Jailer (of Philippi), Act 16:23. The conversion of the Roman jailer, a man belonging to a class "insensible as a rule and hardened by habit, and also disposed to despise the Jews, who were the bearers of the message of the gospel," is one of those cases which illustrate its universality and power.
Jair Enlightener. (1.) The son of Segub. He was brought up with his mother in Gilead, where he had possessions (Ch1 2:22). He distinguished himself in an expedition against Bashan, and settled in the part of Argob on the borders of Gilead. The small towns taken by him there are called Havoth-jair, i.e., "Jair's villages" (Num 32:41; Deu 3:14; Jos 13:30). (2.) The eighth judge of Israel, which he ruled for twenty-two years. His opulence is described in Jdg 10:3. He had thirty sons, each riding on "ass colts." They had possession of thirty of the sixty cities (Kg1 4:13; Ch1 2:23) which formed the ancient Havoth-jair. (3.) A Benjamite, the father of Mordecai, Esther's uncle (Est 2:5). (4.) The father of Elhanan, who slew Lahmi, the brother of Goliath (Ch1 20:5).
Jairus A ruler of the synagogue at Capernaum, whose only daughter Jesus restored to life (Mar 5:22; Luk 8:41). Entering into the chamber of death, accompanied by Peter and James and John and the father and mother of the maiden, he went forward to the bed whereon the corpse lay, and said, Talitha cumi, i.e., "Maid, arise," and immediately the spirit of the maiden came to her again, and she arose straightway; and "at once to strengthen that life which had come back to her, and to prove that she was indeed no ghost, but had returned to the realities of a mortal existence, he commanded to give her something to eat" (Mar 5:43).
Jakeh Pious, the father of Agur (Pro 30:1). Nothing is known of him.
Jakim Establisher. (1.) Chief of the twelfth priestly order (Ch1 24:12). (2.) A Benjamite (Ch1 8:19). (3.) Margin in Mat 1:11 means Jehoiakim.
Jalon Lodger, the last of the four sons of Ezra, of the tribe of Judah (Ch1 4:17).
Jambres One of those who opposed Moses in Egypt (Ti2 3:8). (See JANNES.)
James (1.) The son of Zebedee and Salome; an elder brother of John the apostle. He was one of the twelve. He was by trade a fisherman, in partnership with Peter (Mat 20:20; Mat 27:56). With John and Peter he was present at the transfiguration (Mat 17:1; Mar 9:2), at the raising of Jairus's daughter (Mar 5:37), and in the garden with our Lord (Mar 14:33). Because, probably, of their boldness and energy, he and John were called Boanerges, i.e., "sons of thunder." He was the first martyr among the apostles, having been beheaded by King Herod Agrippa (Act 12:1, Act 12:2), A.D. 44. (Compare Mat 4:21; Mat 20:20). (2.) The son of Alphaeus, or Cleopas, "the brother" or near kinsman or cousin of our Lord (Gal 1:18, Gal 1:19), called James "the Less," or "the Little," probably because he was of low stature. He is mentioned along with the other apostles (Mat 10:3; Mar 3:18; Luk 6:15). He had a separate interview with our Lord after his resurrection (Co1 15:7), and is mentioned as one of the apostles of the circumcision (Act 1:13). He appears to have occupied the position of head of the Church at Jerusalem, where he presided at the council held to consider the case of the Gentiles (Act 12:17; 15:13-29: Act 21:18). This James was the author of the epistle which bears his name.
James, Epistle of (1.) Author of, was James the Less, the Lord's brother, one of the twelve apostles. He was one of the three pillars of the Church (Gal 2:9). (2.) It was addressed to the Jews of the dispersion, "the twelve tribes scattered abroad." (3.) The place and time of the writing of the epistle were Jerusalem, where James was residing, and, from internal evidence, the period between Paul's two imprisonments at Rome, probably about A.D. 62. (4.) The object of the writer was to enforce the practical duties of the Christian life. "The Jewish vices against which he warns them are, formalism, which made the service of God consist in washings and outward ceremonies, whereas he reminds them (Jam 1:27) that it consists rather in active love and purity; fanaticism, which, under the cloak of religious zeal, was tearing Jerusalem in pieces (Jam 1:20); fatalism, which threw its sins on God (Jam 1:13); meanness, which crouched before the rich (Jam 2:2); falsehood, which had made words and oaths playthings (Jam 3:2); partisanship (Jam 3:14); evil speaking (Jam 4:11); boasting (Jam 4:16); oppression (Jam 5:4). The great lesson which he teaches them as Christians is patience, patience in trial (Jam 1:2), patience in good works (Jam 1:22), patience under provocation (Jam 3:17), patience under oppression (Jam 5:7), patience under persecution (Jam 5:10); and the ground of their patience is that the coming of the Lord draweth nigh, which is to right all wrong (Jam 5:8)." "Justification by works," which James contends for, is justification before man, the justification of our profession of faith by a consistent life. Paul contends for the doctrine of "justification by faith;" but that is justification before God, a being regarded and accepted as just by virtue of the righteousness of Christ, which is received by faith.
Jannes One of the Egyptians who "withstood Moses" (Ti2 3:8).