Mark 3:13-19 · Bible study
Mark 3:13-19 Commentary: The Calling of the Twelve Apostles
Greek · 10 what the commentators say
Meaning in one sentence
Examine why Jesus chose these particular men as apostles, the purpose of their appointment, and the significance of the names given to them.
Research Summary
- Meaning: Jesus, after prayer, sovereignly chooses twelve men to be his constant companions, preachers, and agents of spiritual authority, symbolically constituting a new Israel.
- Key words: Appointed (epoiēsen, he made), authority (exousian), call (proskaleitai, summon to himself), names (onomata, Peter, Boanerges).
- Main debate: The timing of Peter’s naming (John 1:42 records it earlier; some see this as a formal reaffirmation) and the meaning of Boanerges (fiery temperament vs powerful preaching).
- Theological theme: Divine initiative in calling, the primacy of relationship before mission, and the foundation of apostolic authority.
- Best use: This passage grounds the church’s understanding of apostleship as entirely dependent on Jesus’ choice and driven by his purposes, useful for teaching on calling, vocation, and the cost of discipleship.
Translation Comparison
BSB Berean Standard Bible 2020
13Then Jesus went up on the mountain and called for those He wanted, and they came to Him.
14He appointed twelve of them, whom He designated as apostles, to accompany Him, to be sent out to preach,
15and to have authority to drive out demons.
16These are the twelve He appointed: Simon (whom He named Peter),
17James son of Zebedee and his brother John (whom He named Boanerges, meaning “Sons of Thunder”),
18Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James son of Alphaeus, Thaddaeus, Simon the Zealot,
19and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed Jesus.
WEB World English Bible 2000
13He went up into the mountain and called to himself those whom he wanted, and they went to him.
14He appointed twelve, that they might be with him, and that he might send them out to preach
15and to have authority to heal sicknesses and to cast out demons:
16Simon (to whom he gave the name Peter);
17James the son of Zebedee; and John, the brother of James, (whom he called Boanerges, which means, Sons of Thunder);
18Andrew; Philip; Bartholomew; Matthew; Thomas; James, the son of Alphaeus; Thaddaeus; Simon the Zealot;
19and Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed him. Then he came into a house.
KJV King James Version 1769
13And he goeth up into a mountain, and calleth unto him whom he would: and they came unto him.
14And he ordained twelve, that they should be with him, and that he might send them forth to preach,
15And to have power to heal sicknesses, and to cast out devils:
16And Simon he surnamed Peter;
17And James the son of Zebedee, and John the brother of James; and he surnamed them Boanerges, which is, The sons of thunder:
18And Andrew, and Philip, and Bartholomew, and Matthew, and Thomas, and James the son of Alpheus, and Thaddeus, and Simon the Canaanite,
19And Judas Iscariot, which also betrayed him: and they went into an house.
ASV American Standard Version 1901
13And he goeth up into the mountain, and calleth unto him whom he himself would; and they went unto him.
14And he appointed twelve, that they might be with him, and that he might send them forth to preach,
15and to have authority to cast out demons:
16and Simon he surnamed Peter;
17and James the son of Zebedee, and John the brother of James; and them he surnamed Boanerges, which is, Sons of thunder:
18and Andrew, and Philip, and Bartholomew, and Matthew, and Thomas, and James the son of Alphæus, and Thaddæus, and Simon the Cananæan,
19and Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed him. And he cometh into a house.
YLT Young's Literal Translation 1898
13And he goeth up to the mountain, and doth call near whom he willed, and they went away to him;
14and he appointed twelve, that they may be with him, and that he may send them forth to preach,
15and to have power to heal the sicknesses, and to cast out the demons.
16And he put on Simon the name Peter;
17and James of Zebedee, and John the brother of James, and he put on them names--Boanerges, that is, `Sons of thunder;'
18and Andrew, and Philip, and Bartholomew, and Matthew, and Thomas, and James of Alpheus, and Thaddeus, and Simon the Cananite,
19and Judas Iscariot, who did also deliver him up; and they come into a house.
Darby Darby Bible 1890
13And he goes up into the mountain, and calls whom he himself would, and they went to him.
14And he appointed twelve that they might be with him, and that he might send them to preach,
15and to have power [to heal diseases, and] to cast out demons.
16And he gave to Simon the surname of Peter;
17and James the [son] of Zebedee, and John the brother of James, and he gave them the surname of Boanerges, that is, Sons of thunder;
18and Andrew, and Philip, and Bartholomew, and Matthew, and Thomas, and James the [son] of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus, and Simon the Cananaean,
19and Judas Iscariote, who also delivered him up. And they come to [the] house.
