WHATEVER may have been the peculiar excellences of this apostle’s
character, as recognized by the searching eye of Him who knew the
hearts of all men, the early close of his high career has prevented
the full development of energies, that might, in the course of a
longer life, have been made as fruitful in works of wonder and praise,
as those of the other members of the elect TRIO, his friend and his
younger brother; and his later years, thus prolonged, might have left
similar recorded testimonies of his apostolic zeal. Much too, that
truly concerns his brief life, is swallowed up in the long narrative
of the eminent chief of the twelve, whose superiority was on all
occasions so distinctly marked by Jesus, that he never imparted to
this apostle any exalted favor in which Peter did not also share,
and in the record of which his name is not mentioned first. In the
first call,――in the raising of the daughter of Jairus to life,――at the
transfiguration,――and on the apostolic roll,――James is uniformly placed
after Peter; and such too, was the superior activity and talkative
disposition of Peter, that whenever and wherever there was anything
to be said, he was always the first to say it,――cutting off the sons
of Zebedee from the opportunity, if they had the disposition, to make
themselves more prominent. Yet the sons of Zebedee are not entirely
unnoticed in the apostolic history, and even the early-martyred James
may be said to have a character quite decidedly marked, in those
few passages in the sacred record, where facts concerning him are
commemorated. In the apostolic list given by Mark, it is moreover
mentioned, that he with his brother had received a name from Jesus
Christ, which being given to them by him, doubtless with a decided
reference to their characters, serves as a valuable means of
ascertaining their leading traits. The name of “BOANERGES,”――“sons
of thunder,” seems to imply a degree of decided boldness, and a fiery
energy, not exactly accordant with the usual opinions of the characters
of the sons of Zebedee; but it is an expression in the most perfect
harmony with the few details of the conduct of both, which are given
in the New Testament.
BOANERGES.――This word is one, whose composition and derivation,
(as is the case with many other New Testament proper names,)
have caused great discussion and difference of opinion among
the learned. It occurs only in Mark iii. 17, where it is
incidentally mentioned in the list of the apostles, as a new
name given to the sons of Zebedee by Jesus. Those who are
curious, can find all the discussion in any critical commentator
on the passage. Poole’s Synopsis, in one heavy folio column
and half of another, gives a complete view of all the facts and
speculations concerning this matter, up to his time; the amount
of all which, seems to be, that, as the word now stands, it
very nearly sets all etymologies at defiance,――whether Hebrew,
Syriac, Chaldee or Arabic,――since it is impossible to say how
the word should be resolved into two parts, one of which should
mean “sons,” and the other “thunder;” so that it is well for
us we have Mark’s explanation of the name, since without it,
the critics would probably have never found either “son” or
“thunder” in the word. As to the _reason_ of the name’s being
appropriated to James and John, conjectures equally numerous
and various may be found in the same learned work; but all
equally unsatisfactory. Lampe also is very full on this point.
(Prolegomena to a Johannine Theology cap. I. lib. ii. §§ 9‒15.