Zebedee was a Galilean fisherman and the father of the apostles James and John. He ran a fishing business on the Sea of Galilee together with his sons and had hired workers, which suggests that the family had some wealth. He is known for his sons leaving him in the boat to follow Jesus.
Jesus called James and John while they were sitting in the boat with their father Zebedee, mending their nets. They immediately left the boat and their father and followed Jesus.
21Going on from there, he saw two other brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John, in the boat with their father Zebedee, mending their nets. He called them,
Zebedee's wife (traditionally identified as Salome) came to Jesus and asked that her two sons might sit, one at his right hand and the other at his left, in his kingdom.