6 occurrences in 6 dictionaries

Reference: James

American

Surnamed the greater, or the elder, to distinguish him from James the younger, was one of the twelve apostles, brother of John the evangelist, and son of Zebedee and Salome, Mt 4:21; 27:56. Compare Mr 15:40. James was of Bethsaida in Galilee, and left his earthly occupation to follow Christ, Mr 1:29,20. His mother Salome was one of those women who occasionally attended our Savior in his journeys, and one day desired that her two sons might be seated at his right and left hand in the kingdom, Mt 20:20-23.

James and John were originally fishermen, with Zebedee their father, Mr 1:19. They were witnesses of our Lord's transfiguration, Mt 17:1-2; and when certain Samaritans refused to receive him, James and John wished for fire from heaven to consume them, Lu 9:54. For this reason, or because of their zeal and energy as ministers of Christ, the name of Boanerges, or sons of thunder, was afterwards given to them, Mr 3:17. Together with Peter they appear to have enjoyed special honors and privileges among the disciples, Mr 1:29; 5:37; 9:2; 13:3; 14:33; Lu 8:51. After the ascension of our Lord, at which James was present, he appears to have remained at Jerusalem, and was put to death by Herod, about A. D. 44, the first martyr among the apostles, Ac 12:1-2.

Another apostle, son of Alphaeus, or Cleophas, Mt 10:3; Mr 3:18; Lu 6:15. His mother's name was Mary, (3) and his brethren were Joses and Judas, (3) Mt 27:56; Mr 15:40. He is here called THE LESS, or the younger, to distinguish him from James the son of Zebedee.

The Lord's brother, Ga 1:19; either a brother a Christ, being a son of Joseph and Mary; or as many think, a cousin of Christ, and identical with the James above, 2. He resided at Jerusalem, Ac 15:13; and is called "the Just" by Josephus, and said to have been stoned to death, about A. D. 62. The epistle of James is ascribed to him by those who distinguish him from James the Less. The question of his true relationship to Christ is involved in much doubt. The gospels repeatedly mention James, Joses, Juda, and Simon, as "brothers" of our Lord, and speak in the same connection of his "mother" and his "sisters," Mt 12:46; 13:56; Mr 3:31; 6:3; Lu 8:19; moreover, the inspired writers expressly distinguish the brothers of Christ from the apostles both James the Less and Jude, Joh 2:12; 7:3-10; Ac 1:13-14, thus furnishing strong reasons, as many believe, for the opinion that James the Just was literally a brother of our Lord.

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Easton

(1.) The son of Zebedee and Salome; an elder brother of John the apostle. He was one of the twelve. He was by trade a fisherman, in partnership with Peter (Mt 20:20; 27:56). With John and Peter he was present at the transfiguration (Mt 17:1; Mr 9:2), at the raising of Jairus's daughter (Mr 5:37-43), and in the garden with our Lord (Mr 14:33). Because, probably, of their boldness and energy, he and John were called Boanerges, i.e., "sons of thunder." He was the first martyr among the apostles, having been beheaded by King Herod Agrippa (Ac 12:1-2), A.D. 44. (Comp. Mt 4:21; 20:20-23).

(2.) The son of Alphaeus, or Cleopas, "the brother" or near kinsman or cousin of our Lord (Ga 1:18-19), called James "the Less," or "the Little," probably because he was of low stature. He is mentioned along with the other apostles (Mt 10:3; Mr 3:18; Lu 6:15). He had a separate interview with our Lord after his resurrection (1Co 15:7), and is mentioned as one of the apostles of the circumcision (Ac 1:13). He appears to have occupied the position of head of the Church at Jerusalem, where he presided at the council held to consider the case of the Gentiles (Ac 12:17; 15:13-28:31; 21:18-24). This James was the author of the epistle which bears his name.

