The Apostolic Fathers · AD 70–130
The Grandsons of Jude
fl. c. 95 – c. 107 · Confessors of the house of David · Church leaders in Galilee · Galilee
The Apostolic Fathers
Who The Grandsons of Jude was
Denounced to Domitian as descendants of David — potential royal pretenders — the two grandsons of Jude the Lord’s brother were brought before the emperor himself, by Hegesippus’s account: they declared their property (thirty-nine plethra of land, worked by their own hands), showed “the hardness of their bodies and the callouses formed on their hands by continual labour,” and explained that Christ’s kingdom was “not of this world.” Domitian, “despising them as simple folk,” dismissed them and (so the account) stayed the persecution; they lived on to lead the churches “until the times of Trajan.” Later tradition names them Zoker and James; Hegesippus does not, and the archive follows him.
Hegesippus alone (via Eusebius III.19–20, 32); no independent line of transmission exists.
Common questions
When was The Grandsons active?
The Grandsons of Jude is dated fl. c. 95 – c. 107 in the archive, which places The Grandsons in the Apostolic Fathers (AD 70–130). The dating is traditional and approximate; the archive marks it as uncertain rather than fixing a year the sources do not give.
Which early sources mention The Grandsons?
The Grandsons of Jude is named in 1 primary-source passage catalogued here, drawn from Hegesippus. Every passage is quoted from a named public-domain translation, earliest first.
Where was The Grandsons from?
The archive associates The Grandsons of Jude with Galilee.
Who were The Grandsons’ contemporaries?
The archive links The Grandsons of Jude to 5 other figures, including Jude, the Brother of the Lord, Symeon, son of Clopas, Emperor Domitian and Flavia Domitilla. Each connection is drawn from a source that places them together, not from inference.
Primary-source mentions (1)
Every passage below is quoted from a named public-domain translation, earliest first.
Hegesippus, via Eusebius III.20
c. AD 180They showed their hands, exhibiting the hardness of their bodies and the callousness produced upon their hands by continuous toil, as evidence of their own labour… Domitian despising them as of no account, let them go, and by a decree put a stop to the persecution.Hegesippus · III.20 · source text
Connected in the archive
People
Events in this lifetime
- AD 44 · Persecution under Herod Agrippa I, AD 44
- AD 49 · The Council of Jerusalem, AD 49
- AD 57 · Paul writes Romans, AD 57
- AD 62 · James the Just stoned, AD 62
- AD 64 · The Great Fire and Nero’s persecution, AD 64
- AD 70 · The fall of Jerusalem, AD 70
- AD 95 · Domitian’s reprisals, AD 95
- AD 96 · Rome writes to Corinth: 1 Clement, AD 96
Place
Places served
The one place the sources put The Grandsons.
- 1Galileeprovince only