| The Epistle of James |
Who Was James?
Eusebius quotes Clement in Institutions, Book 6: "Peter, and James, and Johnafter the ascension of our Savior, though they had been preferred by our Lord, did not contendfor the honour, but chose James the Just as bishop of Jerusalem. The Lord imparted the gift ofknowledge to James the Just, to John and Peter after his resurrection, these delivered it tothe rest of the apostles, and they to the seventy." (Ecclesiastical History of EusebiusPamphilus, page 49.)
He quotes Hegesippus in Commentaries, Book 5. "But James the brother of theLord, who was surnamed the Just by all, received the government of the church with the apostles.This apostle was consecrated from his mother's womb. He drank neither wine nor fermentedliquors, and abstained from animal foods. A razor never came upon his head, he never anointedwith oil, and never used a bath. He alone was allowed to enter the sanctuary. He never worewoollen, but linen garments. He was in the habit of entering the temple alone, and was oftenfound upon his bended knees, and interceding for the forgiveness of the people; so that hisknees became hard as camel's. On account of his exceeding great piety, he was called the Justand Oblias (or Zaddick and Ozleam) which signifies justice and protection of the people."(Ecclesiastical History of Eusebius Pamphilus, page 76.)
Between the time of the death of Festus and the arrival of Albinus to Judea asprocurator, King Agrippa replaced Joseph with Ananus as high priest. Ananus, a Sadducee,assembled the sanhedrin of the judges and formed an accusation against James and some of hiscompanions. (Antiquities of the Jews, XX, ix, 1.)
The scribes and the Pharisees placed James on the wing of the temple andtaunted him about Jesus. In a loud voice, James gave his testimony of Jesus. The scribes andthe Pharisees saw their failure and decided to cast him down from the height in an effort tobring fear to the people in attendance. Since James did not die from the fall, he was stoned todeath. One man, a fuller, beat out the brains of James with a club that he used to beat outclothes. (Ecclesiastical History of Eusebius Pamphilus, page 77.)
There were some of the citizens who did not approve of what had taken place.They asked King Agrippa to have Ananus told not to act like this any more. They also sent wordto Albinus, telling him what had happened. In anger, Albinus sent a letter from Alexandria toAnanus condemning the action and threatening punishment. King Agrippa immediately removedAnanus from the high priesthood. (Antiquities of the Jews, XX, ix, 1.)
James, like his brothers, did not believe in the Lord Jesus during his earthlyministry (NBV). He was not converted until Jesus wasraised from the dead (WNT). He decided the admissionof Paul into fellowship with the church at Jerusalem (Smith's Bible Dictionary). Theconference dealing with the controversy about circumcision was presided over by James(WNT).
Some scholars deny that this letter was written by him(NJB). Eusebius noted that James is said to havewritten it but that it was considered spurious. Nevertheless, he also noted that this and theother epistles were publicly used in most of the churches. (Ecclesiastical History, ofEusebius Pamphilus, pages 78 and 79). In another place, he said that the Epistle of Jamesis among the disputed books, although these were well known and approved by many (page110). He quotes Origen, who listed his review of the Scriptures of both Testaments, inwhich James is not mentioned (pages 244-247). Many modern scholars have concluded,primarily on internal evidence, that James was a Hellenistic Jew writing for Jewish Christianstoward the end of the first century A.D. (TDB).
