Father of James and John, two disciples of Jesus
Zebedee ( ; ; ), according to all four Canonical Gospels, was the father of James and John, two apostles of Jesus. The gospels also suggest that he was the husband of Salome; whereas Mark names the women present at the crucifixion as "Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James and of Joses, and Salome," the parallel passage in has "Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James and Joses, and the mother of Zebedee's children." The "Catholic Encyclopedia" concludes that the Salome of Mark 15:40 is probably identical with the mother of the sons of Zebedee in Matthew.
Zebedee was presumably a fisherman, "probably of some means." Although named several times in the gospels, the only times he actually appears are in - and , where he is left in the boat after Jesus called James and John. Mark's note that Zebedee was left with the "hired men" implies the family had some wealth. Zebedee lived at or near Bethsaida.
Etymology.
The name given in the Gospels, , is probably a transliteration of the Hebrew name "Zəḇaḏyâ" according to Spiros Zodhiates ("The Complete Wordstudy Dictionary"), or the truncated version "Zabdî" (), says "BDB Theological Dictionary", and so means "Yahweh ("or" the Lord) has bestowed". Other popular interpretations of the name are: "abundant" ("Hitchcock's Bible Names Dictionary") or "my gift" ("Smith's Bible Dictionary"). A possibly more sinister interpretation of Zebedee may be derived from Strong’s Hebrew Lexicon #2061 z'êb, pronounced "zeh-abe"', meaning "wolf", and #1768 dîy, pronounced "dee" and meaning "that", rendering "That (or The) Wolf", possibly suggesting "Wolf-Leader".
Veneration.
Zebedaeus is venerated in the Roman Catholic Church as a saint. His feast day is 15 March.
References.
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