James son of Zebedee

Who James son of Zebedee is

James is called the son of Zebedee and the brother of John. Matthew and Mark show Jesus calling the two while they mend nets in the ship; Matthew says they left the ship and their father, Mark that they left Zebedee with the hired servants, and Luke says they were partners with Simon. Mark says Jesus surnamed the brothers Boanerges, which the text renders as the sons of thunder. He is in all three apostle lists and in the upper room list in Acts. Three scenes admit only Peter, James and John: the ruler's house where the child is raised, the high mountain where Jesus is transfigured, and Gethsemane. Luke reports that James and John, seeing a Samaritan village refuse Jesus, asked whether to command fire from heaven, and were rebuked. In Mark the two ask to sit at his right and left hand in his glory and are told they do not know what they ask; in Matthew the same request comes from the mother of Zebedee's children, and in both the other ten are angry. Mark includes him among the four who ask about the temple. Acts says Herod the king killed James the brother of John with the sword.

Cited passages: Matthew 4:21, Matthew 4:22, Matthew 10:2, Matthew 17:1, Matthew 20:20, Matthew 20:21, Matthew 20:22, Matthew 20:24, Matthew 26:37, Mark 1:19, Mark 1:20, Mark 1:29, Mark 3:17, Mark 5:37, Mark 9:2, Mark 10:35, Mark 10:37, Mark 10:38, Mark 10:41, Mark 13:3, Mark 14:33, Luke 5:10, Luke 6:14, Luke 8:51, Luke 9:28, Luke 9:54, Luke 9:55, Acts 1:13, Acts 12:2

Historical setting

More than one James stands in these books and the passages keep them apart by description rather than by merging them. This one is the son of Zebedee and brother of John. The apostle lists separately name James the son of Alpheus. A James is also named among the brethren in the question asked in Jesus' own country, and nothing in these verses identifies him with either apostle. Luke's list adds Judas the brother of James without saying which James. The request for the right and left hand is put by the brothers themselves in Mark and by their mother in Matthew, and both forms are printed. His death is reported in one clause in Acts, with no trial, last words or burial, and the text supplies no dates, no place and no age.

Cited passages: Matthew 10:2, Matthew 10:3, Matthew 20:20, Matthew 20:21, Mark 3:17, Mark 3:18, Mark 6:3, Mark 10:35, Mark 10:37, Luke 6:15, Luke 6:16, Acts 12:2

How the story is told

James is nearly always named with someone else, and the text records no speech from him alone. Where he speaks it is as half of a pair, asking about fire on a village or asking for the seats of honour. Mark puts his name in exactly the places where the circle narrows, at the child's bedside, on the mountain and in the garden, so his presence marks what the narrative treats as private. The request for glory in Mark stands between a plain announcement of the killing to come and a saying about being servant of all, and the answer given to the brothers speaks of a cup and a baptism rather than of thrones. Acts then reports his killing in a single line inside a summary of Herod's actions, without a scene.

Cited passages: Mark 3:17, Mark 5:37, Mark 9:2, Mark 10:33, Mark 10:34, Mark 10:35, Mark 10:37, Mark 10:38, Mark 10:39, Mark 10:41, Mark 10:44, Mark 14:33, Luke 9:54, Luke 9:55, Acts 12:1, Acts 12:2

Story moments

1. Called from the ship (Mark 1:20). James and John leave Zebedee with the hired servants and follow.
2. Surnamed Boanerges (Mark 3:17). Mark gives the surname and renders it as the sons of thunder.
3. Inside the ruler’s house (Mark 5:37). Only Peter, James and John are allowed to follow him in.
4. On the high mountain (Mark 9:2). He is one of the three taken up when Jesus is transfigured.
5. Fire on a village refused (Luke 9:54). He and John ask about calling down fire and are rebuked.
6. Asking for the right hand (Mark 10:37). The brothers ask to sit at his right and left in his glory.
7. Killed with the sword (Acts 12:2). Acts reports that Herod killed James the brother of John.

Key passages

Matthew 4:21

And going on from thence, he saw other two brethren, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in a ship with Zebedee their father, mending their nets; and he called them.

Matthew 10:2

Now the names of the twelve apostles are these; The first, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother; James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother;

Matthew 17:1

And after six days Jesus taketh Peter, James, and John his brother, and bringeth them up into an high mountain apart,

Mark 1:19

And when he had gone a little further thence, he saw James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, who also were in the ship mending their nets.

Mark 1:29

And forthwith, when they were come out of the synagogue, they entered into the house of Simon and Andrew, with James and John.

Mark 3:17

And James the son of Zebedee, and John the brother of James; and he surnamed them Boanerges, which is, The sons of thunder:

King James Version. 19 indexed passages in total.

For reflection

The brothers say they can drink the cup, and are told they will. Reading that beside the single line in Acts about Herod and the sword, what does the text leave the reader to hold together?

Books James son of Zebedee appears in

• Matthew
• Mark
• Luke
• Acts

Related people

• Peter
• John the Apostle
• Jesus Christ
• Andrew
• Moses
• John the Baptist
• Matthew
• Judas