John
Also called Boanerges
John the Apostle
Mentioned AD 26–96 traditional (Jones)
THE APOSTLE, brother of James the “Greater” (Matt. 4:21; 10:2; Mark 1:19; 3:17; 10:35). He was one, probably the younger, of the sons of Zebedee (Matt. 4:21) and Salome (Matt. 27:56; comp.
From Easton’s Bible Dictionary (1897).
- Mentioned in the era of the New Testament, 4 BC to AD 100.
- Named in the same verses as Simon, James, Zebedee, Andrew, Bartholomew, Philip, Alphaeus, and Barnabas.
Computed from the data. Years are traditional (Jones).
Family
Two generations up and the children. Gold lines join partners; grey lines run from parent to child; a dotted line marks a parent named in the text but not by descent.
The tree is wider than the screen; scroll it sideways.
Stories
8 events in which John takes part, in order of the traditional chronology. Years are traditional (Jones).
- AD 27First Disciples GatheredJohn 1:35-51
- AD 28Apostles ChosenMatt 10:2-4; Mark 3:13-18; Luke 6:12-16
- AD 29The TransfiguationMatt 17:1-13; Mark 9:2-13; Luke 9:28-36
- AD 30Olivet DiscourseMatt 24:1–25:46; Mark 13:1-37; Luke 21:5-36
- AD 30Matthias replaces JudasActs 1:12-26
- AD 30Lame man healedActs 3:1-10
- AD 30Peter and John's TrialActs 4:1-22
- AD 31Philip preaches in SamariaActs 8:4-25
Places
Places named in the same verses as John, with the number of verses they share; a larger marker means more. Locations follow OpenBible.info, which grades each identification. A dashed ring on the map marks a region, river, or mountain rather than a town.
- likely location: Jerusalem2
- location not graded: Asia1
- likely location: Mount of Olives1
- likely location: Patmos1
- likely location: Samaria1
- location not graded: Solomon's Portico1
Timeline
The strip runs from Creation to AD 100; the shaded part, AD 1–100, is drawn below at a larger scale around these mentions. Years are traditional (Jones), shown as recorded, not as settled fact.
Mentions
Begat counts John in 35 tagged verses across 6 books.
Select a book to read its verses.
The name in each translation
| Text | Occurrences of each name |
|---|---|
| BSB | John 160Boanerges 1 |
| KJV | John 133Boanerges 1 |
| ASV | John 135Boanerges 1 |
Whole-word, case-sensitive count of the name string (regex \bName\b, so possessives like "Abraham's" count) across the whole Bible text of each translation; this counts the string, not the person, so other people who share the name are included and pronoun references are not. How Begat counts
Every verse
All 35 tagged verses, by book, in canonical order. The Berean Standard Bible is shown; switch to the King James or American Standard Version.
Matthew3 verses
- 4:21
Going on from there, He saw two other brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John. They were in a boat with their father Zebedee, mending their nets. Jesus called them,
- 10:2
These are the names of the twelve apostles: first Simon, called Peter, and his brother Andrew; James son of Zebedee, and his brother John;
- 17:1
After six days Jesus took with Him Peter, James, and John the brother of James, and led them up a high mountain by themselves.
Mark10 verses
- 1:19
Going on a little farther, He saw James son of Zebedee and his brother John. They were in a boat, mending their nets.
- 1:29
As soon as Jesus and His companions had left the synagogue, they went with James and John to the home of Simon and Andrew.
- 3:17
James son of Zebedee and his brother John (whom He named Boanerges, meaning “Sons of Thunder”),
- 5:37
And He did not allow anyone to accompany Him except Peter, James, and John the brother of James.
- 9:2
After six days Jesus took with Him Peter, James, and John, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. There He was transfigured before them.
- 9:38
John said to Him, “Teacher, we saw someone else driving out demons in Your name, and we tried to stop him, because he does not accompany us.”
- 10:35
Then James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to Jesus and declared, “Teacher, we want You to do for us whatever we ask.”
- 10:41
When the ten heard about this, they became indignant with James and John.
- 13:3
While Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives opposite the temple, Peter, James, John, and Andrew asked Him privately,
- 14:33
He took with Him Peter, James, and John, and began to be deeply troubled and distressed.
Luke7 verses
- 5:10
and so were his partners James and John, the sons of Zebedee. “Do not be afraid,” Jesus said to Simon. “From now on you will catch men.”
- 6:14
Simon, whom He named Peter, and his brother Andrew; James and John; Philip and Bartholomew;
- 8:51
When He entered the house, He did not allow anyone to go in with Him except Peter, John, James, and the child’s father and mother.
