Jude the Apostle (Ancient Greek: Ἰούδας Ἰακώβου translit. Ioúdas IakóbouSyriac/Aramaic: ܝܗܘܕܐ translit. Yahwada) was one of theTwelve Apostles ofJesus according to theNew Testament. He is generally identified asThaddeus (Ancient Greek: Θαδδαῖος;Armenian: Թադեոս;Coptic: ⲑⲁⲇⲇⲉⲟⲥ) and is also variously calledJudas Thaddaeus,Jude Thaddaeus,Jude of James, orLebbaeus.[3] He is sometimes identified withJude, the brother of Jesus, but is clearly distinguished fromJudas Iscariot, thedisciple who betrayed Jesus prior to his crucifixion. Catholic writer Michal Hunt suggests that Judas Thaddaeus became known as Jude after early translators of theNew Testament fromGreek into English sought to distinguish him from Judas Iscariot and subsequently abbreviated his forename.[4] Most versions of the New Testament in languages other than English andFrench refer to Judas and Jude by the same name.[5]
Jude Thaddeus is commonly depicted with aclub. He is also often shown inicons with a flame around his head. This represents his presence atPentecost, when he received theHoly Spirit with the other apostles. Another common attribute is Jude holding an image ofJesus, known asthe Image of Edessa. In some instances, he may be shown with a scroll or a book (theEpistle of Jude) or holding a carpenter's rule.[7]
Jude is clearly distinguished fromJudas Iscariot, another apostle and later the betrayer of Jesus. Both Jude and Judas are translations of the name Ὶούδας in theKoine Greek original text of theNew Testament, which in turn is a Greek variant ofJudah (Y'hudah), a name which was common among Jews at the time. In most Bibles in languages other than English and French, Jude and Judas are referred to by the same name.
Aside from Judas Iscariot, the New Testament mentions Jude or Judas six times, in four different contexts:
"Jude of James", explicitly listed as one of the twelve apostles (Luke 6:16 andActs 1:13);
"Judas, (not Judas Iscariot)", apparently an apostle (as he was present at theLast Supper) (John 14:22);
Translations into English from the original Greek of the New Testament vary in their rendering of Luke 6:16 and Acts 1:13. A literal translation of the references to Jude in these passages gives "Jude of James" (Ancient Greek:Ἰούδας Ἰακώβου,romanized: Ioudas Iakōbou), as inYoung's Literal Translation of the Bible, but scholars differ on whether this means "Jude, brother of James" or "Jude, son of James". The King James and theDouay-Rheims versions call him "Judas the brother of James", making him the same person as the writer of theEpistle of Jude, who identifies himself as "Jude, the servant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James" (Jude 1:1).
Most modern translations (including theNew International Version,Revised Standard Version andNew Revised Standard Version), identify him as "Jude the son of James", and not the same person as the author of theEpistle of Jude. Protestant scholarDarrell L. Bock writes that it must mean "son" not "brother", because when "brother" is intended, the Greek word for "brother" (adelphos) is present.[10] Bock also says that means he was not the brother of Jesus. Additionally the use of the genitive case of "James" (Iakovou) in Greek, usually signifies or implies the person's father to be distinguished from his homonyms.[11]
Opinion is divided on whether Jude the apostle was alsoJude, brother of Jesus, the traditional author of theEpistle of Jude.[12] Generally, Catholics believe the two Judes are the same person.[13]
Mary the wife of Cleophas or Alphaeus, who was the mother of James the bishop and apostle, and of Simon and Thaddeus, and of one Joseph...(Fragment X)[14]
However, the above fragment is properly attributed byJ.B. Lightfoot to a differentPapias, an 11th centuryLatinlexicographer.[15][16] The quotation is found in this Papias'Elementarium Doctrinae Rudimentum.[17]
In the apostolic lists atMatthew 10:3 andMark 3:18, Jude is omitted, but there is a Thaddeus (or in some manuscripts of Matthew 10:3, "Lebbaeus who was surnamed Thaddaeus", as in theKing James Version) listed in his place. This has led many Christians since early times to harmonize the lists by positing a "Jude Thaddeus", known by either name. This is made plausible by the fact that a number of New Testament figures have multiple names (such asSimon Peter andJoseph Barnabas). It has been argued that the name "Judas" was tarnished byJudas Iscariot and for this reason Mark and Matthew referred to him by an alternative name.[18]
