ABSTRACT
The name James was one of the more common male names in Jewish Palestine in the late Second Temple period. Only James, the brother of Jesus, is sufficiently identified by the name James alone, since after the early death of James, the son of Zebedee he was much the most prominent James in the early Christian movement and indeed, as head of the mother church in Jerusalem, he was the most prominent of all early Christians leaders other than Peter and Paul. James the Little, bears a distinguishing nickname that very likely refers to his physical height, despite the still common English translation, the younger. The name Zebedee is an Aramaic short form of the Hebrew Zebediah, which like several more popular names meaning gift of God simply expressed the gratitude of parents for the gift of a son. The Capernaum fishers who became members of Jesus' travelled with him throughout Galilee and far outside.
