James

James, the Lesser, son of Alpheus,  lived in Galilee. 

The main question surrounding James son of Alphaeus is whether he was the same person as one of the other Jameses in the New Testament. Because their names appear in the same lists and they have different fathers,James son of Zebedee (also known as James the Greater) and Ja,mes the Lesser are obviously not the same person. 

We know from the gospels that Jesus had at least four brothers: James, Joseph, Simon, and Judas (Matthew 13:55, Mark 6:3). We also know that James the Less has at least one brother named Joseph (Matthew 27:56, Mark 15:40). This suggests to some that James the Lesser was actually the brother of Jesus. However, his designation as the "son of Alphaeus" would seem to make him more likely the brother of another "son of Alphaeus" mentioned in the New Testament, that being Levi the tax collector (Mark 2:14). However, the Bible doesn’t say this, and while the lists of apostles make it clear James and John are brothers, and Peter and Andrew are brothers, there’s no mention of a relationship between James and Matthew. In fact, in two of the lists their names aren’t even next to each other (Mark 3:16-19 and Luke 6:13-16).

Some argue that Mark’s attempt to distinguish James the Less suggests there was only one other James to distinguish him from. The word translated as “the Less” or “the younger” could refer to height, age, or importance, but this kind of contrast makes the most sense if there are two people we might associate with the name James, (not three or four).

His mother’s name is Mary (Mark 15:40), and some believe that she was wife to Alphaeus, (or Cleophas) and the sister of Jesus' mother, Mary. If true, this would make James the Lesser the cousin of Jesus.

According to some traditions, this James wrote the Epistle of James, preached in Palestine and Egypt and was crucified in Egypt. Still another tradition says that he died as a martyr and his body was sawed in pieces. The saw became his apostolic symbol.