SomeBiblical scholars reject this theory, however.[19] They have proposed alternative theories to explain the discrepancy: an unrecorded replacement of one for the other during the ministry of Jesus because ofapostasy or death;[20] the possibility that "twelve" was a symbolic number and an estimation;[21] or simply that the names were not recorded perfectly by the early church.[22]
This Judas was called by many names. He was said Judas of James, for he was brother to James the Less, and he was called Thaddeus, which is as much to say as taking a prince; or Thadee is said of Thadea, that is a vesture, and of Deus, that is God, for he was vesture royal of God by ornament of virtues, by which he took Christ the prince. He is said also in the History Ecclesiastic, Lebbæus, which is as much to say as heart, or worshipper of heart. Or he is said Lebbæus of lebes, that is a vessel of heart by great hardiness, or a worshipper of heart by purity, a vessel by plenitude of grace, for he deserved to be a vessel of virtues and a caldron of grace.[25][26]
TheEpistle of Saint Jude is usually attributed to the Apostle Jude, and is a short piece. Some statues of Saint Jude include the letter (such as the statue of Saint Jude by Adam Kossowski in Faversham, Kent).[27]
In all probability, he spoke bothGreek andAramaic, like almost all of his contemporaries in that area, and was a farmer by trade.[33] According to the legend, Jude was son ofClopas andMary of Clopas, sister of theVirgin Mary.[34]
A different tradition holds that Jude suffered martyrdom about 65 AD inBeirut, in the Roman province ofSyria during the1st century in Lebanon together with the apostleSimon the Zealot, with whom he is usually connected. The axe that he is often shown holding in pictures symbolizes the way in which he was killed.[39] Their acts and martyrdom were recorded in anActs of Simon and Jude that was among the collection of passions and legends traditionally associated with the legendaryAbdias, bishop of Babylon, and said to have been translated into Latin by his disciple Tropaeus Africanus, according to theGolden Legend account of the saints.[40]
According to one account, Jude's body was brought from Beirut to Rome and placed in a crypt inSt. Peter's Basilica which is visited by many devotees. His bones are in the left transept of St. Peter's Basilica under the main altar ofSt. Joseph, in one tomb with the remains of the apostle Simon the Zealot. These were moved here on 27 December 1665.[27] An arm was removed from St. Jude's remains centuries ago and placed in a wooden reliquary carved in the shape of an upright arm imparting a blessing. From September 2023 to May 2024, the arm of Saint Jude Thaddeus went on a pilgrimage in the United States, making stops in 100 cities.[41][42]
According to another popular tradition, the remains of Jude were preserved in an Armenian monastery on an island in the northern part ofIssyk-Kul Lake inKyrgyzstan at least until the mid-15th century.
A plainossuary marked with the inscription "Judas Thaddaeus" (Ιουδας Θαδδαιου) was found inKefar Barukh,Jezreel Valley, alongside fragments of four uninscribed ossuaries. The site was dated by lamps and other pottery to no later than the early second century.[43]
Jude is traditionally depicted carrying the image of Jesus in his hand or close to his chest, betokening the legend of theImage of Edessa, recorded in apocryphal correspondence between Jesus andAbgar which is reproduced inEusebius'History Ecclesiastica, I, xiii. Eusebius relates that KingAbgar ofEdessa (nowŞanlıurfa in southeastTurkey) sent a letter to Jesus seeking a cure for an illness afflicting him. With the letter he sent his envoyHannan, the keeper of the archives, offering his own home city to Jesus as a safe dwelling place. The envoy painted a likeness of Jesus with choice paints (or alternatively, impressed with Abgar's faith, Jesus pressed his face into a cloth and gave it toHannan) to take to Abgar with his answer. Upon seeing Jesus' image, the king placed it with great honor in one of his palatial houses. After Christ's execution, Thomas the Apostle sentAddai, one of the 70 or 72 inLuke 10:1–12, to King Abgar[44] and the king was cured. Astonished, he converted toChristianity, along with many of the people under his rule. Additionally, Jude is often depicted with a flame above his head, representing his presence at Pentecost, when he was said to have received the Holy Spirit with the other apostles.
