zebedee Summary and Overview

a Galilean fisherman, the husband of Salome (q.v.), and the father of James and John, two of our Lord's disciples (Matt. 4:21; 27:56; Mark 15:40). He seems to have been a man of some position in Capernaum, for he had two boats (Luke 5:4) and "hired servants" (Mark 1:20) of his own. No mention is made of him after the call of his two sons by Jesus.

(my gift) (Greek form of Zabdi) a fisherman of Galilee, the father of the apostles James the Great and John #Mt 4:21| and the husband of Salome. #Mt 27:56; Mr 15:40| He probably lived either at Bethsaida or in its immediate neighborhood. It has been inferred from the mention of his "hired servants," #Mr 1:20| and from the acquaintance between the apostle John and Annas the high priest, #Joh 18:15| that the family of Zebedee were in easy circumstances. comp. #Joh 19:27| although not above manual labor. #Mt 4:21| He appears only twice in the Gospel narrative, namely, in #Mt 4:21,22; Mr 1:19,20| where he is seen in his boat with his two sons mending their nets.

ZEB'EDEE (Jehovah's gift), the husband of Salome, Matt 27:56; Mark 15:40, and father of the apostles James the Great and John, Matt 4:21; lived as a fisherman in or near Bethsaida. When his two sons left him to follow Jesus, he made no objections. Matt 4:21-22; Mark 1:19-20, and his wife was one of the women who were in constant attendance on our Saviour, but he himself is not mentioned as being among the disciples, although doubtless friendly to Christ.

A fisherman of Galilee; father of James and John. In easy circumstances, for he owned a boat and hired servants (Matthew 4:21; Mark 1:20). Salome his wife ministered to Jesus (Matthew 27:55-56; Mark 15:40-41). His disinterestedness and favorable disposition towards Christ appear in his allowing without objection his sons to leave him at Christ's call; Zebedee ("gift of Jehovah") is equivalent in meaning to John (gift or favor of Jehovah); the father naturally giving his son a name similar in meaning to his own. John's acquaintance with Annas the high priest implies the good social position of the family. In Matthew 4:21, at the call of James and John, Zebedee was alive; at Matthew 20:20 the peculiar phrase "the mother of Zebedee's children" implies Zebedee was no longer alive, for otherwise she would be called the wife of Zebedee or the mother of James and John. In Matthew 8:21 the disciple's request, "Lord, suffer me first to go (home) and (wait until the death of, and) bury my father," may possibly refer to Zebedee; for the name "disciple" was given to but few, and a boat contained all the disciples Matthew 9:37; Matthew 8:23). If so, it will be an undesigned coincidence marking genuineness (Blunt, Undesigned Coincidences, Part 4).