James, son of Zebedee James, son of Zebedee James, son of Zebedee (Hebrew: , "Yaʿqob"; Greek: Ἰάκωβος; ; died 44 AD) was one of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus, traditionally considered the first apostle to be martyred. The son of Zebedee and Salome is James, styled "the Greater", to distinguish him from the Apostle James "the Less", with greater meaning older or taller, rather than more important. He was the brother of John the beloved disciple. James is described as one of the first disciples to join Jesus. The Synoptic Gospels state that James and John were with their father by the seashore when
James, brother of Jesus main sources for the life of James the Just are the Pauline epistles, the Acts of the Apostles, and Eusebius and Jerome, who also quote the early Christian chronicler Hegesippus and Epiphanius. There is no mention of James in the Gospel of John and the early portions of the Acts of the Apostles. The Synoptics mention his name, but no further information. In the extant lists of Pseudo-Hippolytus of Rome, Dorotheus of Tyre, the Chronicon Paschale, and Dimitry of Rostov, he is the first of the Seventy Apostles though some sources, such as the "Catholic Encyclopedia", state that "these lists