James the Lesser

Description

Saint James the Lesser – James, son of Alphaeus – Jacques d’Alphée – Tiago, filho de Alfeu – Jakobus, Sohn des Alphäus – Jakobus de Mindere – James son of Alphaeus – James the Less – Jacques de Alphée – Jacques le Mineur – Jakobus,Sohn des Alphäus – Sao Tiago,filho de Alfeu

James, son of Alphaeus (Greek: Ἰάκωβος, Iakōbos; Aramaic: ܝܥܩܘܒ ܒܪ ܚܠ Hebrew: יעקב בן חלפי Ya’akov ben Halfai; Coptic: ⲓⲁⲕⲱⲃⲟⲥ ⲛⲧⲉ ⲁⲗⲫⲉⲟⲥ; Arabic: يعقوب بن حلفى, romanized: Ya’qūb bin Halfā) was one of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus, appearing under this name in all three of the Synoptic Gospels’ lists of the apostles. He is generally identified with James the Less (Greek: Ἰάκωβος ὁ μικρός Iakōbos ho mikros, Mark 15:40) and commonly known by that name in church tradition. He is also labelled “the Minor”, “the Little”, “the Lesser”, or “the Younger”, according to translation. He is distinct from James, son of Zebedee and in some interpretations also from James, brother of Jesus (James the Just). He appears only four times in the New Testament, each time in a list of the twelve apostles.

Alphaeus is also the name of the father of the tax-collector Levi mentioned in Mark 2:14. The publican appears as Matthew in Matthew 9:9, which has led some to conclude that James and Matthew might have been brothers. The four times that James son of Alphaeus is mentioned directly in the Bible (each time in the list of the Apostles) the only family relationship stated is that his father is Alphaeus. In two lists of the Apostles, the other James and John are listed as brothers and that their father is Zebedee.