BOANERGES (ΒΟΑΝΗΡΓΕΣ). - Nickname given by Jesus to the two apostles, sons of Zebedee: James and John, according to Mk. 3:17, where it is explained as "sons of thunder" (ὅ ἐστιν υἱοὶ βροντῆς).

B. is the Hebrew bēnē rēgēs; the root rgs (like rgs) means "to make an uproar" (Ps. 2:1), and is usual in Aramaic (Dan. 6:7, 12, 16); in Jesus' time it must also have had the sense of "to thunder," like the Arabic raǵasa and raǵaza. E. Kautzsch understands it as "sons of wrath," that is, "irascible" (the Hebrew-Aramaic rgs means "wrath": Is. 23:11; 32:11; 37:28 ff.; Dan. 3:13; etc.). The o of B. is "inexplicable" (Lagrange); the Pēšīṭā omits it (bēnē rēgēs), and some minuscule codex (604) has Βανηρῆγες. St. Jerome (in Dan. 1:7: PL 25, 497): "non ut plerique putant boanerges, sed emendatius legitur benereem (var. benereem)," because in Hebrew "thunder" is rā'am (from rā'am "to make an uproar"). D. Voelter wrongly understands it as "sons of the Bear."

"Sons of thunder," that is, "thundering" ("to thunder" is said of God: I Sam. 2:10), could be understood of fervid eloquence (Origen, M. Chladen, F. Zorell is uncertain); one usually sees in it an allusion to the impetuous character of the two brothers, who (like Elijah: II Kings 1:10-14) wanted to bring down "fire from heaven" upon the inhospitable Samaritans (Lk. 9:54; cf. 9:49 and Mk. 9:38). The Fathers see in it an allusion to John's preaching, called by Origen "intellectual thunder" (νοητὴ βροντὴ: Philoc. 15, 18: PG 14, 1313; cf. C. Cels. VI, 77: PG 11, 1416).

The Freer codex (W) along with variants of the Vetus latina (ec, 8q) applies the nickname B. to all the apostles: Κοινῶς δὲ αὐτοὺς ἐκάλεσεν Βοανηργέ; Latin: communiter autem vocavit eos B. Originally communiter must have been understood only of James and John; then the names of these were moved and the nickname B. seemed to apply to the 12. In a sermon of the 4th century attributed to St. Basil it is said of all the Apostles υἱοὶ βροντῆς ὀνομασθέντες (PG 30, 813); and likewise by Ps.-Athanasius (PG 28, 1248). E. Preuschen, M. Fischer, and in part G. Bardy uphold this isolated tradition, which F. Zorell considers not improbable.

Bibliography10 works

BIBL.: M. Chladen, De cognomine B., Wicenberg 1712; J. F. K. Gurlitt, Über die Bedeutung des den Söhnen Zebeddi Mc. 3, 17 erteilten Beinamens B., in Theologische Studien u. Kritiken, 2 (1829), pp. 715-38; E. Kautzsch, Grammatik des Biblisch-Aramäischen, Leipzig 1884, p. 9 ff.; D. Voelter, B., in Zeitschr. f. d. neutestam. Wiss., 17 (1916), p. 212; E. Preuschen, Die Donnerstöhne (Mc. 3, 17), ibid., 18 (1917), pp. 141-44; M. Fischer, Die Donnerstöhne, ibid., 23 (1924), p. 310 ff.; G. Bardy, B., in Recherches de science rel., 15 (1925), p. 167 ff.; M.-J. Lagrange, Ev. selon S. Marc, 4th ed., Paris 1929, p. 65 ff.; F. Zorell, Lexicon praecoxum N. T., 2nd ed., ibid. 1931, col. 234 ff.; H. Hirschberg, Simon Barion, the Ebionites, in J. of Bibl. Lit., 61 (1942), p. (171-191) 180.

Antonino Romeo

@incollection{ec2_boanerges_boknerges, author = {Romeo, Antonino}, title = {Boanerges (ΒΟΚΝΗΡΓΈΣ)}, booktitle = {Enciclopedia Cattolica}, volume = {II}, pages = {1725--1726}, note = {Cited by column}, publisher = {Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico}, address = {Città del Vaticano}, year = {1949}, url = {https://azioneromana.com/article/boanerges-boknerges} }

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Boanerges (ΒΟΑΝΗΡΓΕΣ)

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