Bible Dictionaries
James

　　JAMES (Heb. Ἰάκωβος. The English name is analogous to the Portuguese and Gael. ).—The name does not occur in the OT except in the case of the patriarch, but had become common in NT times, and is borne by several persons mentioned in the Gospels. Passing over the father of Joseph the husband of the Virgin Mary, according to St. Matthew’s genealogy (Matthew 1:16 where the form is [Note: The usual order is ‘James and John.’ St. Luke sometimes inverts it (8:51, 9:28, Acts 1:13). his Wife Was one of those who ministered to Christ ‘of their substance’ (Mark 15:41 [Note: The question whether the Lukan narrative refers to the same incident as that related by Ml. is not easy to decide. Hammond, Trench, Wordsworth, and other commentators answer it in the affirmative; Alford, Greswell, etc., in the negative. Plummer (‘St. Luke’ in Internat. Crit. Com.) is doubtful. A. Wright regards it as a conflation of the Markan narrative with that found in John 21:1-6μέτοχοι) with Peter in the fishing industry. Their mother’s name was Salome, who was probably a sister of the Virgin Mary (see art. Salome). The two brothers received from our Lord the name Boanerges (‘sons of thunder’), perhaps because of their impetuous zeal for their Master’s honour, shown by incidents like the wish to call down fire to consume certain Samaritans who refused Him a passage through their country (Luke 9:54; cf. Mark 9:38, Luke 9:49-50). James is specially mentioned as present at the healing of Peter’s wife’s mother (Mark 1:29), at the raising of Jairus’ daughter (Mark 5:37), at the Transfiguration (Mark 9:2), at the Mount of Olives during the great ‘eschatological’ discourse (Mark 13:3), and at the agony in the Garden of Gethsemane (Mark 14:33). On two of these occasions, the first and the fourth, Andrew is associated with the three; but on all the others, Peter, James, and John are alone with Christ. The special favour accorded to the two brothers (and perhaps their kinship to Jesus) probably prompted the ambitious request of Salome that they might sit as assessors to Him in His kingdom (Mark 10:35-40, Matthew 20:20-23). James was called upon to ‘drink the cup’ of suffering (Mark 10:38-39) first of all the Apostolic band, being beheaded by Herod Agrippa i. in a.d. 44 (Acts 12:2). An untrustworthy tradition represents him as preaching the gospel in Spain, of which country he is patron saint. Eusebius (Historia Ecclesiastica ii. 9) relates, on the authority of Clement of Alexandria, that, when he was tried for his life, his accuser was so greatly affected by his constancy that he declared himself a Christian, and died with him after obtaining his forgiveness and blessing. See, further, Hasting's Dictionary of the Bible ii. 541.

　　3. James the son of Alphaeus, one of the Twelve (Matthew 10:3, Mark 3:18, Luke 6:15, Acts 1:13). In each list he stands at the bead of the third group along with Simon Zelotes (with whom he is coupled by St. Luke), Judas of James (= Thaddaeus, with whom he is coupled by Mt. and Mk.), and Judas Iscariot. The Gospels tell us nothing more about him, but he was most likely a brother of Matthew, who also was a ‘son of Alphaeus’ (cf. Matthew 9:9 with Mark 2:14). He has been identified with (4) and (5); but the probabilities seem to the present writer to be against the former identification, while the latter is almost certainly wrong.

　　4. James Ἁλφαῖος, ἧ τοῦ Κλωπᾶ of John 19:25 means the wife of Clopas. It may mean ‘daughter of Clopas.’ And it is unlikely that St. Mark would describe James the son of Alphaeus by a new designation, James ‘the Little’ (in stature).* may also mean ‘young’ (Deissmann, Bible Studies, Eng. tr. 144).] Moreover, it is hard to see why St. John, writing for readers acquainted with the Synoptic Gospels, should introduce into his Gospel the name Clopas if he meant Alphaeus. On the whole, therefore, we must conclude with Ewald (Hist. of Israel, vi. 305, note 4) that the identification is unlikely.†ὑπομονή, used by Lk. only in the Gospels) = James 1:3-4; James 5:11; John 3:3 = James 1:17; John 8:31-33 = James 1:25; John 13:17 = James 4:17.‡παιδαγωγὸς εἰς Χριστόν. This view of the training of James, and consequently of our Lord his Brother, is confirmed by the Gospels. The names of the four brothers, James, Joseph, Simon (= Simeon), and Jude (= Judah), are those of patriarchs. The parents are careful to observe the Law in our Lord’s case (Luke 2:22-24; Luke 2:39; Luke 2:41-42).

　　The Western Church, in regarding James the Lord’s brother as identical with James the son of Alphaeus, seems to have been influenced by the authority of Jerome, who, in replying to Helvidius (circa 383 a.d.), urges that, as James the Lord’s brother is called an Apostle by St. Paul (Galatians 1:18-19), he must be identified with James the son of Alphaeus, since James the son of Zebedee was dead; and, further, that he was our Lord’s first cousin. (Jerome does not identify Alphaeus with Clopas). But it may be observed (1) that Jerome himself seems to have abandoned this view (Ep. cxx. ad Hedibiam); (2) that ἀπόστολος, on which Jerome relies, is not confined to the Twelve (Acts 14:4; Acts 14:14, 1 Corinthians 15:4-7).* [Note: RE Real-Encyklopädie fur protest. Theologic und Kirche.] 3