Alphaeus

Alphaeus was the father of two of Jesus' twelve apostles—James son of Alphaeus (Matthew 10:3; Mark 3:18; Luke 6:15; Acts 1:13), also called 'James the Less' to distinguish him from James son of Zebedee, and Levi (Matthew) the tax collector, whose father is identified as Alphaeus in Mark 2:14. Whether both apostles had the same father named Alphaeus is uncertain; they may have been brothers, or 'Alphaeus' may have been a common name applied to two different men. The name is of Semitic origin, possibly the Aramaic equivalent of Clopas, though identification with the Clopas of John 19:25 is debated.