What scriptural evidence is present for author of James
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C. M. Sheffield
Puritan Board Graduate
I believe it was written by James the son of Alphaeus.
John Calvin—
But as to the author, there is somewhat more reason for doubting. It is indeed certain that he was not the Son of Zebedee, for Herod killed him shortly after our Lord’s resurrection. The ancients are nearly unanimous in thinking that he was one of the disciples named Oblias and a relative of Christ, who was set over the Church at Jerusalem; and they supposed him to have been the person whom Paul mentioned with Peter and John, who he says were deemed pillars, (Galatians 2:9.) But that one of the disciples was mentioned as one of the three pillars, and thus exalted above the other Apostles, does not seem to me probable. I am therefore rather inclined to the conjecture, that he of whom Paul speaks was the son of Alpheus.
Matthew Henry—
The writer of this epistle was not James the son of Zebedee; for he was put to death by Herod (Acts xii.) before Christianity had gained so much ground among the Jews of the dispersion as is here implied. But it was the other James, the son of Alpheus, who was cousin-german to Christ, and one of the twelve apostles, Matt. x. 3. He is called a pillar (Gal. ii. 9), and this epistle of his cannot be disputed, without loosening a foundation-stone.
John Gill—
It seems therefore more agreeable to ascribe this epistle to James, the son of Alphaeus, sometimes called the brother of our Lord, and who was present at the assembly at Jerusalem, when the necessity of the Gentiles' circumcision was debated, Act 15:1 and is the same whom Eusebius (a) calls James the just, and Oblias; and who seems to have resided at Jerusalem, and to have been the bishop, or overseer of the church there.
John Calvin—
But as to the author, there is somewhat more reason for doubting. It is indeed certain that he was not the Son of Zebedee, for Herod killed him shortly after our Lord’s resurrection. The ancients are nearly unanimous in thinking that he was one of the disciples named Oblias and a relative of Christ, who was set over the Church at Jerusalem; and they supposed him to have been the person whom Paul mentioned with Peter and John, who he says were deemed pillars, (Galatians 2:9.) But that one of the disciples was mentioned as one of the three pillars, and thus exalted above the other Apostles, does not seem to me probable. I am therefore rather inclined to the conjecture, that he of whom Paul speaks was the son of Alpheus.
Matthew Henry—
The writer of this epistle was not James the son of Zebedee; for he was put to death by Herod (Acts xii.) before Christianity had gained so much ground among the Jews of the dispersion as is here implied. But it was the other James, the son of Alpheus, who was cousin-german to Christ, and one of the twelve apostles, Matt. x. 3. He is called a pillar (Gal. ii. 9), and this epistle of his cannot be disputed, without loosening a foundation-stone.
John Gill—
It seems therefore more agreeable to ascribe this epistle to James, the son of Alphaeus, sometimes called the brother of our Lord, and who was present at the assembly at Jerusalem, when the necessity of the Gentiles' circumcision was debated, Act 15:1 and is the same whom Eusebius (a) calls James the just, and Oblias; and who seems to have resided at Jerusalem, and to have been the bishop, or overseer of the church there.
earl40
Puritan Board Professor
C. M. Sheffield
Puritan Board Graduate
As I said, James the son of Alphaeus. He was an apostle.
earl40
Puritan Board Professor
It seems Gill thinks he is not the apostle James her.
John Gill—
It seems therefore more agreeable to ascribe this epistle to James, the son of Alphaeus, sometimes called the brother of our Lord, and who was present at the assembly at Jerusalem, when the necessity of the Gentiles' circumcision was debated, Act 15:1 and is the same whom Eusebius (a) calls James the just, and Oblias; and who seems to have resided at Jerusalem, and to have been the bishop, or overseer of the church there.
C. M. Sheffield
Puritan Board Graduate
It seems Gill thinks he is not the apostle James her.
Based on what? Gill is saying that the Apostle James, who is the son of Alphaeus, is also called "the brother of our Lord" because as Henry points out, he "was cousin-german to Christ" (i.e. his first cousin). In other words, James the Apostle is James the brother of the Lord. They are the same man.
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