chapter four
.. Jesus’ Appearance to James the JustInOn Illustrious Men, Jerome describes how Jesus appeared to his broth-
er, James the Just:
... also the Gospel which is called according to the Hebrews and which I
have recently translated into Greek and Latin of which also Origen often
makes use, says after the account of the resurrection of the Lord: But the
Lord after he had given linen cloth to the servant of the priest, went to
James and appeared to him (for James had sworn that he would not eat
bread from the hour in which he drank the cup of the Lord until he had
seen him rising again from those who sleep), and again, a little later, it says:
Bring the table and bread, said the Lord. And immediately it is added: He
brought bread and blessed and brake it and gave it to James the Just and
said to him: My brother, eat thy bread for the Son of Man is risen from
those who sleep. (Jerome,Vir. ill. ; trans. Klijn ).
Since Jerome refers to Greek as the target language of the translation
and also refers to Origen, it is obvious the fragment represents a case
where Jerome is relying on a Greek source, probably Origen (see above
Chapter .). This means that the passage is likely to date from the
second or early third century. The GH attributes it to theGospel of the
Hebrews. The hypothesis that has been developed in this book also takes
theGospel of the Hebrewsas a possible origin of the fragment, although
it understands the character of theGospel of the Hebrewssomewhat
differently, in a closer relationship to the synoptic gospels.
The canonical gospels do not mention Jesus’ appearance to James. On
the contrary, in Mark, James appears in a critical light since he is listed
together with Jesus’ relatives (Mark :) who go after Jesus because they
think he is out of his mind (Mark :–, ). Paul lists James among
the many witnesses of Jesus’ resurrection (Cor :) but by no means
as the first one, as appears to be the case in Jerome’s passage. According
to Paul, Christ first appeared to Peter and then to the twelve. After that,
he appeared to more than five hundred brothers and sisters before it was
James’ turn. Obviously, one of the central concerns of this fragment is to
write James into the gospel narrative, attributing to him the role of being
among the first witness of the resurrection. This would better fit with the
high esteem in which James was held among early Christians, but this
was hardly the only motive for the addition. There also have to be some
other motives which are more directly connected to the oath of James. I
will discuss these in more detail after having sketched the context of the
passage in theGospel of the Hebrewsand its tradition-historical parallels.