4. Son of Joseph and Mary, and half brother of Jesus. (Mr 6:3; Ga 1:19) Although not an apostle, it was evidently this James who was an overseer of the Christian congregation at Jerusalem (Ac 12:17) and who wrote the Bible book bearing his name. (Jas 1:1) He may have been next to Jesus in age, being the first named of Mary’s four natural-born sons: James, Joseph, Simon, and Judas. (Mt 13:55; see BROTHER.) Paul implies in his letter to the Corinthians, written about the year 55 C.E., that James was married.​—1Co 9:5.

That it was this ‘brother of Jesus’ who wrote the book of James, and not one of the apostles by the same name (either the son of Zebedee or the son of Alphaeus), seems to be indicated at the beginning of his letter. There the writer identifies himself as “a slave of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ,” rather than as an apostle. In a similar fashion his brother Judas (Jude) also identified himself as “a slave of Jesus Christ, but a brother of James.” (Jas 1:1; Jude 1) Both brothers humbly avoided identifying themselves as fleshly brothers of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Rather, evidence points to James the half brother of Jesus Christ, to whom the resurrected Christ evidently had made a special appearance, and who was prominent among the disciples. (Mt 13:55; Ac 21:15-25; 1Co 15:7; Ga 2:9) The writer of the letter of James identifies himself as “a slave of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ,” in much the same way as did Jude, who introduced the letter of Jude by calling himself “a slave of Jesus Christ, but a brother of James.” (Jas 1:1; Jude 1) Furthermore, the salutation of James’ letter includes the term “Greetings!” in the same way as did the letter concerning circumcision that was sent to the congregations. In this latter instance it was apparently Jesus’ half brother James who spoke prominently in the assembly of “the apostles and the older men” at Jerusalem.​—Ac 15:13, 22, 23.

To Whom Written. James wrote the letter to “the twelve tribes that are scattered about,” literally, “the (ones) in the dispersion.” (Jas 1:1, ftn) He here addresses his spiritual “brothers,” those who hold to “the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ,” primarily those living beyond Palestine. (1:2; 2:1, 7; 5:7) James bases much of his argument on the Hebrew Scriptures, but this does not prove that his letter was only for Jewish Christians, even as one’s acquaintance with the Hebrew Scriptures in modern times does not prove that one is of Jewish descent. His reference to Abraham as “our father” (2:21) is in harmony with Paul’s words at Galatians 3:28, 29, where he shows that one’s being of the true seed of Abraham is not determined by whether one is a Jew or a Greek. Therefore, “the twelve tribes” addressed must be the spiritual “Israel of God.”​—Ga 6:15, 16.