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Fausets

Jacob in Greek; the name appearing in our Lord's apostles and contemporaries for the first time since the patriarch. Son of Zebedee, brother of John. Their father's "hired servants" and fishing vessel imply some degree of competence. John probably was the one with Andrew (Joh 1:35-41), who, on John the Baptist's pointing to the Lamb of God, followed Jesus. The words Andrew "first findeth his own brother Simon" imply that John secondly found and called his own brother James to Jesus, or vice versa. Some months later the Lord saw Zebedee, James, and John, in the ship mending their nets. At His call James and John "immediately left the ship and their father and followed Him" (Mt 4:22). Their LEAVING THEIR FATHER "WITH THE HIRED servants" (Mr 1:20, a minute particular, characteristic of Mark' s vivid style and his knowledge through Peter of all which happened) was not an unfilial act, which it would have been if he had no helpers.

The next call was after an unsuccessful night's fishing, when the fishermen had gone out of their ships and had washed (Lu 5:2, Vaticanus and Cambridge manuscripts read eplunon, "were washing"; the Sinaiticus and Paris manuscripts have epifainoo) their nets; Jesus entering one of the ships, Simon's, prayed him to thrust out a little from land, and preached. Then rewarding his loan of the ship, He desired Simon, Launch out into the deep, and do ye let down your nets for a draught. At Christ's word, however unlikely to reason, he let down, and enclosed so many fish that the net broke; and the partners in the other ship came to his help, and they filled both ships so that they began to sink. Astonished at the miracle, yet encouraged by His further promise to Simon, "henceforth thou shalt catch men," the three forsook not merely their "nets" as before, but "all," and followed Him. In fact the successive calls were:

(1) to friendly acquaintance (Joh 1:37);

(2) to intimacy (Mt 4:18);

(3) to permanent discipleship (Lu 5:11);

(4) (toward the close of the first year of our Lord's ministry) to apostleship (Mt 10:1);

(5) to renewed self dedication, even unto death (Joh 21:15-22).

In Matthew and Luke (Lu 6:14), of the four catalogs of apostles, Andrew follows Peter on the ground of brotherhood. (See APOSTLES.) In Mark (Mr 3:16) and Acts (Ac 1:13) James and John precede Andrew on the ground of greater nearness to Jesus. These four head the twelve; and Andrew is at the foot of the four. Peter, James, and John alone witnessed the raising of Jairus' daughter (Mr 5:37); also the transfiguration (Mt 17:1); also the agony (Mt 26:37). The four asked our Lord "privately" when His prediction of the temple's overthrow should be fulfilled, and what should be the sign (Mr 13:3). In Lu 9:28 (the transfiguration) alone John precedes James. By the time that Luke wrote John was recognized as on a level with James, yet not above him, as Luke in Ac 1:13 has the order, "James, John," but in Ac 12:2 Luke calls James brother of John, who by that time had become the more prominent.

James was probably the elder brother, whence John is twice called "brother of James" (Mr 5:37; Mt 17:1). No official superiority was given, for no trace of it occurs in New Testament; it was the tacitly recognized leadership which some took above the others. James and John were called Boanerges to express their natural character and the grace which would purify and ennoble it, making James the first apostle martyr and John the apostle of love. (See BOANERGES.) Their fiery zeal in its untempered state appeared in their desiring to call fire from heaven to consume the Samaritans. These would not receive Jesus when He sent messengers to make ready for Him (i.e. to announce His Messiahship, which He did not conceal in Samaria as in Judaea and Galilee: Joh 4:26; Lu 9:54), because His face was as though He would go to Jerusalem, whereas they expected the Messiah would confirm their anti-Jewish worship in the mount Gerizim temple.

James and John "saw" some actual collision between the Samaritans and the messengers who were sent before and whom our Lord and His apostles followed presently; just as Elijah in the same Samaria had called for fire upon the offenders face to face (2Ki 1:10,12). In Lu 9:55-56, "ye know not what manner of spirit ye are (not the fiery judicial spirit which befitted Elijah's times, but the spirit of love so as to win men to salvation, is the spirit of Me and Mine), for the Son of man is not come to destroy men's lives but to save them," is not in Alex., Vat., and. Sin. manuscripts The same John subsequently (Ac 8:14-17) came down with Peter to confer the Spirit's gifts on Samaritan believers. What miracles in renewing the heart does the gospel work! Salome the mother of Zebedee's children, impressed by Christ's promise that the twelve should sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel, begged, and her two sons joined in the prayer, that they might sit one on His right the other on His left hand in His glory (Mr 10:35-37).

