Dict: smith - JAMES

smith:

JAMES - J>@ - (the Greek form of Jacob, supplanter). James the son of Zebedee, one of the twelve apostles. He was elder brother of the evangelist John. His mother’s name was Salome. We first hear of him in A.D. 27, kjv@Mark:1:20) when at the call of the Master he left all, and became, one and forever, his disciple, in the spring of 28. kjv@Matthew:10:2; kjv@Mark:3:14; kjv@Luke:6:13; kjv@Acts:1:13) It would seem to have been at the time of the appointment of the twelve apostles that the name of Boanerges was given to the sons of Zebedee. The "sons of thunder" had a burning and impetuous spirit, which twice exhibits itself. kjv@Mark:10:37; kjv@Luke:9:54) On the night before the crucifixion James was present at the agony in the garden. On the day of the ascension he is mentioned as persevering with the rest of the apostles and disciples, in prayer. kjv@Acts:1:13) Shortly before the day of the Passover, in the year 44, he was put to death by Herod Agrippa I. kjv@Acts:12:1-2) James the son of Alpheus, one of the twelve apostles. kjv@Matthew:10:3) Whether or not this James is to be identified with James the Less, the son of Alphaeus, the brother of our Lord, is one of the most difficult questions in the gospel history. By comparing kjv@Matthew:27:56) and kjv@Mark:15:40 with kjv@John:19:25 We find that the Virgin Mary had a sister named, like herself, Mary, who was the wife of Clopas or Alpheus (varieties of the same name), and who had two sons, James the Less and Joses. By referring to kjv@Matthew:13:55) and kjv@Mark:6:3 We find that a James the Less and Joses, with two other brethren called Jude and Simon, and at least three sisters, were sisters with the Virgin Mary at Nazareth by referring to kjv@Luke:6:16) and kjv@Acts:1:13 We find that there were two brethren named James and Jude among the apostles. It would certainly be natural to think that we had here but one family of four brothers and three or more sisters, the children of Clopas and Mary, nephews and nieces of the Virgin Mary. There are difficulties however, in the way of this conclusion into which we cannot here enter; but in reply to the objection that the four brethren in kjv@Matthew:13:55) are described as the brothers of Jesus, not as his cousins, it must be recollected that adelphoi, which is here translated "brethren," may also signify cousins.

JAMES THE LESS - J>@ - called the Less because younger or smaller in stature than James the son of Zebedee. He was the son of Alpheus or Clopas and brother of our Lord (see above); was called to the apostolate, together with his younger brother Jude, in the spring of the year 28. At some time in the forty days that intervened between the resurrection and the ascension the Lord appeared to him. ( kjv@1Corinthians:15:7) Ten years after we find James on a level with Peter, and with him deciding on the admission of St. Paul into fellowship with the Church at Jerusalem; and from henceforth we always find him equal, or in his own department superior, to the very chiefest apostles, Peter, John and Paul. kjv@Acts:9:27; kjv@Galatians:1:18-19) This pre-eminence is evident throughout the after history of the apostles, whether we read it in the Acts, in the epistles or in ecclesiastical writers. kjv@Acts:12:17 kjv@Acts:15:13 kjv@Acts:15:19 kjv@Acts:21:18 ; kjv@Galatians:2:9) According to tradition, James was thrown down from the temple by the scribes and Pharisees; he was then stoned, and his brains dashed out with a fuller’s club.

JAMES, THE GENERAL EPISTLE OF - J>@ - The author of this epistle was in all probability James the son of Alphaeus, and our Lord’s brother It was written from Jerusalem, which St. James does not seem to have ever left. It was probably written about A.D. 62, during the interval between Paul’s two imprisonments. Its main object is not to teach doctrine, but to improve morality. St. James is the moral teacher of the New Testament. He wrote for the Jewish Christians, whether in Jerusalem or abroad, to warn them against the sins to which as Jews they were most liable, and to console and exhort them under the sufferings to which as Christians they were most exposed.