Bible Encyclopedia: Thaddaeus

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International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

THADDAEUS

tha-de'-us (Thaddaios): One of the Twelve Apostles (Matthew 10:3 Mark 3:18). In Matthew 10:3 the King James Version, the reading is "Lebbaeus, whose surname was Thaddaeus." The name corresponds to Judas, the son (Revised Version), or brother (the King James Version), of James, given in the lists of Luke 6:16 Acts 1:13.

See JUDAS, NOT ISCARIOT; LEBBAEUS.

The "Gospel of the Ebionites," or "Gospel of the Twelve Apostles," of the 2nd century and mentioned by Origen, narrates that Thaddaeus was also among those who received their call to follow Jesus at the Sea of Tiberias (compare Matthew 4:18-22).

See also SIMON THE CANANAEAN.

According to the "Genealogies of the Twelve Apostles" (compare Budge, Contendings of the Apostles, II, 50), Thaddaeus was of the house of Joseph; according to the "Book of the Bee" he was of the tribe of Judah. There is abundant testimony in apocryphal literature of the missionary activity of a certain Thaddaeus in Syria, but doubt exists as to whether this was the apostle. Thus

(1) according to the "Acts of Peter" (compare Budge, II, 466;) Peter appointed Thaddaeus over the island of Syria and Edessa.

(2) The "Preaching of the blessed Judas, the brother of our Lord, who was surnamed Thaddaeus" (Budge, 357;), describes his mission in Syria and in Dacia, and indicates him as one of the Twelve.

(3) The "Acta Thaddaei" (compare Tischendorf, Acta Apostolorum Apocrypha, 1851, 261;) refers to this Thaddaeus in the text as one of the Twelve, but in the heading as one of the Seventy.

(4) The Abgar legend, dealing with a supposed correspondence between Abgar, king of Syria, and Christ, states in its Syriac form, as translated by Eusebius (Historia Ecclesiastica, I, xiii, 6-22) (compare THOMAS), that "after the ascension of Christ, Judas, who was also called Thomas, sent to Abgar the apostle Thaddaeus, one of the Seventy" (compare Hennecke, Neutestamentliche Apokryphen, 76;).

Jerome, however, identifies this same Thaddaeus with Lebbaeus and "Judas.... of James" of Luke (Luke 6:16). Hennecks (op. cit., 473, 474) surmises that in the original form of the Abgar legend Thomas was the central figure, but that through the influence of the later "Acts of Thomas", which required room to be made for Thomas' activity in India, a later Syriac recension was made, in which Thomas became merely the sender of Thaddaeus to Edessa, and that this was the form which Eusebius made use of in his translation According to Phillips (compare Phillips, The Doctrine of Addai the Apostle), who quotes Zahn in support, the confusion may be due to the substitution of the Greek name Thaddaeus for the name Addai of the Syriac manuscripts.

See APOCRYPHAL ACTS.

The general consensus seems to indicate, however, that both Thomas and Thaddaeus the apostle had some connection with Edessa. Of the various identifications of Thaddaeus with other Biblical personages which might be inferred from the foregoing, that with "Judas.... of James" is the only one that has received wide acceptance.

The burial place of Thaddaeus is variously placed at Beirut and in Egypt. A "Gospel of Thaddaeus" is mentioned in the Decree of Gelasius.

C. M. Kerr

Greek

2280. Thaddaios -- Thaddaeus.
... 2279, 2280. Thaddaios. 2280a . Thaddaeus. ... Thaddaeus. Of uncertain origin; Thaddaeus,
one of the Apostles -- Thaddaeus. (thaddaion) -- 1 Occurrence. ...
//strongsnumbers.com/greek2/2280.htm - 5k

2280a. tha -- Thaddaeus.
... 2280, 2280a. tha. 2280b . Thaddaeus. Transliteration: tha Short Definition:
Thaddaeus. Word Origin see marana. 2280, 2280a. tha. 2280b . Strong's Numbers
//strongsnumbers.com/greek2/2280a.htm - 5k

2280b. Thaddaios -- Thaddeus, one of the twelve apostles
... 2280a, 2280b. Thaddaios. 2281 . Thaddeus, one of the twelve apostles.
Transliteration: Thaddaios Short Definition: Thaddaeus. Word ...
//strongsnumbers.com/greek2/2280b.htm - 5k

3002. Lebbaios -- Lebbaeus.
... Noun, Masculine Transliteration: Lebbaios Phonetic Spelling: (leb-bah'-yos) Short
Definition: Lebbaeus Definition: Lebbaeus, a pet-name for Thaddaeus, one of ...
//strongsnumbers.com/greek2/3002.htm - 6k

Library

A Brother to all who do the Will of God
... The sons of thunder: and Andrew, and Philip, and Bartholomew, and Matthew, and Thomas,
and James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus, and Simon the Canaanite ...
/.../mark/jesus of nazareth a biography/chapter iii a brother to.htm

Vanity of Human Glory.
... Peter, he had been a married man. Besides his name of Jude or Judas, he is
also called Thaddaeus and Lebbaeus in the Gospels. Of St. ...
/.../newman/parochial and plain sermons vol viii/sermon xii vanity of human.htm

The Twelve and the Seventy.
... Matthew was also called Levi; [37:6] Nathanael was designated Bartholomew;
[36:7] and Jude had the two other names of Lebbaeus and Thaddaeus. ...
/.../christianbookshelf.org/killen/the ancient church/chapter iii the twelve and.htm

