The death of James is the fulfilment of the prophecy which Jesus made concerning him (Mark 10:39).1 Death by the sword suggests that James was beheaded, as happened with John the Baptist (Luke 9:7–9).2 If this was the form of execution, then there was possibly some kind of political charge presented against him so that he was presented as a rebel and threat to the state.3 This would imply that the Christian population in Jerusalem was small so that the death of James would not result in any significant loss of political support for Herod. Alternatively, it is possible that his death corresponds with the charge of persuading people to serve other gods (see Deuteronomy 13:6–18).4
2 He killed James the brother of John with the sword,