James Waddel Alexander (March 13, 1804 – July 31, 1859) was an American Presbyterian minister and theologian who followed in the footsteps of his father, the Rev.

[2] He was born on the Hopewell estate near present-day Gordonsville at the residence of his maternal grandfather after whom he was named, the blind Presbyterian preacher James Waddel.

[1] He served in this position until 1844, when he became pastor of New York City's Duane Street Presbyterian Church for the next five years.

They had seven children:[8] Alexander died of dysentery at the Red Sweet Springs in Alleghany County, Virginia in 1859 at the age of 55.

Alexander's English translation of the hymn "O Sacred Head, Now Wounded," became the most widely used version in 19th and 20th century hymnals.

His books, and many juvenile books for Sunday-school libraries, include: His correspondence is collected in Forty Years' Familiar Letters of James W. Alexander, Constituting, With the Notes, a Memoir of His Life (2 vols., New York: Charles Scribner, 1860), edited by Dr John Hall.