How many James in the Bible?

Answer 1

There are at least four distinct persons name James mentioned in the New Testament:

• James the son of Zebedee (one of the twelve disciples, the brother of John)
• James the son of Alpheus (another of the twelve disciples, sometimes called "James the Less" outside of the Bible)
• James the half-brother of Jesus Christ (son of Mary Jesus' mother and her husband Joseph) also called "James the Just"
• James the father of Judas (not Judas Iscariot)

Bear in mind, however, that the English name "James" (used only in the New Testament), is actually the transliteration chosen by translators of the Greek name Iakobus, which is itself a transliteration of the Hebrew name that we transliterate into English as "Jacob", so the New Testament name "James" is equivalent to the Old Testament name "Jacob".

Incidentally, the authorship of the book of the New Testament titled James is generally accepted to be by James the half-brother of Jesus (James the Just), although the book itself does not specify which James it is from. The basis of this is that James the son of Zebedee is thought to have been dead by the time of the writing of the book of James, and James the half-brother of Jesus is the only other James who would have been known well enough by the early Church that he would not have needed to introduce himself.

Answer 2

4

Answer 3

3