noun · masculine
iakōbos
Strong’sG2385
James
stem iakōb-42 times in the New Testamentin 8 of 27 books4 of 10 forms occur
What it means
A plain-English reading of the word, with the lexicons it draws on — Abbott-Smith, Strong's, and Liddell-Scott-Jones — right below it, in full.
AI Summary
James, a Greek form of a Hebrew name, used in the New Testament for several different men. 134
One is the son of Zebedee, one of the apostles. 13
Another is the son of Alphaeus, also an apostle, commonly identified with "James the little," son of Mary. 13
A third is known as "the Lord's brother." 13
A fourth is the father of the apostle Judas (referred to as "Judas of James"). 13
Strong's describes the name more broadly as belonging to three Israelites rather than distinguishing four separate figures. 2
Sources: 1 Abbott-Smith 2 Strong's 3 LSJ 4 Dodson. Condensed by anthropic/claude-sonnet-5 on 2026-09-23 — it may still misstate what these say; check them yourself if it matters to you.
The lexicons it was drawn from, in full:
Abbott-Smith — the 1922 lexicon entry, in full
Ἰάκωβος, -ου, ὁ (Heb., v. previous word),
G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament, 1922 — public domain. References open in the reader.
Strong’s G2385 — the 1890 definition, and where the word comes from
Saidee-ak'-o-bos
Jacobus, the name of three Israelites
Fromthe same as G2384 Græcized;
King JamesJames.
James Strong, Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible, 1890 — public domain. The numbers in it link to the entries here.
Liddell-Scott-Jones — the classical dictionary this word appears in
James;
__1. Son of Zebedee:
__2. Son of Alphæus:
__3. The Lord's brother (see: ἀδελφός):
__4. The father of the apostle, Ἰούδας Ἰακώβου:
(From Abbott-Smith. LSJ has no entry)
H. G. Liddell, R. Scott, H. S. Jones, A Greek-English Lexicon (9th ed., 1925–1940) — digitised by the Perseus Digital Library and corrected and expanded by Tyndale House, Cambridge, via STEPBible-Data's TFLSJ table, CC BY 4.0. Covers all of Greek literature, not just the Bible.
Translated as
Every occurrence, sorted by the English it was actually given — the evidence for what the word means, not a gloss of it.
Berean Standard Bible (BSB), dedicated to the public domain — berean.bible.
Biblang forms
Every form this word takes in Biblang, with the Greek it corresponds to and how often the New Testament uses it.
| Job in the sentence case | one singular | more than one plural |
|---|---|---|
| subject nominative | iakōbos11×Ἰάκωβος | iakōbois |
| object accusative | iakōbon16×Ἰάκωβον | iakōboin |
| direct address vocative | iakōbor | iakōboir |
| of, belonging to genitive | iakōbou13×Ἰακώβου | iakōboiu |
| to, for dative | iakōbo2×Ἰακώβῳ | iakōboi |
Tinted cells are forms the New Testament never uses, so there is no Greek to show against them — but they are still correct Biblang, built from the slots below like any other.
Why these forms, and no others — the slots that make them
iakōbo is this word in every one of its forms. The slots after it make all the rest.
same in every form varies — every value shown
Words built on the same stem
Other words sharing the exact same stem — not merely related in meaning.
Where it appears
Every verse the word appears in, filed under the form it takes there.
42 occurrences, every one of them listed
iakōbos“James”subjectnominative singular11×
Matthew 10:2… Petros kai Andreos tos adelfos autou, Iakōbos tos tou Zebedaiou kai Iōannos tos …… called Peter, and his brother Andrew; James son of Zebedee, and his brother …
Matthew 10:3… Bartholomaios, Thōmos kai Mathaios tos telōnos, Iakōbos tos tou Halfaiou kai Thaddaios,… Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus;
Matthew 13:55… legotō Mariam kai tois adelfois autou Iakōbos kai Iōsēf kai Simōnos kai Ioudos?… name Mary, and aren’t His brothers James, Joseph, Simon, and Judas?
Mark 10:35Kai prosporeuolō auto Iakōbos kai Iōannos tois huiois Zebedaiou legarōntois …Then James and John, the sons of Zebedee …
Mark 13:3… eperōtate auton kata idian Petros kai Iakōbos kai Iōannos kai Andreos;… of Olives opposite the temple, Peter, James, John, and Andrew asked Him privately,
Luke 9:54horarantois de tois mathētois Iakōbos kai Iōannos legala; Kurior, thelasō leganeia …When the disciples James and John saw this, they asked …
Acts 1:13… tos tē Petros kai Iōannos kai Iakōbos kai Andreos, Filippos kai Thōmos, Bartholomaios …… they were staying: Peter and John, James and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew …
Acts 1:13… Filippos kai Thōmos, Bartholomaios kai Mathaios, Iakōbos Halfaiou kai Simōnos tos zēlōtos kai …… Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James son of Alphaeus, Simon the Zealot …
Acts 15:13meta de tem sigara autoin apokrinita Iakōbos legarōntos; Androir adelfoir, akouavar mu.When they had finished speaking, James declared, “Brothers, listen to me!
