Luke 6:16

16 [and] Judas [brother] of James, and Judas Iscariote, who was also [his] betrayer;

Luke 6:16 Meaning and Commentary

Luke 6:16

And Judas the brother of James
Of that James, that was the son of Alphaeus; though the Syriac and Arabic versions call him "the son of James", very wrongly: this Judas was also called Thaddaeus and Lebbaeus, and is the writer of the epistle that bears his name:

and Judas Iscariot, which also was the traitor;
both his surname and his character are mentioned, to distinguish him from the other Judas: it is easy to observe, that these twelve are mentioned by pairs, or couples, and so they were sent out, two by two; see ( Mark 6:7 ) as were also the seventy disciples afterwards; see ( Luke 10:1 ) There seems to be an allusion to the pairs and couples of the Jewish fathers and doctors, who in their succession are thus paired: Jose ben Joezer, and Joseph ben Jochauan; Joshua ben Perachia, and Nathan the Arbelite; Simeon ben Shetach, and Judah ben Tabai; Shemain and Abtalion; the two sons of Bethira, whose names were Judah and Joshua; Hillell and Shammai {s}: all before Christ's time.

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FOOTNOTES:

F19 Pirke Abot, c. 1.

Luke 6:16 In-Context

14 Simon, to whom also he gave the name of Peter, and Andrew his brother, [and] James and John, [and] Philip and Bartholomew,

15 [and] Matthew and Thomas, James the [son] of Alphaeus and Simon who was called Zealot,

16 [and] Judas [brother] of James, and Judas Iscariote, who was also [his] betrayer;

17 and having descended with them, he stood on a level place, and a crowd of his disciples, and a great multitude of the people from all Judaea and Jerusalem, and the sea coast of Tyre and Sidon, who came to hear him, and to be healed of their diseases;

18 and those that were beset by unclean spirits were healed.