Douay-Rheims Douay-Rheims Bible 1899
13And going up into a mountain, he called unto him whom he would himself: and they came to him.
14And he made that twelve should be with him, and that he might send them to preach.
15And he gave them power to heal sicknesses, and to cast out devils.
16And to Simon he gave the name Peter:
17And James the son of Zebedee, and John the brother of James; and he named them Boanerges, which is, The sons of thunder.
18And Andrew and Philip, and Bartholomew and Matthew, and Thomas and James of Alpheus, and Thaddeus and Simon the Cananean:
19And Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed him.
Verse in Context
Original Language (Koine Greek)
New Testament · Koine Greek · Mark 3:13
Source: STEPBible TAGNT/TEHB (CC-BY 4.0). Click or tap a morphology code to see the full parsing.
Scholars' Consensus
Commentators broadly agree this passage marks a decisive moment in Jesus’ ministry. After a night of prayer (Luke 6:12, as Gill and Matthew Henry note), Jesus goes up a mountain, a place of solitude, and summons those he wanted. The Greek verb proskaleitai (calls near) combined with ēthelen (he was wanting) emphasizes his sovereign initiative: he chose, not they. Barnes and Calvin stress that the word rendered “ordained” (epoiēsen, literally “he made”) does not refer to ministerial ordination but to his appointing them for three clear purposes: to be with him, to send them out to preach (kērussein), and to have authority (exousian) to cast out demons. Vincent adds that the preaching and the exorcising were kept distinct, the authority to drive out demons would confirm their message. The renaming of Simon as Peter (“rock”) and James and John as “Sons of Thunder” (Boanerges) points toward their future roles. All sources note the inclusion of Judas Iscariot, who would betray him, as a deliberate act of sovereign choice.
How settled is the interpretation?
Interpretive difficulty: Medium
Main views:
- Sovereign call view: Jesus chose according to his own will (verse 13, “whom he himself would”), reflecting his divine prerogative. Gill and Wesley emphasize this.
- Representative view: The number twelve deliberately mirrors the tribes of Israel (as Barnes suggests), marking the apostles as the foundation of a renewed covenant people.
- Paradox of Judas view: Jesus knowingly includes a traitor, raising questions about divine foreknowledge and human responsibility. This is not resolved in the text but is left as a mystery.
What is clear: After a night of prayer, Jesus deliberately chose twelve specific men to be with him, to preach, and to have authority over demons—actions that establish the pattern of apostolic ministry.
What Scholars Agree and Debate
| Topic | Agreed | Debated |
|---|---|---|
| The purpose of the appointment | Jesus appointed them to be with him, to preach, and to have authority over demons. The three purposes are sequential and interconnected. | Some traditions (e.g., Calvin) see this as a preliminary step, not yet the official apostolic commission (which occurs in Matthew 10 and Luke 9). Others view this as the ordination itself. The Greek verb <em>epoiēsen</em> (he made) is flexible enough to support either reading. |
| The meaning of Boanerges (“Sons of Thunder”) | The name refers to the character or ministry of James and John. It links to thunder as a symbol of power or zeal. | Clarke and Wesley emphasize their impetuous, zealous temperament (as in Luke 9:54). Calvin connects it to the power of their preaching, which would “thunder throughout the whole world.” Both interpretations see the name as prophetic. |
| The inclusion of Judas Iscariot | Jesus chose Judas deliberately, knowing he would betray him. This shows that God’s purposes are not derailed by human betrayal. | Some traditions highlight divine sovereignty and foreknowledge (Calvin, Gill). Others stress human responsibility: Judas freely chose to betray. Most Christian traditions hold both without fully resolving the tension. |
| The number twelve | The number echoes the twelve tribes of Israel, signifying the reconstitution of God’s people around Jesus and his apostles. | Some see a direct typological fulfillment; others view it as a symbolic gesture rather than a direct replacement theology. Both sides agree that the number is meaningful. |
Historical & Cultural Context
Jesus’ action of going up a mountain to choose the Twelve fits a pattern in his ministry. As Matthew 5:1 shows, he often withdrew to higher ground for teaching or prayer. Luke 6:12 adds that he spent the whole night in prayer before this call, a fact that reinforces how seriously he took the selection. Gill and Matthew Henry highlight this prayerful foundation.
