Apostle 1st century

Apostle Alphaeus of the Seventy

Also known as Alphaeus of Capernaum

An apostle of the Seventy from Capernaum, honored in tradition as the father of the Apostles James (son of Alphaeus) and Matthew.

Feast Day

May 26

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Commemorated as

The Holy, Glorious and All-Praised Apostle Alphaeus of the Seventy

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Missionary Work

Life

Alphaeus is numbered among the Seventy Apostles, the wider circle of disciples that Orthodox tradition distinguishes from the Twelve. According to the synaxarion he came from the Galilean city of Capernaum, and he is honored above all as the father of two figures central to the apostolic Church: the Apostle James (called the son of Alphaeus) and the Apostle and Evangelist Matthew.

The surviving accounts of Alphaeus are brief, and much of what is said of him is drawn from the New Testament references to his sons. He is commemorated on May 26, and tradition records that he reposed in peace.

Contributions & Legacy

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Scriptural References

Alphaeus is named in the New Testament chiefly through his children. He appears in the lists of the Twelve, where James is identified as the son of Alphaeus (Matthew 10:3, Mark 3:18, Luke 6:15, Acts 1:13), and in Mark 2:14, where Levi—identified in tradition with the Evangelist Matthew—is likewise called the son of Alphaeus.

These references are the basis for the Eastern tradition that James and Matthew were brothers, sons of one father. The Western tradition has sometimes proposed two distinct men named Alphaeus to account for the two apostles separately, and some early writers connected the name with Clopas; the figure named in the lists of the Seventy is, in Orthodox usage, the single father from Capernaum.

Family and Tradition

Tradition associates Alphaeus with a household that gave several figures to the early Church. Beyond James and Matthew, he is by tradition the husband of a Mary numbered among the women who followed Christ, and later commemorations also name children Abercius and Helena among his offspring, though the detailed accounts of these vary by source.

Because the early notices are sparse, the profile keeps to what the synaxarion and the scriptural lists attest: his place among the Seventy, his Galilean origin, and his standing as father of two apostles.

Commemorated with Read Hide

The Seventy Apostles

Commemorated together · Jan 4

Notes

Of the Seventy.

Sources: OCA Synaxarion (oca.org), Lives of the Saints