?–62 CE · Nazareth
James the Just, known in Greek sources as the brother of the Lord, was a central figure in the earliest Jerusalem church and is traditionally identified as its first bishop. He was not a follower of Jesus during Jesus's public ministry but became a leader of the Jerusalem community following a post-resurrection appearance described by Paul (1 Corinthians 15:7). He presided at the Council of Jerusalem (c. 48–49 CE) and is the traditional author of the Epistle of James, though scholarly opinion on authorship is divided. According to Josephus (Antiquities 20.9.1), he was put to death by stoning in 62 CE on the order of the high priest Ananus ben Ananus.
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James is inferred to have grown up in Nazareth as a member of Jesus's family; the Gospels list him among Jesus's brothers (Mark 6:3, Matthew 13:55), though no source narrates his birth or childhood there independently of the family's Nazareth connection, and he was not a follower during Jesus's public ministry.
Nazareth, in the Lower Galilee, is the largest city of Israel's Northern District and a predominantly Arab city, roughly two-thirds Muslim and one-third Christian. Archaeology shows that it was a small Jewish village in the Roman and Byzantine periods. The Gospels make it the childhood home of Jesus, called 'Jesus of Nazareth', and of his family, and Catholic tradition places the Annunciation there; the modern Basilica of the Annunciation is among the largest churches in the Middle East. Under Ottoman rule the town grew in the eighteenth century, and churches, schools and monasteries were built in the late nineteenth. It came under British control at the end of the First World War and surrendered to Israeli forces in July 1948.
Joseph, husband of Mary, Mary, mother of Jesus, Jesus of Nazareth
In the same place & time
Sages whose lives overlapped with James the Just’s in the same cities, drawn from their recorded journeys.
Joseph, husband of Mary, Mary, mother of Jesus, Joseph of Arimathea, Nicodemus, Jesus of Nazareth, Philip the Apostle, Matthias the Apostle, Bartholomew the Apostle, Thomas the Apostle, Mary Magdalene, James, son of Zebedee, Barnabas, Andrew the Apostle, Peter the Apostle, Paul the Apostle, John the Apostle, Silas, Titus
The world in their lifetime
Thinkers and teachers of other traditions whose lives overlapped with James the Just’s — a glimpse of the wider world they lived in. Drawn purely from recorded birth and death years.
Jerusalem · 80
A practical letter on faith, works and wealth, traditionally attributed to James the brother of Jesus, leader of the Jerusalem church (d. 62). Its authorship is disputed: many scholars think it was written in his name, c. 80–100 CE.