The number twelve is not accidental. Barnes suggests it evokes the twelve tribes of Israel, signaling that Jesus was reconstituting God’s people around himself and his appointed leaders. The list itself reflects the social diversity of first-century Galilee: Matthew was a tax collector working for Rome’s client ruler; Simon the Zealot (the term Kananaios likely refers to the Zealot party, which opposed Roman occupation) had been a political revolutionary. That these two, a collaborator and a rebel, were both called underscores the radical nature of Jesus’ movement.
The nicknames also carry cultural weight. Peter’s new name, Petros (stone), marks him as foundational in the early community. James and John’s title “Sons of Thunder” has been disputed; Calvin understood it as a promise that their preaching would “thunder throughout the whole world,” while Wesley and Clarke connect it to their fiery temperament (as seen in Luke 9:54). The Gospels portray the brothers as impetuous. The name Boanerges, as Clarke notes, may be a Greek transcription of an Aramaic phrase meaning “sons of thunder.” The term Iskariōth for Judas likely means “man of Kerioth,” a village in Judah, marking him as the only Judean among Galileans. The passage ends with Jesus returning to a house in Capernaum (Clarke identifies this with Peter’s home), immediately plunging back into the crowds and conflict that surround his ministry.
Textual Notes
The consulted sources note two significant variants. First, in verse 14, some manuscripts include the phrase “whom he also named apostles” (as seen in the BSB: “whom He designated as apostles”). The Western and Byzantine text-types generally include it, while the Alexandrian tradition (Codex Sinaiticus, Vaticanus) omits it. The WEB and KJV follow the shorter reading. Second, the phrase “to heal sicknesses” in verse 15 is omitted in several important early manuscripts (including Codex Sinaiticus and Codex Vaticanus), as noted by the Cambridge Bible. The manuscript evidence is divided, and the variant does not change the meaning substantially. The name Boanerges itself has spelling variations; Clarke suggests it may derive from an Aramaic original, and the Greek form may be a transliteration of “sons of thunder.”
Reception History
This passage has been read throughout church history as the foundation of the apostolic office. The early church (Irenaeus, Tertullian) appealed to the twelve as the authoritative witnesses of Jesus’ life and resurrection. Augustine saw the twelve as representing the new Israel, replacing the twelve sons of Jacob. Calvin, in his commentary, stressed that Jesus did not yet ordain them as apostles to preach publicly but admitted them as private students to be trained gradually, a reading that highlights the importance of preparation before ministry. Wesley and Matthew Henry focused on Jesus’ prayer as the model for choosing ministers. The naming of Peter was often used to support papal claims in Roman Catholic tradition, a reading Calvin and later Protestant commentators explicitly rejected, arguing that the rock was Peter’s confession of faith, not Peter himself. The modern period has seen renewed interest in the inclusion of Judas as a theological symbol of God’s sovereignty and human freedom.
Preaching This Verse
Three-point outline
- Jesus prayed before he chose. The mountain setting and the parallel in Luke 6:12 show that the Son, who had all authority, still sought the Father’s direction in prayer. This is a model for every weighty decision.
- Jesus chose with sovereign freedom. He called “whom he himself would” (Vincent: he did not allow anyone to offer themselves). The selection was not based on human merit, fishermen, a tax collector, a Zealot, and even a man who would betray him were all included.
- Jesus gave them a clear purpose. Three verbs, “to be with him,” “to send them out to preach,” and “to have authority to cast out demons.” The first purpose is the foundation: relationship precedes mission.
Five-point outline
- Companionship: “that they might be with him.”
- Proclamation: “that he might send them out to preach.”
- Power: “to have authority to cast out demons.”
- New identity: The renaming of Peter and the Sons of Thunder shows that Jesus gives a future-oriented name that defines their calling.
- Inclusion of a traitor: Judas is chosen even though Jesus knew he would betray him, a reminder that God’s purposes work through human failure.
Illustration hooks
- Choosing a team for a crucial project, you look for people who will learn alongside you, then send them out with clear responsibilities.
- A coach selecting players not for current skill but for potential: the apostles were an unpromising group by human standards, yet Jesus saw what they could become.
- A diverse group of coworkers who disagree on politics (Matthew the tax collector and Simon the Zealot) joining together under a common leader.
Questions your congregation is asking
- Why did Jesus choose Judas if he knew he would betray him?
- Does this passage mean God chooses some people for ministry and not others? How do we know if we are called?
- What does it mean for us that “being with him” came before “being sent”? How does that apply to our daily walk?
