Guest List For The Last Supper

A reader writes:

My husband and I have a question about "The Lord’s Supper" and the apostles in attendance.  Our confusion arises from a very old print of "The Lord’s Supper" that we found many years ago at an antique shop in Florida.  It is in an old gray-colored frame under "bubble" glass, and I was drawn to it because it is exactly like one that my grandparents always had in their home.  On this print are the names of the apostles at the bottom edge of the tablecloth (altar cloth).

The names listed (in Hebrew? Latin?)  are as follows (from left to right):

Bartholomaeus Bartholomew
Jacobus II James II (meaning: James son of Alphaeus)
Andreas Andrew
Judas Judas (meaning Judas Iscariot)
Petrus Peter
Joannes John
Jesus Christus Jesus Christ
Thomas Thomas
Jacobus I James I (meaning: James son of Zebedee)
Philipus Philip
Matthaeus Matthew
Thaddaeus Thaddeus (a.k.a., Judas not Iscariot or Judas the son of James)
Simon Simon (a.k.a., Simon the Zealot, the Zealots being a political movement)

Therein lies our confusion.  After Judas betrayed Jesus and committed suicide, the apostles continued the Apostolic Succession by "voting" for Matthew to join the fold.  On our print, "Matthaeus" is listed as one of the apostles at the Passover.  Was there another Matthew who was already part of the original Twelve?  Or are the names incorrect or simply added as "artistic license?"  (We also know the English translations as most are obvious and that Jacobus is the Hebrew/Latin? name for James.)

I think I can clear up the confusion. Matthew was a disciple who was named an apostle during Jesus’ ministry (see Matthew 10:2-4). The guy who was elected an apostle after the suicide of Judas Iscariot was a different guy but had a similar name: Matthias. You can read about him in Acts 1:12-26 (you’ll note that Matthew is listed among the apostles before the election of Matthias in Acts 1:13).

Incidentally, the names above are Latinized forms of Aramaic names. The "bar-" in Bartholomew is a dead giveaway. "Bar" is Aramaic for "son of." If the name were Hebrew, that would be "ben." ("Bartholomew" = "son of Ptolemy," though Ptolemy isn’t an Aramaic name; it was popular around this time due to being the name of one of Alexander the Great’s generals who later ruled Egypt). What happened is the folks of olden times took the Aramaic names of Jesus and the apostles, passed them through Greek (where they got modified a little) and then made them sound Latin by adding Latin endings and such to them.

I’ve put the English equivalents along with some explanatory notes alongside the names above in red. Hope it’s useful.

We want to share this information with our church family at our Cathedral in Charleston, SC.  We have a fabulous stained glass window of the Lord’s Supper and were discussing the names of the Apostles with the head of the tour guides.  Many had never seen the names of the Apostles listed, so we wanted to share accurate information.  Any assistance that you may offer would be appreciated, or if you could direct us to another resource.  We were unable to find the exact names and the seating order in the Bible.  Our print is certainly not a "DaVinci," but it is quite beautiful and a prayerful part of our dining area.

Cool! Hope the above helps.

Incidentally, the seating order is something made up by the artist, so you should examine the stained glass version to see if it seems to have the apostles in the same places. Generally there are little visual signs to indicate which are which. For example, Peter is depicted as an old man, while John is depicted as a young man (and is always seated next to Christ in pictures of the Last Supper, typically with Peter next to him).
 

Author: Jimmy Akin

Jimmy was born in Texas, grew up nominally Protestant, but at age 20 experienced a profound conversion to Christ. Planning on becoming a Protestant seminary professor, he started an intensive study of the Bible. But the more he immersed himself in Scripture the more he found to support the Catholic faith, and in 1992 he entered the Catholic Church. His conversion story, "A Triumph and a Tragedy," is published in Surprised by Truth. Besides being an author, Jimmy is the Senior Apologist at Catholic Answers, a contributing editor to Catholic Answers Magazine, and a weekly guest on "Catholic Answers Live."

14 thoughts on “Guest List For The Last Supper”

  1. Speaking of Matthias, I caught a sermon by a fundamentalist preacher on the radio somewhat in the middle of it, but it seemed to me that he was arguing that the election of Matthias was invalid, presumably because it was done by casting lots, and that God over-ruled the early Christians by making Paul an apostle. The moral, he said, was that we shouldn’t force God to choose between two man-made choices, but rather, we should give him the maximum freedom in revealing his will. (He used Matthias as an example of this, although the principle seems valid).
    My question is: how common is this line of thought? And, if Paul was an apostle and so was Matthias, then weren’t there 13 apostles?

  2. It might be somewhat common – I heard a LCMS pastor (generally very Catholic in his thinking) advance that argument about Matthias and Paul.
    As for whether there are “13” – Since Matthias was a replacement for one of the 12, one could say that he “counts” as part of the number in a way that Paul, who became an apostle in an extraordinary way, doesn’t. (Although it’s interesting that in the Roman Canon, 12 are named, and Paul is one of them, but Matthias isn’t.)

  3. A quibble: Petrus isn’t an Aramaic name (although I’m sure you realize this…).
    pax!
    scott

  4. There arent 13 men, on the right of Jesus is actually depicted as Lady Magdalin in the painting of Da vinci

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  7. “Guest List For The Last Supper”
    I also have a copy of the print with the name included discussed by the couple. It came from my grandmother. Do you have any information on the value or how I might further investigate the print. It has been floating around for years.
    Thanks alot

  8. I would also know if anybody knows what the value might be of the last supper painting that has the aramaic names on the bottom. I have one as well. I’ve looked all over and can’t find nothing like it. Hope you can help!

  10. Dear Jimmy,
    My name is Barrister Ken Obi Esq,i am a solicitor at law.I am the personal attorney to the Late Mr. Ray Snip,(Chief Executive Officer)of BIOOIL OIL SERVICING LTD,who till his untimely death was a contractorwith Texaco Nigeria in port Harcourt,Whom here in after shall bereferred to as my client.
    On the 21st of April 2000, my client, his wife and their two children were involved in a car accident along sagbama express road. All occupants of the vehicle unfortunately lost their lives. Since then I have made several enquiries to your embassy to locate any of my clients extended relatives,this has also proved unsuccessful.
    After these several unsuccessful attempts, I decided to track his last name over the Internet, to locate any member of his family hence I contacted you. I have contacted you to assist in repatriating the money and properties left behind by my client before they get confiscated or declared unserviceable by the bank where this huge deposit were lodged.
    Particularly,THE BANK,where the deceased had a deposit valued at about US$3.5 Million has issued me a notice to provide the next-of-kin or have the account confiscated within the 6 weeks.Since I have been unsuccessful in locating the relatives for over 2 years now,I seek your consent to present you as the next of kin of the deceased to have the same last name so that the proceeds of this account valued at US$3.5 Million can be paid to you and then you and I can share the money. 50% to me and 45% to you then 5% for expenses. I have all necessary legal documents that can be used to backup any claim we may make.
    All I require is your honest cooperation to enable us see this deal through.I guarantee that this will be executed under a legitimate arrangement that will protect you from any breach of the law. Please get in touch with me immediately as I do not have much time in my disposal.
    Here is my direct email address: ken_obi_02@yahoo.com You can reach me on my direct mobile number: +234-1-6553166 for further discussion.
    Thank you in advance for your anticipated co-operation.
    Best Regards,
    Barrister Ken Obi

  14. I also have a picture of The Last Supper with the disciples names on the edge of the tablecloth within a greyissh frame,.. any value to this picture

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