What Is Boanerges in the Bible?
Person
A nickname Jesus gave to James and John. Mark explains it: it means “sons of thunder.”
It can mean
- Who they were: James and John, the sons of Zebedee. They were fishermen, and Jesus called them while they were mending their nets.
- An example: once they wanted to call down fire from heaven on a Samaritan village that would not welcome Jesus.
Where it appears in the Bible
Mark 3:17; Matthew 4:21; Luke 9:54
What the Bible says
Mark 3:17
And James the son of Zebedee, and John the brother of James; and he named them Boanerges, which is, The sons of thunder:
Matthew 4:21
And going on from thence, he saw other two brethren, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in a ship with Zebedee their father, mending their nets: and he called them.
Luke 9:54
And when his disciples James and John had seen this, they said: Lord, wilt thou that we command fire to come down from heaven, and consume them?
Douay-Rheims Bible (Challoner revision), public domain.
Source: Mark 3:17; Luke 9:52-54