- 9:28
About eight days after Jesus had said these things, He took with Him Peter, John, and James, and went up on a mountain to pray.
- 9:49
“Master,” said John, “we saw someone driving out demons in Your name, and we tried to stop him, because he does not accompany us.”
- 9:54
When the disciples James and John saw this, they asked, “Lord, do You want us to call down fire from heaven to consume them?”
- 22:8
Jesus sent Peter and John, saying, “Go and make preparations for us to eat the Passover.”
Acts9 verses
- 1:13
When they arrived, they went to the upper room where they were staying: Peter and John, James and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James son of Alphaeus, Simon the Zealot, and Judas son of James.
- 3:1
One afternoon Peter and John were going up to the temple at the hour of prayer, the ninth hour.
- 3:3
When he saw Peter and John about to enter, he asked them for money.
- 3:4
Peter looked directly at him, as did John. “Look at us!” said Peter.
- 3:11
While the man clung to Peter and John, all the people were astonished and ran to them in the walkway called Solomon’s Colonnade.
- 4:13
When they saw the boldness of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they marveled and took note that these men had been with Jesus.
- 4:19
But Peter and John replied, “Judge for yourselves whether it is right in God’s sight to listen to you rather than God.
- 8:14
When the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent Peter and John to them.
- 12:2
He had James, the brother of John, put to death with the sword.
Galatians1 verse
- 2:9
And recognizing the grace that I had been given, James, Cephas, and John—those reputed to be pillars—gave me and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship, so that we should go to the Gentiles, and they to the circumcised.
Revelation5 verses
- 1:1
This is the revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show His servants what must soon come to pass. He made it known by sending His angel to His servant John,
- 1:4
John, To the seven churches in the province of Asia: Grace and peace to you from Him who is and was and is to come, and from the seven spirits before His throne,
- 1:9
I, John, your brother and partner in the tribulation and kingdom and perseverance that are in Jesus, was on the island of Patmos because of the word of God and my testimony about Jesus.
- 21:2
I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
- 22:8
And I, John, am the one who heard and saw these things. And when I had heard and seen them, I fell down to worship at the feet of the angel who had shown me these things.
Easton’s Bible Dictionary
The full entry, public domain, as printed in 1897.
THE APOSTLE, brother of James the “Greater” (Matt. 4:21; 10:2; Mark 1:19; 3:17; 10:35). He was one, probably the younger, of the sons of Zebedee (Matt. 4:21) and Salome (Matt. 27:56; comp. Mark 15:40), and was born at Bethsaida. His father was apparently a man of some wealth (comp. Mark 1:20; Luke 5:3; John 19:27). He was doubtless trained in all that constituted the ordinary education of Jewish youth. When he grew up he followed the occupation of a fisherman on the Lake of Galilee. When John the Baptist began his ministry in the wilderness of Judea, John, with many others, gathered round him, and was deeply influenced by his teaching. There he heard the announcement, “Behold the Lamb of God,” and forthwith, on the invitation of Jesus, became a disciple and ranked among his followers (John 1:36, 37) for a time. He and his brother then returned to their former avocation, for how long is uncertain. Jesus again called them (Matt. 4: 21; Luke 5:1-11), and now they left all and permanently attached themselves to the company of his disciples. He became one of the innermost circle (Mark 5:37; Matt. 17:1; 26:37; Mark 13:3). He was the disciple whom Jesus loved. In zeal and intensity of character he was a “Boanerges” (Mark 3:17). This spirit once and again broke out (Matt. 20:20-24; Mark 10:35-41; Luke 9:49, 54). At the betrayal he and Peter follow Christ afar off, while the others betake themselves to hasty flight (John 18:15). At the trial he follows Christ into the council chamber, and thence to the praetorium (18:16, 19, 28) and to the place of crucifixion (19:26, 27). To him and Peter, Mary first conveys tidings of the resurrection (20:2), and they are the first to go and see what her strange words mean. After the resurrection he and Peter again return to the Sea of Galilee, where the Lord reveals himself to them (21:1, 7). We find Peter and John frequently after this together (Acts 3:1; 4:13). John remained apparently in Jerusalem as the leader of the church there (Acts 15:6; Gal. 2:9). His subsequent history is unrecorded. He was not there, however, at the time of Paul’s last visit (Acts 21:15-40). He appears to have retired to Ephesus, but at what time is unknown. The seven churches of Asia were the objects of his special care (Rev. 1:11). He suffered under persecution, and was banished to Patmos (1:9); whence he again returned to Ephesus, where he died, probably about A.D. 98, having outlived all or nearly all the friends and companions even of his maturer years. There are many interesting traditions regarding John during his residence at Ephesus, but these cannot claim the character of historical truth.