BOANERGES.—In Mark 3:17 we read that Christ ‘gave to James and John name(s) Boanerges, that is, sons of thunder’ (καὶ? ἐ?πέθηκεν αὐ?τοῖ?ς ὄ?νομα [ v.l. ὀ?νόματα ] Βοανηργές, ὅ? ἐ?στιν υἱ?οὶ? βροντῆ?ς). * [Note: The MSS give: βοανηργες א AB, etc., βοανεργης D, βοανεργες EF, etc.] The equation Boanerges = ‘sons of thunder’ presents two difficulties: (a) the Hebrew בּ?ִ?נַ?י does not naturally give rise to the two vowels οα; (b) no known Hebrew or Aram . [Note: Aramaic.] root rgs or rgsh has the meaning ‘thunder.’ A third difficulty might be added, that the title Boanerges, whatever its meaning, does not accurately correspond to ὀ?νομα (τα), ‘name(s).† [Note: ὁ?υουατα is read by א AC, etc., ὀ?νομα is the reading of BD.] If the Evangelist be right in saying that the original title meant ‘sons of thunder,’ we must suppose that Βοανη or Βοανε is due to inaccurate transliteration of בּ?ִ?נִ?י, or to a conflation of two readings with a single vowel (see Dalm. Gram. 2 [Note: designates the particular edition of the work referred] p. 144). but the difficulty as to ργες = βροντή remains. Jerome (on Daniel 1:7) thought that Boanerges should be emended into Benereem = בּ?ִ?נִ?י רֽ?עִ?ס . In that case the s is a mistake on the part of the Evangelist or his copyists for m. Others prefer to think that the original title was בּ?ִ?נִ?י רְ?נַ?ז = ‘sons of wrath,’ or בּ?ְ?נַ?י רְ?נַ?שׁ? = ‘sons of tumult,’ and that υἱ?οὶ? βροντῆ?ς is an inaccurate translation on the part of the Evangelist. The Syriac Version (Sinaiticus) unfortunately gives us no assistance. It transliterates Bĕ?nai Ragsh or Ragshi, and omits the explanation ὅ? ἐ?στιν υἱ?οὶ? βροντῆ?ς (see Burkitt, Evangelion da-Mepharreshe, i. 181, ii. 280). It is possible, however, that the corruption lies deeper than this. Just as Dalmanutha (Mark 8:10) is probably a corruption of an Aramaic proper name (see Burkitt, ii. 249), so Boanerges may be a fusion of two names answering to the ὀ?νόματα . In that case the Evangelist, misreading or mishearing his Aramaic original, has fused two names into one, and has tried to give a rough translation of the word thus formed. The first name might be בַ?נּ?י (Banni), בַ?נּ?ַ?י (Bannai), or בּ?֖?נּ?י (Bunnai). Curiously enough, the Babylonian Talmud gives Bani as the name of one of the disciples of Jesus (Bab . [Note: Babylonian.] Sanh. 43 a). For the second name we offer no conjecture. See, further, John, James.
Literature.— Encyc. Bibl. art. ‘Boanerges’; Expositor, iii. x. [1889] 332 ff.
W. C. Allen.