In The Bible who was Alphaeus?

A:Mark's Gospel describes Alphaeus as the father of two of the twelve apostles, Levi and James. This would seem to meant that Levi and James were brothers, although not described as such. In fact, the only references to Levi are here in Mark 2:14 and the corresponding verse (5:27) in Luke's Gospel, which Luke elaborates slightly by adding a passage in which Jesus is criticised for consorting with publicans (tax collectors).

However, Matthew's Gospel, although dependent on Mark for this information, refers to another disciple, Matthew, as the former tax collector, so that it has become accepted by Christians that Matthew and Levi were one and the same person, although none of the gospels links Matthew with either Alphaeus or James. An interesting theological discussion has consequently arisen as to whether there were two fathers known as Alphaeus, improbable as that would be.