Chapter XXIII.--The Martyrdom of James, who was called the Brother of the Lord.
1. But after Paul, in consequence of his appeal to Cæsar, had been sent to Rome by Festus, the Jews, being frustrated in their hope of entrapping him by the snares which they had laid for him, turned against James, the brother of the Lord, [484] to whom the episcopal seat at Jerusalem had been entrusted by the apostles. [485] The following daring measures were undertaken by them against him.
2. Leading him into their midst they demanded of him that he should renounce faith in Christ in the presence of all the people. But, contrary to the opinion of all, with a clear voice, and with greater boldness than they had anticipated, he spoke out before the whole multitude and confessed that our Saviour and Lord Jesus is the Son of God. But they were unable to bear longer the testimony of the man who, on account of the excellence of ascetic virtue [486] and of piety which he exhibited in his life, was esteemed by all as the most just of men, and consequently they slew him. Opportunity for this deed of violence was furnished by the prevailing anarchy, which was caused by the fact that Festus had died just at this time in Judea, and that the province was thus without a governor and head. [487]
3. The manner of James' death has been already indicated by the above-quoted words of Clement, who records that he was thrown from the pinnacle of the temple, and was beaten to death with a club. [488] But Hegesippus, [489] who lived immediately after the apostles, gives the most accurate account in the fifth book of his Memoirs. [490] He writes as follows:
4. "James, the brother of the Lord, succeeded to the government of the Church in conjunction with the apostles. [491] He has been called the Just [492] by all from the time of our Saviour to the present day; for there were many that bore the name of James.
5. He was holy from his mother's womb; and he drank no wine nor strong drink, nor did he eat flesh. No razor came upon his head; he did not anoint himself with oil, and he did not use the bath.
6. He alone was permitted to enter into the holy place; for he wore not woolen but linen garments. And he was in the habit of entering alone into the temple, and was frequently found upon his knees begging forgiveness for the people, so that his knees became hard like those of a camel, in consequence of his constantly bending them in his worship of God, and asking forgiveness for the people. [493]
7. Because of his exceeding great justice he was called the Just, and Oblias, [494] which signifies in Greek, Bulwark of the people' and Justice,' [495] in accordance with what the prophets declare concerning him. [496]
8. Now some of the seven sects, which existed among the people and which have been mentioned by me in the Memoirs, [497] asked him, What is the gate of Jesus?' [498] and he replied that he was the Saviour.
9. On account of these words some believed that Jesus is the Christ. But the sects mentioned above did not believe either in a resurrection or in one's coming to give to every man according to his works. [499] But as many as believed did so on account of James.
10. Therefore when many even of the rulers believed, there was a commotion among the Jews and Scribes and Pharisees, who said that there was danger that the whole people would be looking for Jesus as the Christ. Coming therefore in a body to James they said, We entreat thee, restrain the people; for they are gone astray in regard to Jesus, as if he were the Christ. [500] We entreat thee to persuade all that have come to the feast of the Passover concerning Jesus; for we all have confidence in thee. For we bear thee witness, as do all the people, that thou art just, and dost not respect persons. [501]
11. Do thou therefore persuade the multitude not to be led astray concerning Jesus. For the whole people, and all of us also, have confidence in thee. Stand therefore upon the pinnacle of the temple, [502] that from that high position thou mayest be clearly seen, and that thy words may be readily heard by all the people. For all the tribes, with the Gentiles also, are come together on account of the Passover.'
12. The aforesaid Scribes and Pharisees therefore placed James upon the pinnacle of the temple, and cried out to him and said: Thou just one, in whom we ought all to have confidence, forasmuch as the people are led astray after Jesus, the crucified one, declare to us, what is the gate of Jesus.' [503]
13. And he answered with a loud voice, Why do ye ask me concerning Jesus, the Son of Man? He himself sitteth in heaven at the right hand of the great Power, and is about to come upon the clouds of heaven.'
14. And when many were fully convinced and gloried in the testimony of James, and said, Hosanna to the Son of David,' these same Scribes and Pharisees said again to one another, We have done badly in supplying such testimony to Jesus. But let us go up and throw him down, in order that they may be afraid to believe him.'
15. And they cried out, saying, Oh! oh! the just man is also in error.' And they fulfilled the Scripture written in Isaiah, [505] Let us take away [506] the just man, because he is troublesome to us: therefore they shall eat the fruit of their doings.'
16. So they went up and threw down the just man, and said to each other, Let us stone James the Just.' And they began to stone him, for he was not killed by the fall; but he turned and knelt down and said, I entreat thee, Lord God our Father, [507] forgive them, for they know not what they do.' [508]
17. And while they were thus stoning him one of the priests of the sons of Rechab, the son of the Rechabites, [509] who are mentioned by Jeremiah the prophet, [510] cried out, saying, Cease, what do ye? The just one prayeth for you.' [511]
18. And one of them, who was a fuller, took the club with which he beat out clothes and struck the just man on the head. And thus he suffered martyrdom. [512] And they buried him on the spot, by the temple, and his monument still remains by the temple. [513] He became a true witness, both to Jews and Greeks, that Jesus is the Christ. And immediately Vespasian besieged them." [514]
19. These things are related at length by Hegesippus, who is in agreement with Clement. [515] James was so admirable a man and so celebrated among all for his justice, that the more sensible even of the Jews were of the opinion that this was the cause of the siege of Jerusalem, which happened to them immediately after his martyrdom for no other reason than their daring act against him.
20. Josephus, at least, has not hesitated to testify this in his writings, where he says, [516] "These things happened to the Jews to avenge James the Just, who was a brother of Jesus, that is called the Christ. For the Jews slew him, although he was a most just man."
