Note 1 at Mr 3:14: Jesus had many disciples. On another occasion, He appointed seventy disciples to go before Him into each city that He was planning to visit (Lu 10:1). These men in this verse, however, were set aside as "apostles" (Lu 6:13) and became the leaders of Christ's church (see note 2 at Lu 6:13).

There were other apostles besides these twelve: Barnabas and Paul (Ac 14:14); James, the brother of the Lord (Ga 1:19); Silvanus (Silas) and Timotheus (Timothy) (1Th 1:1 with 1Th 2:6); Andronicus and Junia (Ro 16:7); and others (1Co 15:5-7).

The term "twelve" began to become descriptive of this group and was applied to them even after Judas had hung himself, leaving only eleven of the original apostles (Joh 20:24 and 1Co 15:5). The term "eleven" is used more frequently after Judas' death, however (Mt 28:16; Mr 16:14; Lu 24:9, 33; Ac 1:26, and 2:14).