JAMES The author of this epistle seldom quotes Scripture, but he works with it. He has a particular liking for the prophetic tone, which passes with him not infrequently into the tone of Jewish apocalyptic. He lives in the religious outlook of the later Judaism. Free from every kind of mysticism, no less than from any interest in speculation, so bent upon the practical that he scarcely allows any independent value to the specifically religious element, he is bitter in his censure, rugged in his descriptions, a realist who plunges straight into daily life, and paints with a broad brush, a man of clear-cut diction when he unfolds his own ideas, the Jeremiah of the NT. The further we go down, the more intelligible become not merely the conditions which the epistle presupposes amongst Christians, e.g. the significance of the persecutions, and the limitation of miraculous power to the officers of the congregation, but also the ethical nature of the writing, its complete divergence from the main ideas of the Pauline preaching, its conception of Christianity as a law, and lastly its relations to the early Christian literature.—von Soden. 1 1 23 4 5 6 78 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 JAMES JAMES, a slave of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes in the dispersion: greeting. Reckon it all joy, my brothers, when you fall among manifold trials, That you may be perfect and entire, lacking in nothing. But if anyone of you lacks wisdom, let him ask from the God who gives to all generously and without reproaching, And it shall be given him. But let him ask in faith, with never a doubt; For the doubter is like the surge of the sea, wind-swept and tossed Let not that man suppose he will receive anything from the Lord, Let the humble brother exult in his exaltation; But the rich in his humiliation, Because like the flower of the grass he shall pass away. For up comes the sun with the scorching wind and withers the grass, And the flower of it falls off and the beauty of its appearance is ruined: So shall the rich man also fade in his pursuits. Happy the man who endures trial! For after he has been tried he shall receive the wreath of life which Let no man who is being tempted say, "My temptation is from God"; no man. Every one is tempted by his own lust, lured away and beguiled: And when sin is matured, it brings forth death. Be not misled, my beloved brothers. "Every gift that is good and every gift that is perfect" is from above, Coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no shifting or shadow of change. He willed to bring us forth by the word of truth, To be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures. You know that, my beloved brothers. Now let every man be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger : 21 Therefore, putting away all the filthy dregs of malice, 222 23 24 Accept with meekness the implanted word which is able to save your souls. Prove yourselves obedient to the word, Instead of merely hearing--and so deluding yourselves. For if anyone hears the word and obeys not, He is like a man looking at his natural face in a mirror : He looks at himself and is off, And immediately forgets what kind of man he is. 25 But he who gazes into the perfect law- the law of freedom-and remains 26 there, Proving himself no forgetful hearer but actively obedient, This man shall be happy in his obedience. If any man imagines that he is religious, and does not bridle his 27 tongue, but deceives his own heart, this man's religion is futile. Religion pure and undefiled before our God and Father is this: 21 to care for orphans and widows in their distress, to keep oneself unstained from the world. My brothers, hold not the faith of [our] Lord of majesty [Jesus 2 Christ], with respect of persons. For if a inan enters your gathering with gold rings and splendidly dressed, and a poor man also enters in a dirty 3 dress, and you favour him who wears the splendid dress and say, "Sit here in comfort," and say to the poor man, "Stand there!" or "Sit under 4 my footstool"-have you not made distinctions among yourselves and 5 shown that you judge with evil designs? Listen, my beloved brothers. Has not God chosen those who are poor in this world to be rich in faith, and to be heirs of the realm which he has promised to those who love 6 him? Now, you have insulted the poor man. Is it not the rich who 7 oppress you? and is it not they who drag you to the courts? Is it not 8 they who blaspheme the noble Name by which you are called? If, however, you fulfil the royal law according to the scripture, Thou shalt love thy 9 neighbour as thyself, well and good. But if you have respect of persons 10 you are committing sin; the law convicts you as transgressors. For whoever shall keep the law as a whole and yet stumble in a single point, 11 is guilty of everything. For he who said, Commit no adultery, said also, Do not murder. Now, if thou committest no adultery but murderest, thou 12 hast become a transgressor of the law. So speak and so act, as those who 13 are to be judged by a law of freedom. For judgment is merciless to him 14 who has shown no mercy: mercy exults over judgment. What is the use, my brothers, of a man saying he has faith, without having deeds? 