21. And the same writer records his death also in the twentieth book of his Antiquities in the following words: [517] "But the emperor, when he learned of the death of Festus, sent Albinus [518] to be procurator of Judea. But the younger Ananus, [519] who, as we have already said, [520] had obtained the high priesthood, was of an exceedingly bold and reckless disposition. He belonged, moreover, to the sect of the Sadducees, who are the most cruel of all the Jews in the execution of judgment, as we have already shown. [521]
22. Ananus, therefore, being of this character, and supposing that he had a favorable opportunity on account of the fact that Festus was dead, and Albinus was still on the way, called together the Sanhedrim, and brought before them the brother of Jesus, the so-called Christ, James by name, together with some others, [522] and accused them of violating the law, and condemned them to be stoned. [523]
23. But those in the city who seemed most moderate and skilled in the law were very angry at this, and sent secretly to the king, [524] requesting him to order Ananus to cease such proceedings. For he had not done right even this first time. And certain of them also went to meet Albinus, who was journeying from Alexandria, and reminded him that it was not lawful for Ananus to summon the Sanhedrim without his knowledge. [525]
24. And Albinus, being persuaded by their representations, wrote in anger to Ananus, threatening him with punishment. And the king, Agrippa, in consequence, deprived him of the high priesthood, [526] which he had held three months, and appointed Jesus, the son of Damnæus." [527]
25. These things are recorded in regard to James, who is said to be the author of the first of the so-called catholic [528] epistles. But it is to be observed that it is disputed; [529] at least, not many of the ancients have mentioned it, as is the case likewise with the epistle that bears the name of Jude, [530] which is also one of the seven so-called catholic epistles. Nevertheless we know that these also, [531] with the rest, have been read publicly in very many churches.
[484] See above, Bk. I. chap. 12, note 14.
[485] See above, chap. 1, note 11.
[486] philosophias. See Bk. VI. chap. 3, note 9.
[487] See the preceding chapter, note 1, and below, note 40.
[488] See chap. 1, above.
[489] On Hegesippus, see Bk. IV. chap. 22.
[490] As the Memoirs of Hegesippus consisted of but five books, this account of James occurred in the last book, and this shows how entirely lacking the work was in all chronological arrangement (cf. Book IV. chap. 22). This fragment is given by Routh, Rel. Sac. I. p. 208 sqq., with a valuable discussion on p. 228 sqq.
[491] meta ton apostolon, "with the apostles"; as Rufinus rightly translates, cum apostolis. Jerome, on the contrary, reads post apostolos, "after the apostles," as if the Greek were meta tous apostolous. This statement of Hegesippus is correct. James was a leader of the Jerusalem church, in company with Peter and John, as we see from Gal. ii. 9. But that is quite different from saying, as Eusebius does just above, and as Clement (quoted by Eusebius, chap. 1, §3) does, that he was appointed Bishop of Jerusalem by the apostles. See chap. 1, note 11.
[492] See chap. 1, note 6.
[493] "The dramatic account of James by Hegesippus is an overdrawn picture from the middle of the second century, colored by Judaizing traits which may have been derived from the Ascents of James, and other Apocryphal sources. He turns James into a Jewish priest and Nazarite saint (cf. his advice to Paul, Acts xxi. 23, 24), who drank no wine, ate no flesh, never shaved nor took a bath, and wore only linen. But the Biblical James is Pharisaic and legalistic, rather than Essenic and ascetic" (Schaff, Ch. Hist. I. p. 268). For Peter's asceticism, see the Clementine Recognitions, VII. 6; and for Matthew's, see Clement of Alexandria's Pædagogus, II. 1.
[494] 'Oblias: probably a corruption of the Heb. 'phl m, which signifies "bulwark of the people." The same name is given to James by Epiphanius, by Dionysius the Areopagite, and others. See Suicer, Thesaurus Ecclesiasticus, s.v.
[495] perioche tou laou kai dikaiosune
[496] To what Hegesippus refers I do not know, as there is no passage in the prophets which can be interpreted in this way. He may have been thinking of the passage from Isaiah quoted in §15, below, but the reference is certainly very much strained.
[497] See Bk. IV. chap. 22.
[498] For a discussion of this very difficult question, whose interpretation has puzzled all commentators, see Routh Rel. Sac. I. p. 434 sq., and Heinichen's Mel. IV., in his edition of Eusebius, Vol. III., p. 654 sqq. The explanation given by Grabe (in his Spic. PP. p. 254), seems to me the best. According to him, the Jews wish to ascertain James' opinion in regard to Christ, whether he considers him a true guide or an impostor, and therefore they ask, "What (of what sort) is the gate (or the way) of Christ? Is it a gate which opens into life (or a way which leads to life); or is it a gate which opens upon death (or a way which leads to death)?" Cf. Matt. vii. 13, 14, where the two ways and the two gates are compared. The Jews had undoubtedly often heard Christ called "the Way," and thus they might naturally use the expression in asking James' opinion about Jesus, "Is he the true or the false way?" or, "Is this way true or false?" The answer of James which follows is then perfectly consistent: "He is the Saviour," in which words he expresses as decidedly as he can his belief that the way or the gate of Christ led to salvation. And so below, in §12, where he gives a second answer to the question, expressing his belief in Christ still more emphatically. This is somewhat similar to the explanation of Heinichen (ibid. p. 659 sq.), who construes the genitive 'Iesou as in virtual apposition to thura: "What is this way, Jesus?" But Grabe seems to bring out most clearly the true meaning of the question.