| Versions Compared |
| Themes of the Epistle |
| CEV | Though written as a letter, it is more like a short book of instructions fordaily living. It is a series of examples that show faith in action in wise and practical ways.The advice is clear and to the point. |
| NAB | It consists of sequences of didactic proverbs. Numerous passages treat of subjects thatalso appear in the synoptic sayings of Jesus, especially in Matthew's Sermon on the Mount. Itrepresents a type of early Christianity that emphasized sound teaching and responsible moralbehavior. |
| NJB | The author insists that Christian faith must issue in good works: a faith not expressed ingood works is no faith at all. In the Wisdom tradition of the Old Testament he gives sharp andsensible advice on many practical points of conduct, especially stressing the danger andtransistories of wealth. |
| PRS | The teaching closely follows that of Jesus' Sermon on the Mount and reads like a collectionof short homilies. It deals particularly with the dangers of an uncontrolled tongue, snobbery,belief in God unaccompanied by Christian conduct, and trusting in material prosperity. |
| TDB | It is a vigorous homily in the form of a letter. It is a guide for daily living andpresents Christianity as a "religion of attainment;" that is, a religion not primarily of"faith" but of "works." It has often been called the most Hebraic writing in the New Testament.This little book is notable for its numerous imperatives (fifty-four of them in a hundred andeight verses), for its irony and humor, for its invectives against wealth, and for its famouspassage on "taming the tongue." Martin Luther, in grading the books of the Bible according totheir spiritual value, called the Epistle of James "a letter of straw" (page 7). |
| TEV | It is a collection of practical instructions, written to "all God's people scattered overthe whole world." From the Christian perspective he deals with a variety of topics such asriches and poverty, temptation, good conduct, prejudice, faith and actions, the use of thetongue, wisdom, quarrelling, pride and humility, judging others, boasting, patience, andprayer. It emphasizes the importance of actions along with faith, in the practice of theChristian religion. |
| TM | The letter of James shows one of the church's early pastors skillfully going about his workof confronting, diagnosing, and dealing with areas of misbelief and misbehavior that had turnedup in congregations committed to his care. Deep and living wisdom is on display here, wisdomboth rare and essential. |
| WNT | James wrote to encourage the Jewish Christians who were suffering persecution to bepatient; to urge all not to be partial to the rich; to warn the rich oppressors against theday of judgment; in short, to stress the social, practical side of Christianity. |
| --- | The Bible Almanac: Addressed to Hebrew converts, it is intended to strengthen themin Christian life by correcting various tendencies to sin and by instructing them in the truththat faith must show itself above by the way it works. |
| --- | Smith's Bible Dictionary: Its main object is not to teach doctrine, but to improvemorality. It was written to Jewish Christians to warn them against the sins to which as Jewsthey were most liable, and to console and exhort them under the sufferings to which asChristians they were most exposed. |
| Outlines of the Epistle |
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| Selected Footnotes |
| 1:1 | CEV | Twelve tribes scattered all over the world: James is saying that the Lord'sfollowers are like the tribes of Israel that were scattered everywhere by their enemies. |
| 1:2 | DRB | Into divers temptations: The word temptation, in this epistle, is sometimes taken fortrials by afflictions or persecutions, as in this place; at other times, it is to beunderstood, tempting, enticing, or drawing others into sin. |
| 1:5 | NAB | Wisdom: a gift that God readily grants to all who ask in faith and that sustains theChristian in times of trial. It is a kind of knowledge or understanding not accessible to theunbeliever or those who doubt, which gives the recipient an understanding of the realimportance of events. In this way a Christian can deal with adversity with great calm and hope. |
| 1:12 | NAB | The crown of life: in ancient Palestine, crowns or wreaths of flowers were worn at festiveoccasions as signs of joy and honor. In the Hellenistic world, wreaths were given as a rewardto great statesmen, soldiers, athletes. |
| CEV | A glorious life: The Greek text has "the crown of life." In ancient times an athlete whohad won a contest was rewarded with a crown of flowers as a sign of victory. | |
| 1:15 | WNT | Only a practical, not a philosophical, explanation -- of how sinning starts and maturesin death. |
| 1:18 | CEV | His own special people: The Greek text has "the first of his creatures." The Law of Mosestaught that the first-born of all animals and the first part of the harvest were special andbelonged to the Lord. |
