew, who was called among the twelve
- Luke suppressed the similarity of the callings by rewriting the call of the first four and by removing Levi's father's name. Because of these changes, there is no expectation that Levi will be called among the Twelve in GLuke and no puzzling about the appointment of James.
- some "Western" copyists put James' name in Mark 2:14 (call of Levi)
- other "Western" copyists changed the name from Thadddaeus to a Latinized Levi, thus "Lebbaius" in Mark 3:18 (appointment of the Twelve)
- Church tradition mixed GMark and GMatthew, equating Levi with Matthew


All these people in ancient times understood the "Levi problem" in GMark that we are discussing too.
Kunigunde,

I don't at this moment find myself in disagreement with anything you have written in the post copied above, and this is a shift for me in relation to some things I've written in the past week. Thanks for your work on this topic!

RE: "Thaddaeus"

I find it interesting that, in replacing "Thaddaeus" with "Judas of James", Lk, in effect, erases the option of identifying Thaddaeus as Lebbaeus and Lebbaeus as Levi.

Lk
14Simon, whom He named Peter, and his brother Andrew,
James and John, Philip and Bartholomew,
14Σίμωνα ὃν καὶ ὠνόμασεν Πέτρον καὶ Ἀνδρέαν τὸν ἀδελφὸν αὐτοῦ
καὶ Ἰάκωβον καὶ Ἰωάννην καὶ Φίλιππον καὶ Βαρθολομαῖον
15Matthew and Thomas, James [son of] Alphaeus and Simon called [the] Zealot,
15καὶ Μαθθαῖον καὶ Θωμᾶν καὶ Ἰάκωβον Ἁλφαίου καὶ Σίμωνα τὸν καλούμενον Ζηλωτὴν
16Judas [son] of James and Judas Iscariot, who became [a] traitor.
16καὶ Ἰούδαν Ἰακώβου καὶ Ἰούδαν Ἰσκαριὼθ ὃς ἐγένετο προδότης

Mk
16... Simon Peter,
16... τῷ Σίμωνι Πέτρον
17James [son] of Zebedee and his brother John ([whom] He named Boanerges, meaning Sons of Thunder), 17καὶ Ἰάκωβον τὸν τοῦ Ζεβεδαίου καὶ Ἰωάννην τὸν ἀδελφὸν τοῦ Ἰακώβου καὶ ἐπέθηκεν αὐτοῖς ὀνόματα* Βοανηργές ὅ ἐστιν Υἱοὶ Βροντῆς
18Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas,
James [son] of Alphaeus, Thaddaeus, Simon the Zealot,
18καὶ Ἀνδρέαν καὶ Φίλιππον καὶ Βαρθολομαῖον καὶ Μαθθαῖον καὶ Θωμᾶν
καὶ Ἰάκωβον τὸν τοῦ Ἁλφαίου καὶ Θαδδαῖον καὶ Σίμωνα τὸν Καναναῖον
19and Judas Iscariot, who later betrayed Him.
19καὶ Ἰούδαν Ἰσκαριώθ ὃς καὶ παρέδωκεν αὐτόν
Kunigunde Kreuzerin
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Re: Brothers divided: Levi and James of Alphaeus

Post by Kunigunde Kreuzerin »

gryan wrote: Mon Oct 10, 2022 7:07 am I don't at this moment find myself in disagreement with anything you have written in the post copied above, and this is a shift for me in relation to some things I've written in the past week. Thanks for your work on this topic!
Hi Greg, I am very pleased. Thanks for your comment. I hope it stays that way :)

After my last post I noticed that Neil wrote a post on the same topic that turns 15 years old on friday. :cheers: All the best for this anniversary! ;)


Neil's solution deserves a full mention here.

Neil wrote
So when we come to Mark’s famous list of the names of the Twelve disciples (3:13-19) where we see Simon, Andrew, James and John the first listed, we hold breath waiting to see Levi’s name also flash up in lights. But it never comes. The closest teasing reminder of his name is a nondescript “James the son of Alphaeus”. Levi was also said to have been a son of Alphaeus. What has happened here? Was Levi a victim of cut-throat sibling rivalry for the inner job?


So where does all this leave Levi?

His calling is clearly meant to be interpreted as a calling to be one of Jesus’ “inner disciples”. The narrative has too many resonances with the calling of the leaders of the Twelve to be taken as anything else.

This is where the differences need some thought. Levi is a tax-collector. His job is to take money from his fellow Jews and give it to gentiles. He has many tax-collector friends. He also has many “sinner” friends. And they all come together to have a feast with him and Jesus.

But Jesus also came to Levi with a large crowd which included his disciples. So there were two large groups in Levi’s house: the tax-collectors and sinners and the disciples of Jesus and the multitude with them.