15 Can his faith save him? If a brother or a sister be ill-clad and in lack of 16 daily food, and one of you says to them, "Go in peace, get warmed and fed!" without giving them the necessaries of the body, what is the use of 17, 18 it? So too with faith; unless it brings deeds, it is dead in itself. But will some one say, "Hast thou faith-thou!"? Yes, and I have deeds as well. Show me thy faith apart from deeds, and I will show thee my 19 faith by my deeds. Thou believest in one God?1 well and good. The 20 daemons also believe and shudder. Wilt thou understand, O empty man, 21 that faith is useless apart from deeds? Was not our father Abraham 22 justified by deeds, when he offered his son Isaac upon the altar? Thou seest that faith was working along with his deeds, that by deeds faith 23 was perfected, and that the scripture was fulfilled which saith, Now Abraham believed God and it was counted to him as uprightness, and he was 1 Reading εἷς θεὸς ἔστιν ; 24 called God's friend. You see it is by deeds a man is justified, and not 25 merely by faith. In the same way, was not Rahab the harlot also justified by deeds, as she welcomed the messengers and dismissed them 26 by another way? For Just as apart from the breath the body is dead, So also faith is dead apart from deeds. 31 Crowd not to be teachers, my brothers, Since you know we shall be the more heavily sentenced. 2 For in many points we all stumble : He is a perfect man who stumbles not in speech, He is able to bridle his whole body as well. 3 If we put bridles into the horses' mouths to make them obey us, We turn about their whole body as well. 4 Look at the ships too! for all their size and their speed under stiff winds, They are turned about by a very small rudder, wherever the impulse of the steersman decides. 5 So also the tongue is a small member, 6 Yet it boasts of great exploits. Look at the forest kindled by a tiny fire! And the tongue-that world of iniquity— The tongue proves itself a very fire among our members: Besides staining the whole body, It fires the Wheel of being, Fired itself by Gehenna. 7 For every kind of beast and bird, of things creeping and marine, is tamed and has been tamed by mankind : 10 And with it we curse men made after the likeness of God: From the same mouth issue blessing and cursing; My brothers, this ought not to be so. 11 Does a fountain send out fresh water and brackish water from the same 13 Who is wise and sage among you? In meekness of wisdom let him show his deeds by good conduct. 14 But if in your heart you have bitter jealousy and factiousness, Exult not over the truth nor lie against it. 15 That is not the wisdom which comes down from above; Nay, it is earthly, sensuous, daemoniacal. 16 For wherever jealousy and faction exist, There disorder is and everything ill. 17 Whereas the wisdom from above is first pure, Then peaceable, forbearing, pliant, Full of mercy and good fruits, impartial, unfeigned. 18 Now those who make peace are sowing in peace uprightness as the fruit thereof. 41 Whence come wars, whence wrangles among you? Is it not from this, from your pleasures that wage war among your members? 2 You desire, yet you do not possess. You are envious1 and jealous, yet you cannot obtain. Because you do not ask. 3 You do ask, yet you receive not; Because you ask amiss, in order to spend upon your pleasures. 4 Unfaithful to your troth, Do you not understand that the world's friendship is enmity against God? Whoever then would be the world's friend proves himself God's enemy. 5 Or is it idly, do you imagine, that the scripture saith, Jealously he yearns for the spirit which he made to dwell in us"? 6 Now he grants greater grace: therefore it saith, 7 The haughty God resists, But to the humble he grants grace. Be subject then to God. Resist the devil, And he will flee from you: 8 Draw nigh to God, And he will draw nigh to you. Sinners, cleanse your hands! Double-minded, purify your hearts! 9 Grieve and mourn and weep! Changed be your laughter into mourning, 10 Humble yourselves before the Lord, 11 Defame not one another, brothers. He who defames his brother or judges his brother, Now if thou judgest the law, Thou are not obedient to the law, but a judge. 12 One is lawgiver and judge, 13 He who is able to save and to destroy. But thou, who art thou to judge thy neighbour? Come now, you who say, "To-day or to-morrow we shall go to this 14 or that city, and spend a year there, and trade, and get gain"—you who are ignorant what life 3 shall be yours upon the morrow! For you are a 15 vapour, appearing for a little and then vanishing. You should say 16 instead, “If the Lord will, we shall do this or that." As it is, you exult in your pretensions; all such exultation is evil. 17 He who knows, then, to do good yet does it not, To him it is sin. 51 Come now, you rich, weep and howl for your impending griefs! 2 Your wealth lies rotten, And your garments have become moth-eaten. 3 Your gold and silver are rusted over, And their rust shall be evidence against you, You have been laying up treasure in the last days. 1 Reading φθονεῖτε. 3 Omitting [[p]]. |