The Group of Disciples

The Gospels agree that the Twelve formed an inner circle. Many more may have been considered as disciples at the time of Jesus, as Luke’s Gospel presents the disciples as a larger group. They are also the ones who are called apostles (Luke 6:13).

Although the Gospels often identify the disciples of Jesus with the Twelve, this does not mean that they were His only disciples. Luke’s Gospel speaks of 70 (or 72) disciples (Luke 10:1–24), or even of a large crowd (Luke 6:17). There are also occurrences of women among Jesus’ close followers. At one point, Jesus is said to travel with the Twelve and three women “who were helping to support them out of their own means” (Luke 8:1–3). In Acts, a woman is referred to as a disciple: “In Joppa there was a disciple named Tabitha” (Acts 9:36; NIV). The feminine form of disciple (μαθήτρια, mathētria; the masculine form is μαθητής, mathētēs) is used, possibly indicating that women believers were commonly called disciples.