Leading a Discussion
In this passage we see Jesus forming his inner circle. He steps away from the crowds, prays, and calls twelve ordinary men to an extraordinary task. As you read, notice how each detail, the mountain, the all-night prayer, the specific names, points to the intentionality of Jesus’ choice. This is not random; it is the beginning of a new community that will carry his message to the world.
Discussion questions
- Why did Jesus go up the mountain before choosing the Twelve? (Luke 6:12 adds that he prayed all night.) What does this teach us about decision-making?
- The Greek says he called “whom he himself would.” How does this emphasis on his sovereign choice affect your understanding of God’s call in your own life?
- What are the three purposes Jesus had for the apostles (verses 14-15)? Which one strikes you as most surprising?
- Why did Jesus rename Simon as Peter (rock) and James and John as Boanerges (sons of thunder)? What do these names reveal about their future roles?
- Why would Jesus include Judas Iscariot, knowing he would betray him? How does this challenge our ideas about success and failure in God’s plan?
- The group includes Matthew (a tax collector) and Simon the Zealot (a political revolutionary). How does their presence show the kind of community Jesus was building?
- What does it mean for you personally that the first purpose was “to be with him”? How can you prioritize being with Jesus in your own rhythm of life?
Word Study
The key original-language words in this verse. Select any word for its full lexicon entry — meaning, every occurrence in Scripture, and related words.
Cross-References
Source: Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (TSK, public domain)
| Matthew 5:1 | Seeing the multitudes, he went up onto the mountain. When he had sat down, his disciples came to him. |
| Matthew 10:1 | He called to himself his twelve disciples, and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal every disease and every sickness. |
| Matthew 10:4 | Simon the Zealot; and Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed him. |
| Mark 6:7 | He called to himself the twelve, and began to send them out two by two; and he gave them authority over the unclean spirits. |
| Luke 6:12 | In these days, he went out to the mountain to pray, and he continued all night in prayer to God. |
| Luke 6:16 | Judas the son of James; and Judas Iscariot, who also became a traitor. |
| Luke 9:1 | He called the twelve together and gave them power and authority over all demons, and to cure diseases. |
| Luke 9:6 | They departed and went throughout the villages, preaching the Good News and healing everywhere. |
Interlinear and lexical data from STEPBible (CC BY 4.0). Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY 4.0). Commentaries are public domain.
For personal reflection
Read the devotional page — prayer, application, and "for families"
What the Commentators Say
7 public-domain commentaries, condensed into plain language.
Adam Clarke's Commentary Methodist/Wesleyan 1826
Clarke insists that "ordained twelve" simply means Christ made or appointed them, with nothing like later ordination ceremonies. On Boanerges, he notes it is likely a mangled Greek transcription of a Hebrew phrase meaning "sons of thunder," probably given for their zealous preaching or the incident where they wanted to call fire from heaven.
Barnes' Notes on the Bible Protestant 1832
Barnes clarifies that the word "ordained" here simply means "appointed" and carries no modern sense of ordination. He suggests twelve were chosen as a number of credible witnesses not easily dismissed, possibly echoing the twelve tribes of Israel. For Boanerges, he favors reading it as a description of fervent eloquence rather than just a reference to calling down fire.
Calvin's Commentaries Reformed 1564
Calvin insists that this calling was not ordination to apostleship but admission as private learners, a gradual training he says commentators mistakenly confuse with Matthew 10. The name Peter signifies the measure of grace Christ intended for Simon, not a foundation for the church. The title "sons of thunder" foretold powerful preaching that would shake the world.
Geneva Bible Notes Reformed 1599
The Geneva Notes highlight Jesus' sovereign choice in calling the apostles: he called whom he wanted, and they came. Their appointment had a dual purpose: intimate companionship with him and public ministry of preaching, healing, and casting out demons. Even the naming of Peter and the sons of thunder shows Christ's authority over his disciples.
Lange's Commentary Reformed 1857
Lange sees the name Boanerges as a mark of
Matthew Henry's Commentary Reformed/Presbyterian 1710
Henry stresses that Christ, though having full authority, first went up the mountain to pray before choosing the apostles, setting a pattern for setting apart ministers. The entire choice rested on Christ's own good pleasure, not human judgment, and his call carried such power that those he summoned came immediately.
Vincent's Word Studies Evangelical 1887
Vincent stresses that Jesus "made" the apostles, giving them authority to cast out demons as a distinct power from preaching. He notes Mark's unique grouping of Peter, James, and John apart from the others, and examines the Hebrew background of the name "Boanerges," sons of thunder.