I was talking to a fellow who claims that King James had the writer of the Epistle of James, who was really named Jacob, named after himself in the translation of his Bible. I seriously doubt this becuase Tyndale's translation and The Geneva Bible both use James.

Here's the Greek:

2385. Iakôbos The same as G2384= Iakôb Graecized.
Jacobus,the name of three Israelites.
James.

2384. IakôbOf Hebrew origin ~= yaaqovJacob(i.e. Jaaeakob),the progenitor of the Israelite; also an Israelite.
Jacob.

While the King James story doesn't check out, the Greek does not seem to lend to the rendering of James. Why did the translators choose James over Jacob, or Jacobus?

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Jonathan
College Student
Grace Family Fellowship {SBC}
Kentucky

... yet for us there is one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we for Him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, through whom are all things, and through whom we live.

1 Corinthians 8:6

He might have had a case, except the Geneva Bible (1560 and 1599), for one, calls it the Book of James. This title comes from the Latin translation of Jacob, Iames.

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Steven J. Carr (Sven)
http://beholdingthebeauty.blogspot.com/
Eagan, MN
PCA
"Weak is the effort of my heart / And cold my warmest thought / But when I see thee as thou art / I'll praise thee as I ought."--John Newton
Trophy Wife/Arm Candy: Crystal Ann Children: Steven Jr. and Hannah Grace

So does Iames=Jacobus? If not then where did Iames come from?

Yes, in a roundabout way. Although we also get the James name by the way of French too. Of course the French derived from Latin so you see my point.

You will find many translations of the era (Late 1500s to mid 1600s) that used the Jacob to James tradition. I have heard that the Epistle was named after King James before but I think it is myth due for the same reasons you have already given.

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Willie Grills
Trinity Presbyterian Church
OPC
Huntington, WV

I am not sure. I tried to do some quick research on it, but it did not prove to be fruitful. I wonder if Jerome screwed it up, or if James is the actual Latin version of Jacob. The Latin version of Benedictus Arius Montanus, a Spanish Scholar during the Reformation period, titled it Jacobi Apostoli Epistola Catholica.

King James, translated in to Latin equals Jacobus Rex. In essence, James is a more or less Hellenized form of the Hebrew Jakob, just as Jesus is a Hellenized form of the Hebrew J'shua.

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Philip
Potomac Hills Presbyterian Church (PCA) Leesburg, VA
Attending Reformed Presbyterian Church, Lookout Mountain, GA
Student Covenant College

The Importance of Being Orthodox

To answer the question, sometimes names are not transliterated directly from language to language, but are substituted for a nearly corresponding name already existent in the target language. For example, Charles and Carlos. Close enough. So, Iames was probably existent in Old French or some dialect of Latin and judged to be close enough to fit. From there it would have passed into English and German with a J- sound. (I don't know why we insist on putting so many J's into biblical names, since neither Hebrew nor Greek has a J- sound.)

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Charlie Johnson
Downtown Presbyterian Church (PCA)
Greenville Presbyterian Theological Seminary, student