They prefaced it with pleading His own promise, "Master, we would that Thou shouldest do for us whatsoever we shall desire" (Mt 7:7; Lu 11:9; Mr 11:24). Perhaps jealousy of Peter and Andrew, their rivals for the nearest place to Him, actuated them (Mt 20:20-24). He told them that they should drink of His cup (Sin. and Vat. manuscripts omit in Mt 20:22-23 the clause as to the "baptism") of suffering (Ac 12:1-2; James; Re 1:9; John), but to sit on His right and left, said He, "is not Mine to give, except to those for whom it is prepared of My Father" (so the Greek). The ten were indignant at the claim. James was among those who abode in the upper room and persevered in prayer; the apostles, the women, and the Lord's brethren, after the ascension (Ac 1:13). In A. D. 44 Herod Agrippa I, a pliant politician but strict Jew, "very ambitious to oblige the people, exactly careful in the observance of the laws. and not allowing one day to pass without its appointed sacrifice" (Josephus, Ant. 19:7, section 3), in consonance with his well known character, "laid hands (Greek) on certain of the church."

The Passover had brought James and Peter to Jerusalem (Ac 12:1-3). So he took the opportunity just before the Passover to kill the most fiery of the two first, namely, "James the brother of John." "The sword" was the instrument of his execution, Herod preferring the Roman method to the Jewish punishment of seducers to strange worship, namely, stoning. Clement of Alexandria (Hypotyposeis, 7; Eusebius, H. E., 2:6) records a tradition that James's prosecutor was moved by his bold confession to declare himself a Christian on the spot; he begged James's forgiveness, and the apostle kissed him, saying "peace be to thee"; they were both beheaded together. A Roman Catholic legend says that he preached in Spain, and that his remains were transported to Compostella there!

James, surnamed "the Less" or "Little." Son of Mary (Mr 15:40; Mt 27:56; Lu 24:10). Brother of Jude (Jg 1:1; Lu 6:16; Ac 1:13). "The brother of the Lord" (Mt 13:55; Mr 6:3; Ga 1:19). "Son of Alphaeus" (Mt 10:3; Mr 3:18; Lu 6:15; Ac 1:13). Writer of the epistle; president of the church at Jerusalem (Jas 1:1; Ac 12:17; 15:13,19; Ga 2:9,12). Clopas (Alexandrinus and Vaticanus manuscripts, Joh 19:25) or Cleophas (Sinaiticus manuscript) is the Hebrew, Alphaeus the Greek, of the same name: he married Mary, sister of the Virgin Mary, and had by her James, Joses, Jude, and Simon, and three daughters (Mary is sometimes designated "mother of James and Joses," Mt 27:56, as these were the two oldest); he died before our Lord's ministry began, and his widow went to live with her sister the Virgin Mary, a widow also herself (for Joseph's name never occurs after Luke 2), at Nazareth (Mt 13:55), Capernaum (Joh 2:12), and Jerusalem (Ac 1:14).

Living together the cousins were regarded as "brothers" and "sisters" of Jesus. Being His elders, they went on one occasion to "lay hold on Him," saying that He was "beside Himself"; as He was so pressed by multitudes that He and His disciples "could not so much as eat bread," His cousin brethren thought they would restrain what seemed to them mad zeal (Mr 3:20-21,31-33). The stat

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Hastings

JAMES

1. James, the son of Zehedee, one of the Twelve, the elder brother of John. Their father was a Galil

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Smith

(the Greek form of Jacob, supplanter).

1. 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,

Mr 1:20

when at the call of the Master he left all, and became, one and forever, his disciple, in the spring of 28.

Mt 10:2; Mr 3:14; Lu 6:13; Ac 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.

Mr 10:37; Lu 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.

Ac 1:13

Shortly before the day of the Passover, in the year 44, he was put to death by Herod Agrippa I.

Ac 12:1-2

2. James the son of Alpheus, one of the twelve apostles.

Mt 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

Mt 27:56

and Mark 15:40 with 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

Mt 13:55

and 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

Lu 6:16

and 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

Mt 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.