| 1:25 | NET | Literally: "if a person looks into the perfect 'law' of freedom." For a Jew, the word"law" basically meant "instruction" or "teaching." The reference here is to "law" in thewider sense, as a name for the whole "word" or "instruction" of God. |
| 1:27 | AB | "Religion in its rise interests us about ourselves; in its progress, about our fellowcreatures; in the highest stage, about the honor of God." (Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown). |
| 2:10 | DRB | Guilty of all: that is, he becomes a transgressor of the law in such a manner, that theobserving of all other points will not avail him to salvation; ... . For all the precepts ofthe law are to be considered as one total and entire law, and as it were a chain of precepts,where, by breaking one link of this chain, the whole chain is broken, or the integrity of thelaw consisting of a collection of precepts. |
| 2:21 | AAT | See note at Romans 3: 20. "Righteous" ("Justify") is a court term. God, who gives us therighteousness of Christ, as a judge declares us righteous and by His verdict makes us righteousin His sight. |
| 3:4 | TDB | Comparing the tongue with a rudder may have been a common figure of speech, for it hasbeen traced back a thousand years or more. The Egyptian sage Amenemope expressed it as follows:"The tongue of a man is the rudder of a ship, But the Universal Lord is its pilot." |
| WNT | Tiny: in superlative to emphasize the contrast in size of rudder and ship. | |
| 4:4 | NAB | Adulterers: a common biblical image for the covenant between God and his people is themarriage bond. In this image, breaking the covenant with God is likened to the unfaithfulnessof adultery. |
| 4:5 | WNT | [The quotation is] not from Old Testament; uncertain from what book it comes. |
| 5:7 | NAB | The early and late rains: an expression related to the agricultural season in ancientPalestine. (See Jeremiah 5: 24.) Rain early and late: autumn and spring rains respectively. [Note: This suggests a winter growing season. If there is also a summer growing season, itwould be spring and autumn rains.] |
| 5:12 | NAB | This is the threat of condemnation for the abuse of swearing oaths. By heaven or by earth:these words were substitutes for the original form of an oath, to circumvent its binding forceand to avoid pronouncing the holy name of God. |
| 5:14 | CEV | Church leaders: Or "elders" or "presbyters" or "priests." Olive oil: The Jewish peopleused olive oil for healing. |
| DRB | Let him bring in, etc.: See here a plain warrant of scripture for the sacrament of extremeunction, that any controversy against its institution would be against the express words ofthe sacred text in the plainest terms. | |
| GW | People in ancient times used olive oil for healing. | |
| NCV | Pour oil upon the person: Oil was used in the name of the Lord as a sign that the personwas now set for God's special attention and care. | |
| 5:15 | TDB | This prescribed ceremony and the promise to the sick are the basis for the Catholicsacrament of "Extreme Unction," administered to those thought to be at death's door. |
| 5:16 | DRB | Confess your sins to one another: That is, to the priests of the church whom he had orderedto be called for, and brought in to the sick; moreover, to confess to persons who had no powerto forgive sins, would be useless. Hence the precept here means, that we must confess to menwhom God hath appointed, and who, by their ordination and jurisdiction, have received thepower of remitting sins in his name. |
| Parallel Quotes from the Old Testament |
| 1:10 | Isaiah 40: 6 | like a flower on a wild plant |
| 1:11 | Isaiah 40: 7, 8 | dries up the plant; its flower drops off |
| 1:12 | Daniel 12: 12; Zechariah 6: 14 | blessed is ... who patiently endures; he will receive the crown of life |
| 2:8 | Leviticus 19: 18 | love your neighbor as yourself |
| 2:11 | Exodus 20: 13, 14; Deuteronomy 5: 17, 18 | do not commit adultery ... do not murder |
| 2:19 | Deuteronomy 6: 4; Zechariah 14: 9; Malachi 2: 10 | God is one |
| 2:21 | Genesis 22: 2, 9 | offered his son Isaac on the altar |
| 2:23 | Genesis 15: 6 | Abraham believed God, and it was credited to his account as righteousness |
| 2 Chronicles 20: 7; Isaiah 41: 8 | the friend of God | |
| 3:9 | Genesis 1: 27; 5: 1 | made in God's likeness |
| 4:6 | Proverbs 3: 34 | He gives grace ... God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble |
| 5:3 | Psalm 21: 9 | eat your flesh like fire |
| 5:4 | Exodus 2: 23; Leviticus 19: 13; Malachi 3: 5 | the wages that you never paid to the workers |
| Exodus 3: 9; 2 Samuel 22: 7; Psalm 18: 6; Isaiah 5: 9 | groans have come to the ears of the Lord of Armies (Hosts) | |
| 5:5 | Jeremiah 12: 3 | the day of slaughter |
| 5:7 | Deuteronomy 11: 14 | the fall and spring rains |
| 5:11 | Exodus 34: 6; 2 Chronicles 30: 9; Psalms 86: 15; 103: 8; 111: 4; 112: 4; 145: 8;Joel 2: 13; Jonah 4: 2; Nehemiah 9: 17, 31 | the Lord is tenderhearted and merciful |
| Daniel 12: 12 | we call those "blessed" who patiently endured | |
| 5:20 | Proverbs 10: 12 | cover many sins |