10:4 Simon the Canaanite, and Judas {b} Iscariot, who also betrayed him.
(b) A man of Kerioth. Now Kerioth was in the tribe of Judah; Jos 15:25.
10:2-4 Now the names of the twelve apostles are these. Of the twelve apostles there are four lists, found in Mt 10:2-4 Mr 3:16-19 Lu 6:14-16 Ac 1:13. They differ in the following particulars: (1) Luke, in the book of Acts, does not insert the name of Judas Iscariot, who was then dead; (2) both in the Gospel and in Acts he entitles the Simon, who, here and in Mark, is called the Canaanite, Simon Zelotes; Matthew gives as the tenth disciple, Lebbeus; Mark calls him Thaddeus; (3) Luke and Acts, Judas of James, i.e. either son or brother of James; and Mark says that James and John were surnamed by Christ, Boanerges, i.e. the sons of thunder. In other respects the four lists are identical. There are three pairs of brothers among them. Andrew and Peter, James and John, James the Less and Judas, or Thaddeus. James and John I believe to have been cousins of our Lord. With the exception of Judas Iscariot, all were Galileans; several of them were by trade fishermen, a laborious and profitable calling; there was neither priest nor scribe among them; all were from the ranks of the common people.
10:4 Iscariot - So called from Iscarioth, (the place of his birth,) a town of the tribe of Ephraim, near the city of Samaria.
10:1-4 The word apostle signifies messenger; they were Christ's messengers, sent forth to proclaim his kingdom. Christ gave them power to heal all manner of sickness. In the grace of the gospel there is a slave for every sore, a remedy for every malady. There is no spiritual disease, but there is power in Christ for the cure of it. There names are recorded, and it is their honour; yet they had more reason to rejoice that their names were written in heaven, while the high and mighty names of the great ones of the earth are buried in the dust.