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Watsons

JAMES, '???????, of the same import as Jacob. James, surnamed the greater, or the elder, to distinguish him from James the younger, was brother to John the evangelist, and son to Zebedee and Salome, Mt 4:21. He was of Bethsaida, in Galilee, and left all to follow Christ. Salome requested our Saviour, that her two sons, James and John, might sit at his right hand, when he should be in possession of his kingdom. Our Saviour answered, that it belonged to his heavenly Father alone to dispose of these places of honour, Mt 20:21. Before their vocation, James and John followed the trade of fishermen with their father Zebedee; and they did not quit their profession till our Saviour called them, Mr 1:18-19. They were witnesses of our Lord's transfiguration, Mt 17:2. When certain Samaritans refused to admit Jesus Christ, James and John wished for fire from heaven to consume them, Lu 9:54; and for this reason, it is thought, the name of Boanerges, or sons of thunder, was given them. Some days after the resurrection of our Saviour, James and John went to fish in the sea of Tiberias, where they saw Jesus. They were present at the ascension of our Lord. St. James is said to have preached to all the dispersed tribes of Israel; but for this there is only report. His martyrdom is related, Ac 12:1-2, about A.D. 42, or 44, for the date is not well ascertained. Herod Agrippa, king of the Jews, and grandson of Herod the Great, caused him to be seized and executed at Jerusalem. Clemens Alexandrinus informs us, that he who brought St. James before the judges was so much affected with his constancy in confessing Jesus Christ, that he also declared himself a Christian, and was condemned, as well as the Apostle, to be beheaded.

JAMES THE LESS, surnamed the brother of our Lord, Ga 1:19, was the son of Cleopas, otherwise called Alpheus, and Mary, sister to the blessed virgin; consequently, he was cousin-german to Jesus Christ. He was surnamed the Just, on account of the admirable holiness and purity of his life. He is said to have been a priest, and to have observed the laws of the Nazarites from his birth. Our Saviour appeared to James the less, eight days after his resurrection, 1Co 15:7. He was at Jerusalem, and was considered as a pillar of the church, when St. Paul first came thither after his conversion, Ga 1:19, A.D. 37. In the council of Jerusalem, held in the year 61, St. James gave his vote last; and the result of the council was principally formed from what St. James said, who, though he observed the ceremonies of the law, and was careful that others should observe them, was of opinion, that such a yoke was not to be imposed on the faithful converted from among the Heathens, Ac 15:13, &c.

James the less was a person of great prudence and discretion, and was highly esteemed by the Apostles and other Christians. Such, indeed, was his general reputation for piety and virtue, that, as we learn from Origen, Eusebius, and Jerom, Josephus thought, and declared it to be the common opinion, that the sufferings of the Jews, and the destruction of their city and temple, were owing to the anger of God, excited by the murder of James. This must be considered as a strong and remarkable testimony to the character of this Apostle, as it is given by a person who did not believe that Jesus was the Christ. The passages of Josephus, referred to by those fathers upon this subject, are not found in his works now extant.

JAMES, GENERAL EPISTLE OF. Clement of Rome and Hermas allude to this epistle; and it is quoted by Origen, Eusebius, Athanasius, Jerom, Chrysostom, Augustine, and many other fathers. But though the antiquity of this epistle had been always undisputed, some few formerly doubted its right to be admitted into the canon. Eusebius says, that in his time it was generally, though not universally, received as canonical; and publicly read in most, but not in all, churches; and Estius affirms, that after the fourth century, no church or ecclesiastical writer is found who ever doubted its authenticity; but that, on the contrary, it is included in all subsequent catalogues of canonical Scripture, whether published by councils, churches, or individuals. It has, indeed, been the uniform tradition of the church, that this epistle was written by James the Just; but it was not universally admitted till after the fourth century, that James the Just was the same person as James the less, one of the twelve Apostles; that point being ascertained, the canonical authority of this epistle was no longer doubted. It is evident that this epistle could not have been written by James the elder, for he was beheaded by Herod Agrippa in the year 44, and the errors and vices reproved in this epistle show it to be of a much later date; and the destruction of Jerusalem is also here spoken of as being very near at hand, Jas 5:8-9. It has always been considered as a circumstance very much in favour of this epistle, that it was found in the Syriac version, which was made as early as the end of the first century, and for the particular use of converted Jews,

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