James, the son of Alphaeus, is one of the Twelve for whom the least is known. H.S. Vigeveno calls him “the unknown apostle.”1 He appears ninth in all four apostolic lists (Matt 10:3; Mark 3:18; Luke 6:15; Acts 1:13), which may indicate that he was a leader of the third group of apostles.2 Even so, he was undoubtedly one of the minor apostles. We find no record of his calling to follow Jesus. Apart from the apostolic lists, James, son of Alphaeus, appears nowhere else in the New Testament.
There are six individuals named James in the New Testament, which contributes to some of the confusion surrounding the identity of James, the son of Alphaeus. Among the Twelve, two have the name James—the first, James, the son of Zebedee, was known as “James the Great”; the second, James, the son of Alphaeus, is often referred to as “James the Little.” While some have suggested that this means he was less significant among the Twelve, Jewish parallels show it refers to his physical stature. However, the identification of James, son of Alphaeus, with James the Little rests upon the assumption that James, the son of Alphaeus, is the same individual as the son of Mary (Matt 27:56; Mark 15:40), which cannot be proven.
The father of Matthew (Levi) was also called Alphaeus (Mark 2:14). This has led some scholars to consider them brothers.3 Yet according to the Anchor Bible Dictionary: “But since the evangelists seem eager to point out pairs of brothers among the Twelve (as in Peter and Andrew, James and John) but never refer to Matthew and James as brothers, this conclusion seems very improbable.”4
Even though we have no individual biblical stories of James, son of Alphaeus, we know that, as one of Jesus’s closest disciples, he personally traveled with Jesus for an extended period, granting him rare insights into and experiences of the life, character, and ministry of Jesus. He heard Jesus teach many times, witnessed his miracles, and saw his ascension. He witnessed Jesus alive after he had been killed (1 Cor 15:5; Matt 28:16; Luke 24:36; John 20:19–23; Acts 1:3), and like the rest of the apostles, James, the son of Alphaeus, was willing to suffer for his belief in the resurrection (Acts 5:17–29).
The extra-biblical information on James, the son of Alphaeus, is also minimal. From the second century onward, James is simply mentioned in various lists of the Twelve, including the Diatessaron (8.11), the Acts of Thomas (1.1), and the Constitutions of the Holy Apostles (Homily XXXII). The Book of Common Prayer (sixteenth century) lists James, the son of Alphaeus, as the author of the canonical book of James, but most scholars reject this designation. There is no known Acts of James, and the only known Passion remains unpublished.5
Beyond the general missionary call for the Twelve, no specific early accounts record the travels of James. There is a tradition that James, the son of Alphaeus, established Christianity in Spain.6 In the ninth century, the bishop of Iria claimed a star guided him to the burial spot of James. Ever since, James has been recognized as a patron saint of Spain. Given how late these traditions are, Schmidt suggests that James may have stayed in Jerusalem and been stoned to death by Jewish religious leaders who accused him of blasphemy.7
Schmidt suggests there is some historical precedent for the stoning to death of James in Jerusalem. Hippolytus on the Twelve 9 says: “And James the son of Alphæus, when preaching in Jerusalem, was stoned to death by the Jews, and was buried there beside the temple.”8 E.A. Wallis Budge reports a similar fate for James, although he does not mention the burial by the temple.9 Both stories agree that religious leaders had James stoned to death in Jerusalem. Although this was a common means of death for blasphemy (cf. Deut 13:1–18), it is difficult to avoid the conclusion that traditions surrounding James, the son of Alphaeus, were conflated with traditions regarding James the brother of Jesus. It is not impossible both were stoned to death in Jerusalem, but the fact that Pseudo-Hippolytus reports the crucifixion in Jerusalem and burial by the temple (which was reported much earlier for James the Just) makes it likely the traditions were conflated. The second fact that makes this tradition suspect is the line in Budge’s account “may God curse them!” in reference to the Jews. While this could be a personal line Budge added to the tradition he received, it seems equally possible the tradition of the death of James by the Jews may have been invented to set up James as a saint and further depict the Jews as “God-killers.”
Two traditions hold that James was crucified. The Hieronymian Martyrology (c. fifth century) places his journeys and crucifixion in Persia. The second tradition comes from Nicetas David, the Paphlagonian (b. ninth century), who wrote a number of homilies on different saints.10 His Oration octava, on the life of James, the son of Alphaeus, provides little historical information about the life of James, son of Alphaeus.11 The primary focus of the homilies was not to impart historical information, but to connect readers or hearers to the apostle through faith.12 Yet Nicetas does make it clear that Christian spirituality is tied to history. Bovon explains:
James is historically relevant on several accounts: as an eyewitness to Christ’s miracles, as an adherent to Christ’s words, as a participant in Christ’s passion, and, after Christ’s ascension, as an active apostle and martyr. Nicetas mentions all sorts of travels, agonies, humiliations, including persecution by the Jews and heathen uprisings against him. Finally, James is crucified.13
Nicetas tracks the travels of James through Eleutheropolis, Gaza, Tyre, and multiple smaller towns. The martyrdom account occurs in Ostrakine, Egypt. Like Andrew from the Acts of Andrew and Peter from the Acts of Peter, James gives a speech from the cross. Roughly four centuries later, Nikephoros Kallistos Xanthopoulos wrote his Historia Ecclesiastica and provided a similar story for James, the son of Alphaeus. While there are some slight differences in the travel narratives, it is likely they both borrowed from an earlier source regarding James.14
Traditions surrounding the travels and fate of James are undoubtedly tentative. Nevertheless, the following points weigh in favor of the martyrdom of James. First, Jesus warned his disciples that they would suffer and be killed, just as Israel had done to the prophets (Matt 21:33–40, 22:6; 23:30–31, 34, 37; Mark 12:1–11; Luke 6:22–23; 11:47–50; 13:34; 20:9–18).
