Identification As James, The Son of Alphaeus
The title, "the Less", is used to differentiate James from other people named James. Since it means that he is either the younger or shorter of two, he seems to be compared to one other James. In the lists of the twelve apostles in the synoptic Gospels, there are two apostles called James, who are differentiated there by their fathers: James, son of Zebedee, and James, son of Alphaeus. Long-standing tradition identifies James, the son of Alphaeus, as James the Less. James, son of Zebedee, is then called "James the Great", which is not a name found anywhere in the New Testament.
If James the Less is neither James, the son of Alphaeus, whom some propose was the same man as Cleophas or at least the husband of Mary Clopas, nor James the Just, then the only fact known about him is that his mother is named Mary.
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Famous quotes containing the word son:
“All know that all the dead in the world about that place are stuck
And that should mother seek her son she’d have but little luck
Because the fires of Purgatory have ate their shapes away;
I swear to God I questioned them and all they had to say
Was fol de rol de rolly O.”
—William Butler Yeats (1865–1939)