Both the 12 and the 70 (or 72) were 'appointed' to be missionaries. And as you have it elsewhere on this page the Twelve were to be judges of Israel. It is interesting the NT does not mention priests except Jewish priests. In 1 Co 12:28, Paul makes no mention of priests: "God has appointed in the church first apostles, second prophets, third teachers." Also interesting, that despite examples of Jesus interacting with "Gentiles," no attempt is made by the NT authors to have Jesus include Gentiles among the Twelve. Unless Simon the Canaanite is Pagan?? often conflated with a different Simon the Zealot. Intriguing that the Book of John does not give the names of all 12 apostles. It seems a glaring omission. John mentions the "Twelve" in a few places, but these could easily be edits.  The Twelve are listed (with at least 14 names) in the Synoptics and Acts, but not John. I would like to hear more of your thoughts on this, Nora, as I suspect the author(s) were symbolizing 12 tribes, cont