Alpheus(alphaeus)
“Changing”
Summary
The name of two men in the New Testament: the father of the apostle James the Less and the father of Levi (Matthew).
☩Father of James
Alpheus was the father of James the Less, one of the twelve apostles, who is called 'James the son of Alpheus' to distinguish him from James the son of Zebedee. He was the husband of Mary, believed to have been sister to the mother of Christ; for this reason James is called 'the Lord's brother,' though the term 'brother' is too general to fix their precise relation. Many hold that Cleopas, mentioned in Luke 24:18, is the same person as Alpheus—Alpheus being his Greek name and Cleopas his Hebrew or Syriac name, according to the custom of the time where men often had two names.
☩Father of Levi
A second Alpheus was the father of Levi, also known as Matthew, whom Jesus called to be an apostle and evangelist. It is uncertain whether this is the same person as the father of James, though the names are identical in Greek.