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Seventy disciples

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The Seventy of the Gospel of Luke 10:1 – 20, were followers that Jesus appointed and sent ahead of him.

They were to eat any food offered, heal the sick and spread the word; that God's reign is coming, that whoever hears them hears Jesus, whoever rejects them rejects Jesus and whoever rejects Jesus rejects the One who sent him. In addition they were granted great powers over the enemy and their names were written in heaven. The episode is termed the "Synaxis of the Seventy" in Eastern Orthodoxy, and celebrated on January 4th. This is the only mention of the group in the Bible. The number is "seventy" in reliable manuscripts in the Alexandrian and Caesarean text traditions but "seventy-two" in reliable Alexandrian and Western (Roman) texts. In editing the Vulgate, Jerome selected the reading of seventy-two.

The passage in Luke 10 reads:

1 After this the Lord appointed seventy (-two) others whom he sent ahead of him in pairs to every town and place he intended to visit.
9 Whatever town you enter and they welcome you, eat what is set before you, cure the sick in it and say to them, 'The kingdom of God is at hand for you.'
16-17 "Whoever listens to you listens to me. Whoever rejects you rejects me. And whoever rejects me rejects the one who sent me." The seventy (-two) returned rejoicing, and said, "Lord, even the demons are subject to us because of your name."
19-20 "Behold, I have given you the power to tread upon serpents and scorpions and upon the full force of the enemy and nothing will harm you. Nevertheless, do not rejoice because the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice because your names are written in heaven."

(translation in the United States Convention of Roman Catholic Bishops' New American Bible [1])


Sources and traditions

The Gospel of Luke is alone among the synoptic gospels in containing two episodes in which Jesus sends out his followers on a mission. The first occasion (Luke 9:1-6) is closely based on the mission in Mark 6:6b-13, which however recounts the sending out of the Twelve Apostles, rather than seventy, though with similar details. The parallels (also Matthew 9:35,10:1,7-11), suggest a common origin in the posited Q document.

What has been said to the seventy (two) in Luke 10:4 is referred in passing to the Twelve in Luke 22:35:

"He said to them, "When I sent you forth without a money bag or a sack or sandals, were you in need of anything?" "No, nothing," they replied.

Also related is the Great Commission.

The Orthodox Church tradition of supplying names to the Seventy or the Seventy-Two whose "names are written in heaven" is associated with a late 3rd century bishop Dorotheus of Tyre, unknown except in this context, to whom has been ascribed an account of the Seventy, of which the surviving version is 8th century. The names of these disciples are given in several lists: Chronicon Paschale, and the Pseudo-Dorotheus (printed in Migne's Patrologiae cursus completus, XCII, 521-524; 543-545; 1061-1065). The Roman Catholic church finds that "these lists are unfortunately worthless" (Catholic Encyclopedia, 1908, "Apostle"). Eusebius positively asserted that no such roll existed in his time, and mentioned among the disciples only Barnabas, Sosthenes, Cephas, Matthias, Thaddeus and James "the Lord's brother" (Historia Ecclesiae I.xii).

List of the Seventy Disciples

In the Orthodox Church, the Seventy are commemorated together, on January 4. However, their individual commemorations are scattered throughout the year as well (see Eastern Orthodox Church calendar). Many of their names are recognizable for their other achievements. The names included in various lists differ slightly. In the lists Luke is also one of these seventy himself. The following list gives a widely accepted canon.

