Were Jesus' disciples of mixed races?

Answer 1

ANSWER

(1)

All of the 12 disciples of Jesus were Jews.

Mat 10:1 [KJ] And when he had called unto him his twelve disciples,.....

Mat 10:2 Now the names of the twelve apostles are these; The first, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother; James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother;

Mat 10:3 Philip, and Bartholomew; Thomas, and Matthew the publican; James the son of Alphaeus, and Lebbaeus, whose surname was Thaddaeus; Simon the Canaanite,

Mat 10:4, and Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed him.

At first it might appear that Simon the Canaanite [as in KJ, MKJ, MSG, NET, WEB] was not a Jew, but he was also called Simon the Zealot [BBE, ], Simon the Eager One [CEV], and Simon the Patriot[GNB],

Easton's 'Illustrated Bible Dictionary':-

Simon

One of the twelve apostles, called the Canaanite. This word "Canaanite" does not mean a native of Canaan, but is derived from the Syriac word Kanean or Kaneniah, which was the name of a Jewish sect.

The 12 Disciples are sometimes called the 12 Apostles ['one sent forth'] because they were personally selected by Jesus Christ and sent out'. This means there can be no Apostles today - only disciples.

(2)

A 'disciple' is a learner, a follower of Jesus.

From Albert Barne's 'Notes on The Bible':-

Mat 8:21 -

And another of his disciples ... - The word "disciple" properly signifies "learner," and was given to the followers of Jesus because they received him as their teacher. It does not of necessity mean that a "disciple" was a pious man, but only one of the multitude, who, for various causes, might attend on his instructions.

From 'Nave':-

Disciple

A name given to the followers of any teacher.

(3)

There were other disciples as well as the 12 disciples/apostles

Mat 8:21 And another of his disciples said unto him, Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my father.

It would be safe to say that before His crucifixion all disciples were Jews.

(4)

After His resurrection there were disciples in every nation known at that time. Some were of different races

Act 2:1 When the day of Pentecost came, all the believers were gathered together in one place.

Act 2:5 There were Jews living in Jerusalem, religious people who had come from every country in the world.

Act 2:6 When they heard this noise, a large crowd gathered. They were all excited, because all of them heard the believers talking in their own languages.

Act 2:8 How is it, then, that all of us hear them speaking in our own native languages?

Act 2:9 We are from Parthia, Media, and Elam; from Mesopotamia, Judea, and Cappadocia; from Pontus and Asia,

Act 2:10 from Phrygia and Pamphylia, from Egypt and the regions of Libya near Cyrene. Some of us are from Rome,

Act 2:11 both Jews and Gentiles converted to Judaism, and some of us are from Crete and Arabia---....

(5)

Today there are disciples in almost every nation on the face of the earth.

This means that, although the original 12 disciples were all jews and not of mixed races, today there are disciples of all races including mixed races.