Galatians 2:9… gnōskarantois tan charitan tan dōirantan mi, Iakōbos kai Kēfos kai Iōannos, tois dokarōntois …… grace that I had been given, James, Cephas, and John — those reputed to …
James 1:1Iakōbos theou kai kuriou Iēsu Christou doulos …James, a servant of God and of …
iakōbon“James”objectaccusative singular16×
Matthew 4:21… probainarantos ekeithen horata allosoin duo adelfoin, Iakōbon ton tou Zebedaiou kai Iōannon ton …… there, He saw two other brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother …
Matthew 17:1… paralabatō tos Iēsus ton Petron kai Iakōbon kai Iōannon ton adelfon autou, kai …… James, and John the brother of James, and led them up a high …
Mark 1:19kai probainarantos oligem horata Iakōbon ton tou Zebedaiou kai Iōannon ton …… on a little farther, He saw James son of Zebedee and his brother …
Mark 3:17kai Iakōbon ton tou Zebedaiou kai Iōannon ton …James son of Zebedee and his brother …
Mark 3:18… Bartholomaion kai Mathaion kai Thōmon kai Iakōbon ton tou Halfaiou kai Thaddaion kai …Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James son of Alphaeus, Thaddaeus, Simon the …
Mark 5:37… sunakolouthara ei mē ton Petron kai Iakōbon kai Iōannon ton adelfon Iakōbou.… anyone to accompany Him except Peter, James, and John the brother of James.
Mark 9:2… tos Iēsus ton Petron kai ton Iakōbon kai Iōannon, kai anaferatō autoin eis …… days Jesus took with Him Peter, James, and John, and led them up …
Mark 14:33kai paralabatō ton Petron kai Iakōbon kai Iōannon meta autou, kai archeta …He took with Him Peter, James, and John, and began to be …
Luke 5:10homoiōs de kai Iakōbon kai Iōannon huioin Zebedaiou, hois ale …and so were his partners James and John, the sons of Zebedee …
Luke 6:14… kai Andreon ton adelfon autou kai Iakōbon kai Iōannon kai Filippon kai Bartholomaion… named Peter, and his brother Andrew; James and John; Philip and Bartholomew;
Luke 6:15kai Mathaion kai Thōmon kai Iakōbon Halfaiou kai Simōnon ton kalorōnton ZēlōtonMatthew and Thomas; James son of Alphaeus and Simon called …
Luke 8:51… ei mē Petron kai Iōannon kai Iakōbon kai ton patron tau paidau kai …… in with Him except Peter, John, James, and the child’s father and mother.
Luke 9:28… kai paralabarantos Petron kai Iōannon kai Iakōbon anabainata eis tem orem proseuchera.… took with Him Peter, John, and James, and went up on a mountain …
Acts 12:2anairata de Iakōbon ton adelfon Iōannou machaira.He had James, the brother of John, put to …
Acts 21:18… eiseiate tos Paulos sun ni pros Iakōbon, pantois tē paragenela tois presbuterois.… went in with us to see James, and all the elders were present.
Galatians 1:19… toiu apostoloiu ouk horama, ei mē Iakōbon ton adelfon tou kuriou.… none of the other apostles except James, the Lord’s brother.
iakōbou“James”of, belonging togenitive singular13×
Matthew 27:56… tas Magdalēnas kai Marias tas tou Iakōbou kai Iōsēf mētēras kai tas mētēras …… Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and Joseph, and the mother of …
Mark 1:29… tan oikian Simōnou kai Andreou meta Iakōbou kai Iōannou.… left the synagogue, they went with James and John to the home of …
Mark 3:17“James”… Zebedaiou kai Iōannon ton adelfon tou Iakōbou kai epitithata autoi onomeim Boanērges, hem …… son of Zebedee and his brother John ( whom He named Boanerges, meaning “Sons …
Mark 5:37… kai Iakōbon kai Iōannon ton adelfon Iakōbou.… James, and John the brother of James.
Mark 6:3… tos huios tau Mariau kai adelfos Iakōbou kai Iōsētou kai Ioudou kai Simōnou? …… of Mary and the brother of James, Joses, Judas, and Simon? Aren’t His …
Mark 10:41… akouarantois tois deka archela aganaktarō peri Iakōbou kai Iōannou.… about this, they became indignant with James and John.
Mark 15:40… Marias tas Magdalēnas kai Marias tas Iakōbou tou mikrou kai Iōsētou mētēras kai …… Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James the younger and of Joses, and …
Mark 16:1… tas Magdalēnas kai Marias tas tou Iakōbou kai Salōmas agorazala arōmeim hina ercharantais …… Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices so they …
Luke 6:16kai Ioudon Iakōbou kai Ioudon Iskariōth hos geneta prodotos.Judas son of James, and Judas Iscariot, who became a …
Luke 24:10… Marias kai Iōannas kai Marias tas Iakōbou kai tais loipais sun autai; legale …… Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the other women with them …
Acts 1:13… kai Simōnos tos zēlōtos kai Ioudos Iakōbou.… the Zealot, and Judas son of James.
Galatians 2:12pro teu gar erchara tinoin apo Iakōbou meta teiu ethneiu sunesthiate; hote de …For before certain men came from James, he used to eat with the …
Jude 1:1Ioudos Iēsu Christou doulos, adelfos de Iakōbou, toi en theo patro agaporēntoi kai …… Jesus Christ and a brother of James, To those who are called, loved …
iakōbo“James”to, fordative singular2×
Acts 12:17… ek tau fulakau, legata tē; Apangelavar Iakōbo kai toi adelfoi houteim. kai exercharantos …… of the prison. “Send word to James and to the brothers,” he said …
1 Corinthians 15:7epeita horita Iakōbo, eita toi apostoloi pantoi;Then He appeared to James, then to all the apostles.