Book 2 — Chapter 23 — The Martyrdom of Yaaqov, Brother of Yahushua
Eusebius gives one of his most important long quotations from Hegesippus concerning Yaaqov the Righteous, brother of Yahushua and leader of the Yerushalayim assembly. Yaaqov is portrayed as exceptionally disciplined, continually praying for the people and widely respected. According to Hegesippus, teachers hostile to the movement bring him to a high place at the sanctuary during Pesach and demand that he turn the people away from faith in Yahushua. Instead he publicly bears witness to the Son of Adam. They throw him down; surviving the fall, he prays for those attacking him. He is then stoned and finally killed by a fuller with a club. Eusebius also cites Yosephus's account that the great kohen Ananus convened a council during a gap in Roman governorship and executed Yaaqov and others by stoning. The exact relationship between Hegesippus and Yosephus differs in detail, but both anchor Yaaqov's death in Yerushalayim before the war.