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James


Jaymz

The English equivalent of the Greek Jacobus, apparently a common name in the first century. 1 James, the son of Zebedee (Matt 4:21; Matt 10:2; Mark 1:19; Mark 3:17) and brother of John (Matt 17:1; Mark 3:17; Mark 5:37; Acts 12:2), with whom he was called by Jesus to be one of the Twelve (Matt 4:21; Mark 1:19-20; Luke 5:10-11). Jesus nicknamed James and John “Boanerges,” meaning “sons of thunder” (Mark 3:17). The two are prominent in the various lists of the Twelve (Matt 10:2-4; Mark 3:16-19; Luke 6:14-16; Acts 1:13). With Peter, they were present when Jesus raised Jairus’s daughter (Mark 5:37; Luke 8:51), at the transfiguration (Matt 17:1; Mark 9:2; Luke 9:28), and in the Garden of Gethsemane (Matt 26:37; Mark 14:33). The brothers (or their mother) request special places beside Jesus at the time of the messianic kingdom (Matt 20:20-23; Mark 10:35-40). (Acts 12:2) reports James’s martyrdom by decapitation at the command of Herod Agrippa I. 2 James, the son of Alphaeus. He is identified in the apostolic lists as one of the Twelve (Matt 10:3; Mark 3:18; Luke 6:15; Acts 1:13), but little else is known about him. He is sometimes identified with the “James the younger” of (Mark 15:40). 3 James, the brother of Jesus. Jesus is reported to have had four brothers (1Cor 9:5; Matt 13:55; Mark 6:3; Acts 1:14; Gal 1:19). Though apparently not followers during Jesus’s ministry (Matt 12:46-50; Mark 3:31-35; Luke 8:19-21; John 7:3-5), the brothers are reportedly with the Twelve and others after Jesus’s resurrection and ascension (Acts 1:14), and James is identified as one to whom Jesus appeared (1Cor 15:7). Eventually, James assumes leadership of the Jerusalem church (Acts 15; Gal 2:1-12). Both the Jewish historian Josephus and the Christian Hegesippus (according to the fourth-century church historian Eusebius) report that James was put to death by the priestly authorities in Jerusalem a few years before the destruction of the Temple in 70 CE. 4 James, the father of Judas (one of the Twelve), otherwise apparently not mentioned in the NT.

  • Powell, Mark Allan, ed. HarperCollins Bible Dictionary. Abridged Edition. Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature, 2009.