Selection of the Twelve.
... he surnamed Boanerges, which is sons of thunder; Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas
and Matthew the publican; James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus; Simon, who ...
//christianbookshelf.org/barton/his life/selection of the twelve.htm

After Prayer Jesus Selects Twelve Apostles.
... silent as to the past lives of the others, not even noting that the first four were
humble "fishermen"]; James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus; { ^c Judas ...
/.../mcgarvey/the four-fold gospel/xli after prayer jesus selects.htm

The Choice of the Twelve
... yet so easily reconciled. Matthew in one is Levi in another. Thaddaeus,
Jude, and Lebbaeus, are interchangeable. The order of the ...
/.../chadwick/the gospel of st mark/chapter 3 7-19 the choice of.htm

Preface
... Judas was there, the brother of James, called also Lebbaeus or Thaddaeus, the writer
of the last Epistle in the New Testament, and the Apostle who asked the ...
/.../ryle/the upper room being a few truths for the times/preface.htm

The Acts of the Apostles.
... three insurrections which took place shortly after the death of Herod the Great,
one under the lead of Judas (who may have been Theudas or Thaddaeus, the two ...
/.../schaff/history of the christian church volume i/section 85 the acts of.htm

The Obscure Apostles
... Bartholomew and 'Lebbaeus, whose surname was Thaddaeus,' and the rest of them, have
no place in the record, and their obscure work is faded, faithful and good ...
/.../maclaren/expositions of holy scripture b/the obscure apostles.htm

Leadership for Service
... James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother; Philip, and Bartholomew; Thomas,
and Matthew the publican; James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus; Simon the ...
/.../the social principles of jesus/chapter vii leadership for service.htm

Easton's Bible Dictionary

Breast, the name of one of the apostles (Mark 3:18), called "Lebbaeus" in Matthew 10:3, and in Luke 6:16, "Judas the brother of James;" while John (14:22), probably referring to the same person, speaks of "Judas, not Iscariot." These different names all designate the same person, viz., Jude or Judas, the author of the epistle.

Thesaurus

Thaddaeus (2 Occurrences)
... epistle. Int. Standard Bible Encyclopedia. THADDAEUS. tha-de'-us (Thaddaios):
One of the Twelve Apostles (Matthew 10:3 Mark 3:18). In ...
/t/thaddaeus.htm - 11k

Thomas (12 Occurrences)
... of Thomas with Edessa. But Eusebius indicates it was Thaddaeus and not
Thomas who preached there (see THADDAEUS). (2) Along with ...
/t/thomas.htm - 17k

Lebbaeus (1 Occurrence)
... Courageous, a surname of Judas (Jude), one of the twelve (Matthew 10:3), called
also Thaddaeus, not to be confounded with the Judas who was the brother of our ...
/l/lebbaeus.htm - 7k

Bartholomew (4 Occurrences)
... Matthew 10:3 Philip; Bartholomew; Thomas; Matthew the tax collector; James the son
of Alphaeus; Lebbaeus, whose surname was Thaddaeus; (WEB KJV WEY ASV BBE DBY ...
/b/bartholomew.htm - 10k

Cananaean (2 Occurrences)
... of the 2nd century and mentioned by Origen) Simon received his call to the apostleship
along with Andrew and Peter, the sons of Zebedee, Thaddaeus and Judas ...
/c/cananaean.htm - 10k

Alphaeus (5 Occurrences)
... Matthew 10:3 Philip; Bartholomew; Thomas; Matthew the tax collector; James the son
of Alphaeus; Lebbaeus, whose surname was Thaddaeus; (WEB KJV WEY ASV BBE DBY ...
/a/alphaeus.htm - 12k

Canaanite (74 Occurrences)
... of the 2nd century and mentioned by Origen) Simon received his call to the apostleship
along with Andrew and Peter, the sons of Zebedee, Thaddaeus and Judas ...
/c/canaanite.htm - 36k

Zealot (4 Occurrences)
... of the 2nd century and mentioned by Origen) Simon received his call to the apostleship
along with Andrew and Peter, the sons of Zebedee, Thaddaeus and Judas ...
/z/zealot.htm - 12k

Judas (42 Occurrences)
... In John 14:22 he is described as "Judas (not Iscariot)." The name corresponds with
the "Thaddaeus" or "Lebbaeus whose surname was Thaddaeus" of Matthew 10:3 ...
/j/judas.htm - 45k

Apostle (25 Occurrences)
... Paul was greater than Barnabas or Silvanus, just as Peter and John were
greater than Thaddaeus or Simon the Cananean. But Thaddaeus...
/a/apostle.htm - 87k

Bible Concordance

Thaddaeus (2 Occurrences)

Matthew 10:3 Philip; Bartholomew; Thomas; Matthew the tax collector; James the son of Alphaeus; Lebbaeus, whose surname was Thaddaeus;
(WEB KJV WEY ASV BBE DBY NAS RSV NIV)

Mark 3:18 Andrew; Philip; Bartholomew; Matthew; Thomas; James, the son of Alphaeus; Thaddaeus; Simon the Zealot;
(WEB KJV WEY ASV BBE DBY NAS RSV NIV)

Subtopics

Thaddaeus

Thaddaeus: One of the Twelve Apostles

Related Terms

Thomas (12 Occurrences)

Lebbaeus (1 Occurrence)

Bartholomew (4 Occurrences)

Cananaean (2 Occurrences)

Alphaeus (5 Occurrences)

Canaanite (74 Occurrences)

Zealot (4 Occurrences)

Judas (42 Occurrences)