Second, some evidence suggests that some lesser-known apostles died as martyrs—this may include James, son of Alphaeus. In his Letter to the Smyrneans 3:1–2, Ignatius reports an appearance of Jesus to his disciples (reminiscent of Luke 24:39), who reach out and touch him. As a result, Ignatius claims: “they also despised death, for they were found to be beyond death.” Ignatius seems to assume common knowledge that some of the apostles died as martyrs. He reports their willingness to suffer and die as a result of seeing the risen physical Jesus.
Further, in his Letter to the Philippians 9, Polycarp lists Ignatius, Paul, and “other apostles” as examples of those who have stayed faithful during persecution and who are now with the Lord:
I exhort you all, therefore, to yield obedience to the word of righteousness, and to exercise all patience, such as ye have seen [set] before your eyes, not only in the case of the blessed Ignatius, and Zosimus, and Rufus, but also in others among yourselves, and in Paul himself, and the rest of the apostles. [This do] in the assurance that all these have not run in vain, but in faith and righteousness, and that they are [now] in their due place in the presence of the Lord, with whom also they suffered. For they loved not this present world, but Him who died for us, and for our sakes was raised again by God from the dead.15
The key part of this passage is when Polycarp refers to Paul “and the other apostles.” To encourage the Philippians to remain faithful to death, Polycarp cites the examples of Ignatius, Zosimus, Rufus, Paul, and “other apostles” who remained faithful and are now “in the place they deserved, with the Lord, with whom they also suffered.” I addition, the fourth-century Syrian Church father Aphrahat said:
Great and excellent is the martyrdom of Jesus. He surpassed in affliction and in confession all who were before or after. And after Him was the faithful martyr Stephen whom the Jews stoned. Simon (Peter) also and Paul were perfect martyrs. And James and John walked in the footsteps of their Master Christ. Also (others) of the apostles hereafter in diverse places confessed and proved true martyrs.16
Third, two independent traditions claim James, the son of Alphaeus, was martyred for his faith by stoning or by crucifixion. They disagree on where and how, but they agree he was martyred. Fourth, there is no record that James recanted his faith or died peacefully. Traditions are unanimous that he was a martyr.
These points are not insignificant, yet it must be conceded that the accounts of James are late and historically tentative. Beyond his membership in the Twelve, we know little else about James with any considerable degree of confidence. When all the facts are considered, the following seems to be the most reasonable conclusion with regard to the travels and fate of James, son of Alphaeus:
1. James, son of Alphaeus, engaged in missionary work outside Jerusalem—very probably true (Matt 28:18–20; Acts 1:8; general evidence for the Twelve engaging in missionary work; Hieronymian Martyrology; Nicetas David the Paphlagonian, Oration octava).
2. James, son of Alphaeus, experienced martyrdom—as plausible as not (Hippolytus on the Twelve 9; Hieronymian Martyrology; Nicetas David the Paphlagonian, Oration octava; Nikephoros Kallistos Xanthopoulos, Historia Ecclesiastica).
1 H.S. Vigeveno, Thirteen Men Who Changed the World (Glendale, CA: G/L Publications, 1967), 59.
2 Beltran Villegas, “Peter, Philip, and James of Alphaeus,” New Testament Studies 33 (1987): 292–94.
3 For instance, McBirnie draws much of his information about James from his knowledge about Matthew, whom he presumes to be his brother. Yet if they are not brothers, then this information is misleading. William Steuart McBirnie, The Search for the Twelve Apostles, rev. ed. (Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale, 1973).
4 David Noel Freedman, ed., The Anchor Bible Dictionary (New York: 1992), s.v. “James,” by Donald A. Hagner.
5 François Bovon, “Byzantine Witness for the Apocryphal Acts of the Apostles,” in The Apocryphal Acts of the Apostles, ed. François Bovon, Ann Graham Brock, and Christopher R. Matthews (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1999), 91.
6 Myrtle Strode-Jackson, Lives and Legends of Apostles and Evangelists (London: Morrison & Gibb, 1928), 149.
7 Thomas E. Schmidt, The Apostles After Acts: A Sequel (Eugene, OR: Cascade, 2013), 115.
8 Pseudo-Hippolytus, Hippolytus on the Twelve 9, as cited in Ante-Nicene Fathers: Translations of the Writings of the Fathers down to A.D. 325, ed. Alexander Roberts and James Donaldson, rev. A. Cleveland Coxe (New York: Christian Literature Co., 1886), 5:255.
9 E.A. Wallis Budge, The Contendings of the Apostles: Being the Histories and the Lives and Martyrdoms and Deaths of the Twelve Apostles and Evangelists (London: Oxford University Press, 1935), 222.
10 Alexander Kazhdan, ed., The Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1991), s.v. “Niketas David Paphlagon,” by Alexander Kazhdan.
11 Bovon, “Byzantine Witness,” 92.
12 Ibid., 93.
13 Ibid.
14 Ibid., 96.
15 Polycarp, Letter to the Philippians 9, as cited in The Ante-Nicene Fathers: The Apostolic Fathers—Justin Martyr—Irenaeus, ed. Alexander Roberts and James Donaldson, rev. by A. Cleveland Coxe (Buffalo, NY: Christian Literature Co., 1885), 1:35.
16 Aphrahat, Demonstration XXI: Of Persecution (§ 23), as cited in Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers of the Christian Church, ed. Philip Schaff and Henry Wace (New York: Christian Literature Co., 1898), 2:401.