The Gospel according to the Hebrews, which LlRhttoot epeaks of aa one of the earliest and most respectable of the apocrvphal narratives (Gai. p. 274), is (|uoted by Jerome (de I'ir. Ul' 2) to the following effect : 'Tiie Lord after his resurrection appeared
to James, who had sworn that he would not eat bread from th« hour in which he had <lrui)k tlie cup of the Lord till he saw hiro risen from the dtiwi. Jesus, therefore, took bread and blessed and brake it, and ^ave it Ut James the Just, and said to him, My brother, eat thy bread, for the Son uf Man has risen from the dead.' There are other versions of the same story, io which the vow is dated, not Irom the La«it Supper, but from the Crui'ilixion (see Nicholson's ed. of the Uospel, p. ti2f., and the Introduction to Mayor's St. James, p. xxxviin.). Possibly, the reference to the L.ost Supper may have arisen from the fact that St. James shaped his vow after the Lord's word^ spi>ken at the Supper, * 1 will not drink henceforth of the fruit of the v'ua till the kingdom of Ood shall come.*
U';i,-!<ipi>Hif{c. A.D. 160) ia quoted by Eusebius (HE ii. 23) to the foUowintr effect : ' The char];e of the Church alter the Ascen- sion devolved on James the brother of the Lord in conce "t with the apostles. He is di.^tincuished from others of the same name by the title "Just,'' which has been applied to him from the llrat. He was holy from bis niuther's womb, drank no wine or strontr drink, nor ate anintal food ; no razor came on his hevl, nor did he anoint himself with oil nor use the tiath. To him only was it permitted to enter the Holy of Holies. . . . Hia knees became hard like a camel's, because he was always kneelin^f in the temple, askintr forpivcne&s for the people. Throu-^'h hia exceeding ritjhteousncss he waa called " Obliaa," which, beinj; in* terpretecT, ia " the defence of the people," and "Ri^'hteousness," as the prophet declared of him. Some of the seven sectj, of the Jews inquired of him, " What is the door of Jesus?" And he said that he was the Saviour ; whereupon some believed that Jesus ia the Christ. . . . Hence arose a disturbance among the Jews, fearing tliat all the people would look to Jesus aa the Christ. They came, therefore, and . . . set James on the pinnacle of the temple and cried to him, " O thou just one to whom we all are bound to listen, tell us what is the door of Jesus." And he answered with a loud voice, *' Why do ye ask mc concerning Jesus the Son of .Man 't He is both seated in heaven on the right hand of Power, and he will come again on the clouds of heaven." And when many were convinced and gave glory at the witness of James, the same scribes and Pharisees said to each other, " We have done ill in bringing forward such a testimony to Jesus ; let us go up and cast him down, that they may fear to believe him." And they cried out saving, *' .Alas I even the just has gone astray." And they fulftlled tliat which is WTitten in I&aiah, '* Let us take away the just, for he is not for our purpose." So they cast down James the Just, and they began to stone him, since he was not killed by the fall ; but he kneeled down, aaying, " O Lord God, my Father, 1 beseech thee forgive them, for they know not what they do." While they were thus stoning him, one of the priesta of the sons of Rechab, of whom Jeremiah the prophet testifies, cried out, " Stop ! what do ye? The just is praying for you." But one of them, who was a fuller, smote the head of the just one with his club. And 80 he bore his witness. And they buried him on the spot, and his nionviment still st.ands by the side of the temple with the inscription, "He hath Iteen a true witness both to Jews and Greeks that Jesus ia the Christ." And immediately Vespasian commenced the siege.'
Lightfoot has pointed out the many impro- babilities in this narrative, and conjectures that it may have been taken by Hegesippus from the Ebionite 'AvafiaOiiol 'laKwjiov, of which we find traces in the Clementine Recognitions. In the Recognitions, as in Hegesippus, we read that James refuted the Jewish sects, and that he was hurled down from the temple by his persecutors. Lightfoot thinks that there may be truth in the statetnent that James was an ascetic and a Nazir- ite, and, we may add, in the respect entertained for him even by his unbelieving countrymen. The account of the death, however, which is given by Jos. (Ant. XX. ix. 1) is far more likely to be historical. ' During the interval between tlie death of Festus (prob. in the year C2) and the arrival of his successor Albinus, the higli jiriest Ananus the 3'ounger, being of a rash and darinji spirit, and inclined like the Sadducees in general to severity in punishing, brought to trial James the brother of Jesus, who is called the Christ, and some others before the court of the Sanhedrin, and, having charged them with breaking the laws, delivered them over to be stoned. The better class of citizens and those who were versed in the laws were indignant at this, and made complaints both to king Agrippa and to Albinus, on tin ground that Ananus had no right to summon the Sanhedrin without the consent of the procurator ; and Agrijipa in consequence removed him from tlie high priesthood.' Urigen (Cels. i. c. 47) and Euseb. [HE ii. 23) also cite Josephus as ascribing the miseries of the siege to the divine vengeance