  1. James the Just, the brother of Jesus, author of the Epistle of James, and first Bishop of Jerusalem
  2. Mark the Evangelist, author of the Gospel of Mark and Bishop of Alexandria
  3. Luke the Evangelist, author of the Gospel of Luke, and Bishop of Salonika
  4. Cleopas
  5. Symeon the son of Cleopas and 2nd Bishop of Jerusalem
  6. Barnabas, Bishop of Milan
  7. Justus, Bishop of Eleutheropolis
  8. Thaddeus
  9. Ananias, Bishop of Damascus
  10. Stephen the Archdeacon and first martyr
  11. Philip the Evangelist, of the Seven Deacons, Bishop of Tralia in Asia Minor
  12. Prochorus, of the Seven, Bishop of Nicomedia in Bithynia
  13. Nicanor the Deacon, of the Seven
  14. Timon, of the Seven
  15. Parmenas the Deacon, of the Seven
  16. Timothy, Bishop of Ephesus
  17. Titus, Bishop of Crete
  18. Philemon, Bishop of Gaza
  19. Onesimus
  20. Epaphras, Bishop of Andriaca
  21. Archippus
  22. Silas, Bishop of Corinth
  23. Silvanus
  24. Crescens
  25. Crispus, Bishop of Chalcedon in Galilee
  26. Epenetus, Bishop of Carthage
  27. Andronicus, Bishop of Pannonia
  28. Stachys, Bishop of Byzantium
  29. Amplias, Bishop of Odissa
  30. Urban, Bishop of Macedonia
  31. Narcissus, Bishop of Athens
  32. Apelles, Bishop of Heraklion
  33. Aristobulus, Bishop of Britain
  34. Herodion, Bishop of Patfas
  35. Agabus the Prophet
  36. Rufus, Bishop of Thebes
  37. Asyncritus, Bishop of Hyrcania
  38. Phlegon, Bishop of Marathon
  39. Hermes, Bishop of Philippopolis
  40. Parrobus, Bishop of Pottole
  41. Hermas, Bishop of Dalmatia
  42. Pope Linus, Bishop of Rome
  43. Gaius, Bishop of Ephesus
  44. Philologus, Bishop of Sinope
  45. Lucius of Cyrene, Bishop of Laodicea in Syria
  46. Jason, Bishop of Tarsis
  47. Sosipater, Bishop of Iconium
  48. Olympas
  49. Tertius, transcriber of the Epistle to the Romans and Bishop of Iconium
  50. Erastus, Bishop of Paneas
  51. Quartus, Bishop of Berytus
  52. Euodias, Bishop of Antioch
  53. Onesiphorus, Bishop of Cyrene
  54. Clement, Bishop of Sardice
  55. Sosthenes, Bishop of Colophon
  56. Apollos, Bishop of Caesarea
  57. Tychicus, Bishop of Colophon
  58. Epaphroditus
  59. Carpus, Bishop of Berrhoe in Thrace
  60. Quadratus
  61. John Mark,
  62. Zenas the Lawyer, Bishop of Giospolis
  63. Aristarchus, Bishop of Apamea in Syria
  64. Pudens
  65. Trophimus
  66. Mark, Bishop of Apollonia
  67. Artemas, Bishop of Lystra
  68. Aquila
  69. Fortunatus
  70. Achaicus

Also, some lists name a few different apostles than the ones listed above. Solomon, Nestorian bishop of Basra in the 13th century, in The Book of the Bee (chapter xlix) offers the following list:

"The names of the seventy. James, the son of Joseph; Simon the son of Cleopas; Cleopas his father; Joses; Simon; Judah; Barnabas; Manaeus (?); Ananias, who baptised Paul; Cephas, who preached at Antioch; Joseph the senator; Nicodemus the archon; Nathaniel the chief scribe; Justus, that is Joseph, who is called Barshabbâ; Silas; Judah; John, surnamed Mark; Mnason, who received Paul; Manaël, the foster-brother of Herod; Simon called Niger; Jason, who is (mentioned) in the Acts (of the Apostles); Rufus; Alexander; Simon the Cyrenian, their father; Lucius the Cyrenian; another Judah, who is mentioned in the Acts [of the Apostles]; Judah, who is called Simon; Eurion (Orion) the splay-footed; Thôrus (?); Thorîsus (?); Zabdon; Zakron.

Most commonly named are:

These are usually included at the expense of the aforementioned Timothy, Titus, Archippus, Crescens, Olympas, Epaphroditus, Quadratus, Aquila, Fortunatus, and/or Achaicus.

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