One of Jesus's inner circle — who he was, and why the New Testament has more than one James.
The New Testament names at least three men called James, which causes regular confusion: James son of Zebedee (an apostle, brother of John), James son of Alphaeus (another, less-documented apostle), and James “the Lord's brother” (a leader of the Jerusalem church, traditionally credited with the Epistle of James). Most “who was James” searches point to James son of Zebedee, the better-known apostle.
James son of Zebedee, along with his brother John and Peter, formed an inner circle Jesus took to moments the other apostles didn't witness — including the Transfiguration (Matthew 17:1–2) and his final prayer in Gethsemane (Matthew 26:37).
Mark 3:17 records Jesus nicknaming James and John “Boanerges,” meaning “sons of thunder” — likely a reference to their intensity, illustrated when they ask Jesus to call down fire on a Samaritan village that rejected him (Luke 9:54).
Acts 12:1–2 records that King Herod Agrippa I had James executed by the sword, making him the first of the twelve apostles to be martyred, sometime around AD 44.
The Epistle of James is traditionally attributed to James “the Lord's brother,” not the apostle James son of Zebedee, adding to the common confusion between the two.
Tradition holds that James son of Zebedee's remains rest at Santiago de Compostela, making him the object of one of Christianity's most famous pilgrimages.
Beyond the Transfiguration and Gethsemane, James is also named among the first four disciples Jesus calls in Mark 1:19–20.