How old were the Apostles when they followed Jesus?

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We know they were all adults, because they had jobs when Jesus called them. Luke was probably an older man because he was a physician, which took years of training to learn. We also know when James and John were called they were young enough that their father Zebedee was not only alive but still able to work.

I’m guessing the average age of the apostles would be between 20s and 40s.
 
They would have been considered to be men at about 13. James and John had a father who was young enough to still be actively working as a fisherman. It is quite possible some were still teenagers
 
For what it’s worth, most artistic depictions of Peter show him with a grey beard.
 
Anonkun said:
I thought some authors suggested Peter was a widower, meaning he might have been a bit older than the others
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Life was short and often brutal. He could have married at 15 or 16 and been in his 20’s for all anyone knows. And that might have put him older than the others.

Jesus was presumably about 30 when he began his public ministry; and it is entirely possible that all were a good bit younger than that.
 
However, there are no artists of which I know who did portraits… 😄
 
John is traditionally portrayed as one of the youngest—generally shown with no beard.
 
Anywhere between 12 to early 20s I’ve heard. One must remember short lifespans, etc, and the lack of a true “adolescence” back then.
 
So 25-35 then, with John being the youngest at 17-20 years of age?
 
But Peter was still alive and active 30 years after meeting Jesus, with enough health and strength to carry out a strenuous ministry
 
Angannas said:
They would have been considered to be men at about 13
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So the apostles were a group of teens following around a 30 year old? That would make Christ the first Youth Ministry Leader.
 
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Just because the average lifespan was a lot less, doesn’t mean many people didn’t live as long as they do today. Old age was the same, just a lot of people–especially infants and children–died younger due to less medical technology. The Apostles were likely around Jesus’s age, some a little older, some a little younger, with John being the youngest. Their successors in the Christian community being chosen from among the “elders” also goes to show the model was not to have a bunch of teenagers in charge.

Anyway, here’s an interesting article by Jimmy Akin trying to apply what evidence there is:

 
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