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Bible Dictionaries
Thaddaeus
Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible
or THADDÆUS . This is the name of one of the Twelve Apostles as given in Matthew 10:3 , Mark 3:18 . He is doubtless to be identified with the ‘ Judas [son] of James,’ who appears in the Lukan lists ( Luke 6:18 , Acts 1:13; so RV [Note: Revised Version.] , but AV [Note: Authorized Version.] renders ‘ brother of James’), and with the ‘Judas, not Iscariot,’ of John 14:22 , though some Syrian writers have made this last Judas to be the same as the Apostle Thomas (syr sin reads here ‘Thomas,’ syr cur reads ‘Judas Thomas’), Thomas being confessedly only a surname, ‘the Twin.’
In all four lists Thaddæus (or Judas) comes next to Simon the Cananæan or Zealot, and may not improbably have been his brother or intimate friend (cf. the variant ‘Judas Zelotes’ in Matthew 10:3 , noted below). It is the opinion of almost all modern scholars that neither is to be identified with any of the Brethren of our Lord, though Dom Chapman has lately published an elaborate argument to the contrary ( JThSt [Note: ThSt Journal of Theological Studies.] vii. 412).
Instead of, or in addition to, ‘Thaddæus,’ we find the variant Lebbæus . In Mark 3:13 , Codex Bezae (D [Note: Deuteronomist.] ) and some Old Latin MSS have ‘Lebbæus’; but all the best authorities, including syr sin (Syr cur is wanting here), have ‘Thaddæus,’ and this is doubtless right. In Matthew 10:3 the oldest Greek MSS ( × B), the Vulgate, the Coptic, and some Old Latin MSS have ‘Thaddæus,’ while D [Note: Deuteronomist.] , supported by the valuable Old Latin k and some other MSS, has ‘Lebbæus.’ Some other Old Latin MSS have ‘Judas Zelotes,’ and syr sin has ‘Judas son ( sic ) of James’ (syr cur is wanting here). Some inferior MSS and several Versions combine ‘Lebbæus’ and ‘Thaddæus,’ as AV [Note: Authorized Version.] (‘L. whose surname was Th.’); but this is clearly a later explanation, and must be rejected. We see, then, that in Mt. ‘Thaddæus’ has the best attestation, and this alone is read in RV [Note: Revised Version.] , from which ‘Lebbæus’ has completely disappeared. But how could ‘Lebbæus’ have been invented? It has been suggested ( a ) that some early scribe, taking ‘Thaddæus’ and ‘Lebbæus’ to be names of kindred meaning, the former from an Aramaic word denoting ‘breast,’ the latter from another denoting ‘heart,’ confused the two; or ( b ), with greater probability, that ‘Lebbæus’ is a form of ‘Levi,’ introduced by some scribe who did not know that Levi and Matthew were the same person. It does not affect these explanations if, with Dalman, we hold that these derivations are in fact wrong, for the scribes were not necessarily qualified to be good philologers.
After NT times Thaddeus (Syr. Taddai ) was of ten confused with Addai, who was said to be one of the Seventy disciples, and who, being seat to Edessa, healed Abgarus (see Smith-Wace, Dict. Chr. Biog. iv. 875). In a list of Apostles given in Lagarde’s Appendix to the Apostolic Constitutions (p. 283), Thaddæus, ‘who is Lebbæus and Judas,’ is distinguished from ‘Judas of James,’ and is said to have preached at Edessa, to have been buried in Egypt, and to have been crucified.
A. J. Maclean.
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Hastings, James. Entry for 'Thaddaeus'. Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible. https://www.studylight.org/dictionaries/eng/hdb/t/thaddaeus.html. 1909.
