“Lightning Strikes Twice”

Tuesday, August 28, 2012

I am curious about Mark 3:17.  It states that when Jesus was appointing the twelve to send them out to preach, He appointed James, the son of Zebedee, and John, the brother of James (to them He gave the name Boanerges which means, "Sons of Thunder").  What does the original translation of "Sons of Thunder" mean?  Were James and John lively characters, or was there something boisterous about Zebedee?

Sincerely,
Weatherman

Dear Weatherman,

“Sons of Thunder” is a nickname Jesus gave to James and John… and a rather cool one at that!  Mk 3:17 states that Jesus ‘gave’ (literally ‘laid upon them’) the name ‘Boanerges’.  ‘Boanerges’ is an Aramaic translation for a Hebrew word which means, you guessed it, ‘sons of thunder’.  The nickname was given to them because of their character.  James and John were indeed known as lively and strong men.  Both were fishermen (Matt 4:21), which was a profession that required stout and strong men – definitely not for sissies.  These are the same two brothers that got so mad at a city that refused to accept Jesus that they wanted to send fire from heaven to destroy the city… thankfully Jesus rebuked them (Lk 9:53-55).  The Sons of Thunder were definitely known for being full of fire and zeal.

Share