Salome II (fl. 1st c.)

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Salome II (fl. 1st c.)

Biblical saint. Flourished in the 1st century in Galilee; married Zebedee; children: John the Evangelist; James the Greater.

The Galilean Salome, mentioned in the books of Mark and Matthew in the New Testament, was the wife of Zebedee, a prosperous fisherman, and lived on the Sea of Galilee, probably at Capernaum. She was the mother of the apostles John the Evangelist and James the Greater, and was herself a devoted follower of Jesus. Referred to in Matthew only as the mother of the sons of Zebedee, she is recorded there as being ambitious for the prestige of her sons and is said to have asked Jesus to allow them to sit on either side of him in his kingdom. Salome is also recorded in Mark as being a witness, along with Mary Magdalene and Mary of Cleophas , the mother of James, to Jesus' crucifixion and the resurrection. Some scholars have identified Salome as the sister of Mary the Virgin , the mother of Jesus.

Laura York , M.A. in History, University of California, Riverside, California

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