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Bible Dictionaries
James
People's Dictionary of the Bible
or James (jâmez), same name as Jacob. 1. James the son of Zebedee, one of the twelve apostles, and elder brother of John. His mother's name was Salome. He was a fisherman, Mark 1:19, when at the call of the Master he left all, and became a disciple. Matthew 10:2; Mark 3:7; Luke 6:14; Acts 1:13. The name of Boanerges was given to him and his brother. The "sons of thunder" had a burning and impetuous spirit, which twice exhibits itself. Mark 10:37; Luke 9:54. He was one of the three who witnessed the raising of Jairus' daughter, the transfiguration, and the agony of Jesus in Gethsemane. On the day of the ascension he is mentioned as persevering, with the rest of the apostles and disciples, in prayer. Acts 1:13. Shortly before the passover, in the year 44, he was put to death by Herod Agrippa I. Acts 12:1; Acts 2:2. James the son of Alphæus, one of the twelve apostles. Matthew 10:3. Galled also James the Less. Mark 15:40; Mark 16:1; Matthew 27:56; Acts 1:13. Tradition says he labored in Palestine and Egypt. By some he is regarded as a cousin of Jesus. 3. James the "brother of the Lord." Galatians 1:19. At some time in the 40 days that intervened between the resurrection and the ascension, the Lord appeared to him, 1 Corinthians 15:7. Ten years after we find James mentioned with Peter, and with him deciding on the admission of Paul into fellowship with the church at Jerusalem, Acts 15:13; and from henceforth we always and him equal to, and sometimes presiding over, the very chiefest apostles, Peter, John, and Paul. Acts 9:27. 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. Acts 12:17; Acts 15:13; Acts 15:19; Acts 21:18; 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 while praying for his murderers. Josephus places his death in 62 a.d., but Hegesippus in 69 a.d.
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Rice, Edwin Wilbur, DD. Entry for 'James'. People's Dictionary of the Bible. https://www.studylight.org/dictionaries/eng/rpd/j/james.html. 1893.
