Matthew 10:2

τῶν δὲ δώδ. ἀποστόλων : etc., the evangelist finds here a convenient place for giving the names of the Twelve, called here for the first and last time ἀπόστολοι, with reference at once to the immediate minor mission (from ἀποστέλ. λειν, vide Matthew 10:5) and to the later great one. One half of them are for us mere names, and of one or two even the names are doubtful, utterly obscure, yet, doubtless, in their time and sphere faithful witnesses. They are arranged in pairs, as if following the hint of Mark that they were sent out by two and two, each pair connected with a καὶ (so in Luke, not in Mark). πρῶτος : at the head of the list stands Peter, first not only numerically (Meyer) but in importance, a sure matter of fact, though priestly pretensions based on it are to be disregarded. He is first in all the lists. ὁ λεγ. Πέτρος : a fact already stated (Matthew 4:18), here repeated probably because the evangelist had his eye on Mark's list (Matthew 3:16) or possibly to distinguish this Simon from another in the list (No. 11).