According to tradition, after his martyrdom, pilgrims came to his grave to pray and many of them experienced the powerful intercessions of St. Jude. Thus the title, 'The Saint for the Hopeless and the Despaired'. St.Bridget of Sweden and St.Bernard had visions from God asking each to accept St. Jude as 'The Patron Saint of the Impossible'.[39][45][46] Jude isremembered (withSimon the Zealot) in theChurch of England with aFestival on 28 October.[47]
TheOrder of Preachers (better known as the Dominicans) began working in present-day Armenia soon after their founding in 1216. At that time, there was already a substantial devotion to Saint Jude by both Catholic and Orthodox Christians in the area. This lasted until Muslim persecution drove Christians from the area in the 18th century. Devotion to Saint Jude began again in earnest in the 19th century, starting inItaly andSpain, spreading toSouth America and finally to theUnited States (starting in the vicinity ofChicago) owing to the influence of theClaretians who established theNational Shrine of St. Jude in 1929.[52]
Among some Roman Catholics, Jude is venerated as the "patron saint of hopeless causes". This practice is said to stem from the belief that few Christians invoked him for misplaced fear of praying to Christ's betrayer,Judas Iscariot, because of their similar names. The ignored Jude thus supposedly became quite eager to assist anyone who sought his help, to the point of interceding in the most dire of circumstances.[55]
Jude is the patron saint of theChicago Police Department, ofClube de Regatas do Flamengo (asoccer team in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) and of two St Jude's GAA teams, the first in Templeogue Dublin 6W and also St Jude's GAA club in Southampton & Bournemouth (UK). His other patronages include desperate situations and hospitals. One of his namesakes isSt. Jude Children's Research Hospital inMemphis, Tennessee, which has helped many children with terminal illnesses and their families since its founding in 1962.[56]
Many countries venerate the Apostle Jude and have constructed shrines or churches dedicated to his memory. Such sites include those in Australia, Brazil, Sri Lanka,[57] Cuba, India, Iran, the Philippines, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, the United States and Lebanon. The Nationwide Center of St. Jude Devotions[58] inBaltimore was founded in 1917 by thePallottines. TheNational Shrine of Saint Jude Thaddeus in the Philippines was erected by theArchdiocese of Manila in 1954 as Espíritu SantoChinese Parish. The Shrine holds the saint's novena liturgy every Thursday and is now under theSociety of the Divine Word that also runs the attachedSaint Jude Catholic School. TheNational Shrine of Saint Jude atFaversham in England was founded in 1955.[59] There is also a shrine of St. Jude built by the Dominicans (Order of Preachers) in Lagos, Nigeria.[60]
^However, Philostorgius, the 5th-century Arian Christian historian, says in hisHistoria Ecclesiastica: "The district of Paneas was formerly called Dan. But in the course of time it came to be called Caesarea Philippi, and later still, when the heathen erected in it a statue of the God Pan, its name was changed to Paneas."[32]
^Lightfoot, J.B. (1865)."The Brethren of the Lord".philologos.org. Archived fromthe original on 18 June 2018. Retrieved31 May 2016.The testimony of Papias is frequently quoted at the head of the patristic authorities, as favouring the view of Jerome. [...]. It is strange that able and intelligent critics should not have seen through a fabrication which is so manifestly spurious. [...] [T]he passage was written by a mediaeval namesake of the Bishop of Hierapolis, Papias [...] who lived in the 11th century.
^"Papias of Hierapolis". Archived from the original on 16 November 2015. Retrieved6 October 2015.
^For instance Otto Harpan, in "The Apostle" (Sands, 1962), quoted at"St. Jude".12apostlesofthecatholicchurch.com. Archived fromthe original on 26 January 2005.
^Pesch, Rudolf. "Simon-Petrus. Geschichte und geschichtliche Bedeutung der ersten Juengers Jesu Christ",Paepste und Papsttum15, Hiersmann, 1980. p.36.
^Meier, John P.,A Marginal Jew volume 3, pp 130–133, 200 ("Christian imagination was quick to harmonize and produce Jude Thaddeus, a conflation that has no basis in reality.")
^Fitzmyer, Joseph,The Gospel according to Luke: Introduction, translation, and notes, Volume 2, The Anchor Bible, Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1981–1985.ISBN0-385-00515-6. p.619-620
^"SAINTS THADDEUS AND BARTHOLOMEW".Armenian Prelacy.org. New York, NY: Eastern Prelacy of the Armenian Apostolic Church. 2020. Retrieved27 February 2025.
^Prausnitz M. and Rahmani L.Y. (1967). Jewish Burial Caves of the Early Second Century CE at Kfar Baruch. InMe'eretz Kishon: The Book of the 'Emek. Kishon County Council, Tel Adashim. 309–312.
^Farmer, David (2011)."Jude".Oxford Dictionary of Saints (5th ed.). Oxford; New York: Oxford University Press. pp. 291–292.ISBN978-0-19-959660-7. Retrieved26 May 2023. Page reference is to the 2004 printing of the fifth edition.
^Orsi, Robert A. (1996).Thank You, St. Jude: Women's Devotion to the Patron Saint of Hopeless Causes. New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press. pp. x.ISBN9780300162691.
^Noegel, Scott B.; Wheeler, Brandon M. (2003).Historical Dictionary of Prophets in Islam and Judaism. Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press (Rowman & Littlefield). p. 86.ISBN978-0810843059.Muslim exegesis identifies the disciples of Jesus as Peter, Andrew, Matthew, Thomas, Philip, John, James, Bartholomew, and Simon
