If I may derail this thread…
I just noticed that there are two Simon’s in Jesus’ 12. One could logic the name was to differentiate so there wouldn’t be confusion, but, this is negated on impact when one delves into the list and sees that there are also two James and two Judas…depending on spelling. Of half of Jesus’ immediate followers having the same name, why would he change the name of just one of them?
Some opponents will counter, “Jesus renamed other apostles.” --Yeah? Who? “James and John.”
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aramaic_of_Jesus#Boanerges_.28.CE.92.CE.BF.CE.B1.CE.BD.CE.B7.CF.81.CE.B3.CE.B5.CF.82.29
Boanerges (Βοανηργες)
Mark 3:17
And James, the son of Zebedee, and John, the brother of James, and he gave them the name Boanerges, which is Sons of Thunder. Jesus surnames the brothers James and John to reflect their impetuosity. The Greek rendition of their name is Βοανηργες (Boanērges).
There has been much speculation about this name. Given the Greek translation that comes with it (‘Sons of Thunder’), it seems that the first element of the name is ‘bnê’, ‘sons of’ (the plural of ‘bar’), Aramaic (בני). This is represented by βοανη (boanê), giving two vowels in the first syllable where one would be sufficient. It could be inferred from this that the Greek transliteration may not be a good one. The second part of the name is often reckoned to be ‘rğaš’ (‘tumult’) Aramaic (רניש), or ‘rğaz’ (‘anger’) Aramaic (רנז). Maurice Casey, however, argues that it is a simple misreading of the word for thunder, ‘r
am' (due to the similarity of *s* to the final *m*). This is supported by one [Syriac](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syriac_language) translation of the name as 'bnay ramâ’. The
Peshitta reads ‘bnay rğešy’ which would fit with a later composition for it, based on a Byzantine reading of the original Greek.
To me, this sounds like a friendly nickname (after all John & James the Greater were in his inner circle of friends), personally. Something that He joked around with them about. At most, it sounds like it could be more of a name change about Zebedee himself rather than them. But, if it was about them, it was plural, that is, he didn’t individually change their names, but, rather grouped them together under a title. He gave them a title, it seems. I can accept that this is a nickname/title given to the men Jesus loves but not an actual name change for them for one reason and one reason only: no where else in the lists of Jesus’ followers or individually are they reffered to as this where as Peter is pretty much exclusively called, “Peter,” or, “Simon-Peter”.
After Jesus says, “You are Peter,” everybody starts calling him Peter and to this day, he is recognized as Peter. Nobody else calls JtG, & John The Sons of Thunder. On Saint Jude: “His patronage of lost or impossible causes traditionally derives from confusion by many early Christians between Jude and Judas; not understanding the difference between the names, they never prayed for Jude’s help, and devotion to him became something of a lost cause.”
saints.sqpn.com/saintj03.htm Yet, God didn’t change his name, though He could forsee the confusion happening, he changes one of the Simon’s names.
If it was just the confession or to stop the confusion, why was the tradition continued?
