James
Jerusalem · 62
J
James the Just
James the Just
?–62 CE · Nazareth
James the Just, known in Greek sources as the brother of the Lord, was a central figure in the earliest Jerusalem church and is traditionally identified as its first bishop. He was not a follower of Jesus during Jesus's public ministry but became a leader of the Jerusalem community following a post-resurrection appearance described by Paul (1 Corinthians 15:7). He presided at the Council of Jerusalem (c. 48–49 CE) and is the traditional author of the Epistle of James, though scholarly opinion on authorship is divided. According to Josephus (Antiquities 20.9.1), he was put to death by stoning in 62 CE on the order of the high priest Ananus ben Ananus.
Life journeyclick any stop, or use ←/→Trace on the map →
✦
Stop 1 of 21–30Family Origin
NazarethIsrael
What they did here
James is inferred to have grown up in Nazareth as a member of Jesus's family; the Gospels list him among Jesus's brothers (Mark 6:3, Matthew 13:55), though no source narrates his birth or childhood there independently of the family's Nazareth connection, and he was not a follower during Jesus's public ministry.
About Nazareth
Nazareth, a town in the Lower Galilee of northern Israel. The Gospels make it the childhood home of Jesus, who is called 'Jesus of Nazareth'.
In Nazareth at the same time
In the same place & time
✦
Sages whose lives overlapped with James the Just’s in the same cities, drawn from their recorded journeys.
Across the traditions
- Yonatan ben Uziel· Jerusalem
- Shammai HaZaken· Jerusalem
- Akavya ben Mahalalel· Jerusalem
- Rabban Shimon ben Hillel· Jerusalem
- Rabban Gamliel HaZaken· Jerusalem
- Dosa ben Harkinas· Jerusalem
- Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel I· Jerusalem
- Berenice· Jerusalem
- Rabban Yochanan ben Zakkai· Jerusalem
- Josephus· Jerusalem
- Yehoshua ben Gamla· Jerusalem
In the same tradition
Jesus of Nazareth, Pope Peter the Apostle, Paul the Apostle, John the Apostle, Jude the Apostle, Matthew the Apostle, Mark the Evangelist
The world in their lifetime
✦
Thinkers and teachers of other traditions whose lives overlapped with James the Just’s — a glimpse of the wider world they lived in. Drawn purely from recorded birth and death years.