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Why were there 12 disciples?
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12 is a symbolic thing. So is 40. 40 days, 40 nights is how long the flood was, how long the Israelites wandered. These 12 were the ones Jesus chose to accompany him

Answer

There were many disciples. There were 12 Apostles. These too were disciples, but specially chosen to guide the preaching work after Jesus death. God also used the 12 tribes of Israel when organizing His chosed people to carry out the Mosaic Law.

Answer

12 was a very popular number in Middle Eastern mythology. 12 symbols of the zodiac, 12x2 hours in the day, 12x5 seconds to the minute and minutes to the hour, 12 tribes of Israel, etc. etc. This probably came from the Greeks, where 6 was a sacred number.

Part of the reason that 12 was special was that it is the smallest number that has a great number of factors (eg 1,2,3,4,and 6 all divide into 12 with n o remainder. No other small number has so many factors).

Answer

There was an even number of disciples, so that they could be sent two by two, as a witness to each other. They are to be an example of what they preach, through the way they live their lives. They live by every teaching of Jesus, not just those things that are appealing to them. We can't pick and choose what we want to believe. It needs to be every teaching of Jesus.


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First answer by JohnWelsh. Last edit by Smartdude18. Contributor trust: 16 [recommend contributor]. Question popularity: 79 [recommend question]

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