Of the three primary disciples being Peter, John, and James that the Bible describes as having the most intimate relationship with Jesus, James is the one least known about. Multitudes of information, witnesses, and historical documents can be found concerning Peter and John, but is curiously very limited concerning James. This could possibly be as a result of James' short lived life due to martyrdom. The name James is the English form of the Hebrew Jacob and is derived from the Greek word Iacabos which means "supplanter". Jacob as we know was a central figure that played an integral role in the establishment of the Jewish religion thousands of years prior to the coming of Christ. Since Jacob was a revered ancestor of Israel, James was a common name among Jews in the Roman period. There are four important individuals mentioned in the New Testament alone with the name of James. It is therefore quite easy to get confused with what James is who in the Bible. In addition to the James of Zebedee there is: James, the son of Alphaeus who is also later chosen as a disciple (Matt. 10:3, Mark 3:18, 15:40); James, the Lord's brother who is credited with writing the Book of James (Matt. 13:55, Mark 6:3); and James, the brother of the Apostle Judas (Luke 6:16, Acts 1:13).

As mentioned earlier, James as we know was the brother of John and a son of Zebedee, a prosperous Galilean fisherman. There is compelling evidence that Zebedee did much business in the city of Jerusalem and that he supplied, among others, the high priest and his family with fish. This explains why John or James were able to get themselves into the council chambers during Jesus' interrogation. Their mother was Salome. James was older than his younger brother John who also became an important disciple of Jesus. In the list of the Apostles, James is almost always paired with his brother's name (Matt. 10:2, Mark 3:17). Because of the Lord's attachment of the name, "sons of thunder" to the two brothers it is assumed that they were alike in temperment. They both apparently had fiery, brandish, and strong-willed personalities and character traits.

James was first called as a disciple of Jesus in 27 A.D. while fishing on a boat in the Sea of Galilee with his family business partners (Mark 1:20).