The scribes and Pharisees who looked in had no problem with the crowds on the side of the disciples, but they did raise censorious eyebrows over the “tax-collectors and sinners” from Levi’s side. So they asked the disciples why Jesus mixed with them. Interestingly the disciples do not reply. Presumably we are meant to imagine that they don’t understand either. Maybe they passed on the question to Jesus himself. Because it was Jesus who answered them:

When Jesus heard it, he said to them, ‘Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I did not come to call the righteous but sinners.’ (2:17)

The alert reader will notice that the scribes, Pharisees, and Jesus all addressed Levi’s followers as “the sinners”. The assumption behind the question of the scribes and Pharisees and the response from Jesus is that the disciples are not sinners, but the righteous. The same letter in which Paul accused Peter of acting the same way as “false brethren” also addresses gentiles as “sinners” in the sense of being outside the Jewish covenant (Galatians 2:15)

Those with Levi are the “unwashed”, those who are as far removed from normal Jewish religious observances as are the gentiles. The tax-collectors among them even work for the gentiles. Jesus compares his disciples, on the other hand, only a few versus later, to the followers of David. Later we learn that those same disciples, with the minds of the “righteous” Pharisees, attempted to turn away children from coming close to Jesus; and to stop a man performing exorcisms in Jesus’ name independently of their group. Levi’s house filled with tax-collectors and sinners does not sound like that sort of exclusivist place. The disciples are only there mixing with them at all because of Jesus.

Compare the first called of the Twelve, Simon Peter. The first act after his call and that of his colleagues was to enter a synagogue on the Sabbath and to effectively “cleanse” that synagogue by exorcising a demon from among the worshipers there. After that, they visited Simon’s house. Not the vast numbers of tax-collectors and sinners there, but a sick relative. Jesus healed her and she served Jesus and his close disciples.

- As soon as they left the synagogue they entered the house of Simon
- Simon’s wife’s mother lay sick
- He came and healed her
- She served them (presumably with food)

The scene subsequent to the call of Levi could not be more different.

- He entered Levi’s house
- He was dining there with his followers
- Jesus refers to the crowd as the sick
- And to himself as their physician

No synagogue, no Sabbath. Just straight to Levi’s house. Not to heal a solitary woman, but to feast with multitudes of tax-collectors and sinners. Why? Their invitation was an act of healing. Jesus, the physician, called the sick this time. That is, Levi and his many friends.

Simon Peter and the Twelve were not sick, although they did know a few who were sick, such as an in-law (not blood) relative of Simon’s. With Jesus they only reached Simon’s house after first negotiating, as “righteous” Jews, the synagogue on the Sabbath. Levi and his friends went straight from Call to House where they celebrated their newfound association with Jesus and his disciples.

I cannot prove but cannot avoid suspecting that the author of this gospel is setting up Levi as a personification of the call of the gentiles. He is the representative apostle to the gentiles. This accounts for his apposition to the call of the Jerusalem/Jewish apostles, and his absence from the list of the Twelve. It also accounts for the differences in narrative sequence (synagogue/no synagogue intervention), terminology (tax-collectors and sinners for the sick), and micro-themes (immediate large scale celebration) between his call and the call and subsequent movements of the leaders of the Twelve.


Son of Alphaeus?

There remains the curious link Mark establishes between Levi and the Twelve. Both Levi and a certain James in the list of Twelve are sons of Alphaeus. Again one cannot help but wonder (which is why this is in a blog and nowhere else) if the author is pointing to a link nonetheless. Jew and Gentile were, ideally, one in Christ. Reality may have meant something closer to a situation involving family hostilities and disputes, but the unified family idea was nonetheless the ideal and perhaps even the historical beginnings.

I find it particularly remarkable that Neil has offered an interpretation for both circumstances that require explanation.

- Why Levi is not among the Twelve.
- Why his brother James is one of them.

I agree that a good interpretation must be able to explain both points.
gryan
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Re: Brothers divided: Levi and James of Alphaeus

Post by gryan »

Kunigunde,

Glad to be on someone's good side, for the moment!

I appreciate your archival awareness and for sharing links such as this one by Neil!

Greg

--------------------------

In Mk's list of the 12,
the first four are mentioned before, and will be mentioned again later:
Simon (whom He named Peter), James son of Zebedee and his brother John (whom He named Boanerges, meaning “Sons of Thunder”), Andrew,

The next four are not mentioned before or later:
Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas,

Of the next four, none have been mentioned before:
"James son of Alphaeus, Thaddaeus, Simon the Zealot, and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed Jesus."

Judas Iscariot is mentioned again, but not Simon the Zealot and Thaddaeus.

In my reading, "James son of Alphaeus" is mentioned again in relation to his mother, "Mary mother of the James" at the empty tomb.

So among the last 8 on the list of the 12, James son of Alphaeus is unusual in two ways:

1) He is a "son of Alphaeus" and thus probably in the same family as "Levi son of Alphaeus".
2) His mother was a follower of Jesus, and perhaps she was near Jesus when he asked: “Who are My mother and My brothers?” And "looking at those seated in a circle around Him, He said, “Here are My mother and My brothers!…

I take a "James son of Alphaeus" centered view of the narrative flow because I think he was the lead apostle of "James and Cephas and John" in Galatians. I like Neil's suggestion that "tax collectors and sinners" echoes "Gentile sinners" in Galatians. I think the Levi call and dining stories provide a prelude to shining a light on James as "son of Alphaeus", and to suggest he understood that Jesus came "not for the righteous but for sinners".

So, from this point of view, it is a loss when Lk and Matt take the light off James son of Alphaeus by removing the name "son of Alphaeus" from the call story!

With Lk (rather than Matt) as my guide to the significance of Levi being called but not becoming one of the 12, Levi represents a whole host of followers who were not among the 12. No family feud is implied.
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