The English Standard Version Bible Blog has a link to a visual chart for displaying the connections between people in the Bible.
The information is interesting, but not necessarily helpful. It is based off of what names are in the vicinity of other names in the Bible rather than on an intelligent understanding of the actual relationships between individuals. For example, Paul didn’t spend much time with Jesus during his physical incarnation (not that we know of, anyway) yet there is a strong connection due to how often Paul uses his name near Jesus’ name (”Paul, called to be an apostle of Christ Jesus . . . ” 1 Cor. 1:1). Consider it an early example of Google Bombing type behavior.
This did remind me of a study I did on the 12 Disciples. After connecting together those who were explicitly called relatives and those who may have been closely related based upon tradition or scattered information in the Bible itself an interesting picture began to arise. Suddenly I started seeing Jesus and his ministry in a different context. These weren’t random followers around him, there were friends and relatives. These were people who spent their lives around one another.
The followers of Jesus were tied into a full reality. They were connected to the followers of John the Baptist, the leading priests, and even the secular rulers of the land. That would be a great chart to see.
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