In the fourth century the claims of these and other writings to a place in the New Testament Canon were carefully sifted, the result being to vindicate the character of each of the disputed epistles (as appears from the Decrees of the Council of Laodicea, 364 A.D., and of Carthage, 397 A.D.), while a number of other books which, although not in the New Testament, had been read in church along with them were finally disallowed. (See Chap. i. Note on Canon.) With regard to the Epistle of James in particular, the rarity of allusions to it in the early Christian writers may be accounted for by its circulation being confined to Jewish Christians, as well as by the narrow sphere of labour in which the writer himself moved, his life apparently having been entirely spent in Jerusalem. Although we do not find it expressly quoted by any writer earlier than Origen,1 yet the language of Clement of Rome, and still more clearly of Hermas, and probably also of Irenæus,2 would lead us to believe that it was known to these writers. Still more significant is the fact that it has a place in the ancient Syriac Version, and was acknowledged by Ephraem Syrus. The internal evidence of the book is strongly in its favour, and it is now generally admitted to be a genuine work of "James, the Lord's brother," who presided for many years over the Church at Jerusalem. (1) The writer's modest designation of himself—“ James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ "4 is against the idea of forgery. (2) The epistle was evidently written for Jewish Christians by one of themselves. Although written in comparatively pure Greek,5 its literary character as a whole is essentially Hebrew, reminding us of the Book of Proverbs and other Jewish writings; it speaks of Abraham as "our 1 His mode of citation (ἐν τῇ φερομένῃ Ἰακώβου ἐπιστολῇ) would seem to indi cate that he was aware of some uncertainty attaching to its authorship. 2 He reproduces verbatim James ii. 23, which combines Gen. xv. 26 and 2 Chron. xx. 7 (or Is. xli. 8). 3 Gal. i. 19: "But other of the apostles saw I none, save James the Lord's brother." 4 i. I. 5 Owing, it may be, to our Epistle being the translation of an Aramaic original by a competent Greek scholar acting under the direction of James. father"; it calls the readers' place of worship "your synagogue"; it calls God "the Lord of Sabaoth"; it takes for granted an acquaintance with Old Testament characters; it alludes to Jewish forms of oath; it refers to "the law" as still binding; and it contains no allusions to those sins of the flesh which figure so prominently in epistles designed for Gentile readers.1 (3) It bears traces of having been written by a native of Palestine-in its allusions to "the scorching wind," the sea, "sweet water and bitter" (the latter referring to the brackish springs of the country); the vine, olive, and fig; "the early and latter rain."2 (4) It shows a familiar acquaintance with Christ's teaching, although its language is not such as to betray an imita 1 ii. 21: "Was not Abraham our Elijah was a man of like passions with the law as transgressors. 2i. II: "For the sun ariseth with the scorching wind, and withereth the grass; and the flower thereof falleth, and the grace of the fashion of it perisheth : so also shall the rich man fade away in his goings"; i. 6: "But let him ask in faith, nothing doubting: for he that doubteth is like the surge of the sea driven by the wind and tossed"; iii. 4: "Behold, the ships also, though they are so great, and are driven by rough winds, are yet turned about by a very small rudder, whither the impulse of the steersman willeth"; iii. 11, 12: "Doth the fountain send forth from the same opening sweet water and bitter? can a fig tree, my brethren, yield olives, or a vine figs? neither can salt water yield sweet"; v. 7: "Be patient therefore, brethren, until the coming of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient over it, until it receive the early and latter rain." tion of our Gospels.1 (5) It reflects a state of Jewish society-the rich oppressing the poor2-which is described by Josephus and other Jewish writers as prevailing in the period succeeding the death of our Lord, but which in a great measure ceased to exist after the rebellion that terminated in the Destruction of Jerusalem. With regard to the author's personal history the following points may be noted. He and his brothers Joses, Simon, and Jude, were either the children of Joseph and Mary, and younger brothers of our Lord, or else they were the children of Joseph by a former marriage. The latter 1 i. 5, 6: "But if any of you lacketh wisdom, let him ask of God, who giveth to all liberally and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. But let him ask in faith, nothing doubting"; cf. Matt. vii. 7, 8: "Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: for every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened"; Mark xi, 23: "Verily I say unto you, Whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou taken up and cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that what he saith cometh to pass; he shall have it." i. 25: "But he that looketh into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and so continueth, being not a hearer that forgetteth, but a doer that worketh, this man shall be blessed in his doing"; cf. John xiii. 17: "If ye know these things, blessed are ye if ye do them." ii. 5: "Hearken, my beloved brethren; did not God choose them that are poor as to the world to be rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which he promised to them that love him"; cf. Luke vi. 20: "And he lifted up his eyes on his disciples, and said, Blessed are ye poor: for yours is the kingdom of God." iv. 9: Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness"; cf. Luke vi. 25: "Woe unto you, ye that laugh now! for ye shall mourn and weep." iv. IO: "Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall exalt you"; cf. Matt. xxiii. 12: "And whosoever shall humble himself shall be exalted"; Compare p. 226, note 1. Dr Salmon suggests that "a great deal more of James' epistle may be founded on say ings of our Lord than we have now the means of identifying; and, in particular, that what is said of our Lord's promise (i. 12) of a crown of life,' may refer to an unrecorded saying of the Saviour." He also points out the difference in this respect between the writings of James and those of Paul, who had not been a personal follower of our Lord during His earthly ministry. "Everywhere the language of the epistle recalls the language of our Lord. The style also is similar; the brief, compressed sayings, and the frequent use of figure (see i. 6, 11, 17, 23; iii. 3, 4, 5-12). This would seem to argue that the James who wrote the letter was a contemporary and friend of Jesus."-Dod's Introduction. 2 ii. 6, 7 (quoted p. 224, note 3); v. 1-6 (quoted p. 224, note 4). 3 The pride and luxury of the rich Sadducean party were at their height. They filled the high offices of the priesthood, which they had simoniacally purchased with money. They tyrannized over the poor. Josephus tells how the high priests sent their servants to the threshing-floors to take away the tithes that by right belonged to the poorer priests, beating those who refused to give them, and that some of the poorer priests, thus defrauded of their maintenance, actually died of want "(Ant. xx., viii. 8, ix. 2).Salmon. supposition seems the more probable, both because it is in harmony with the earliest traditions of antiquity, and because it helps to explain the attitude of James and his brothers towards Jesus during His lifetime, and the committal of Mary to the keeping, not of her stepsons, but of the apostle John.1 We find that at an advanced period in our Lord's ministry His brethren did not believe in Him; but immediately after the Ascension they are associated with the disciples in the upper room.2 According to a tradition, which we have no reason to disbelieve, their conversion was due to the appearance of the risen Lord to James, which is mentioned by the apostle Paul. Among the Christians at Jerusalem James soon took a prominent place, being, indeed, the recognised head of the Church there after the death of James the brother of John (44 A.D.) and the dispersion of the other apostles.1 This commanding position he owed partly to the special relation in which he stood to Jesus, and partly to his own high character, which procured for him the name of the Just (or Righteous) and Oblias ("the bulwark of the people"). He is said to have been a Nazarite, and so much given to prayer in the Temple that his knees had grown hard like those of a camel. He was essentially a Hebrew of the Hebrews, who clung to the law and the prophets, and valued the Gospel as their fulfilment. Hence his name 1 Matt. xii. 46: "While he was yet speaking to the multitudes, behold, his mother and his brethren stood without, seeking to speak to him." John vii. 35: His brethren therefore said unto him, Depart hence, and go into Judæa, that thy disciples also may behold thy works which thou doest. For no man doeth anything in secret, and himself seeketh to be known openly. If thou doest these things, manifest thyself to the world. For even his brethren did not believe on him." John xix. 26: "When Jesus therefore saw his mother, and the disciple standing by, whom he loved, he saith unto his mother, Woman, behold, thy son!" 2 John vii. 5 (quoted above); Acts i. 14: "These all with one accord continued stedfastly in prayer, with the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brethren.' " " 3 I Cor. xv. 7: "Then he appeared to James; then to all the apostles." 4 Cf. Acts xii. 17: But he (i.e. Peter), beckoning unto them with the hand to hold their peace, declared unto them how the Lord had brought him forth out of the prison. And he said, Tell these things unto James, and to the brethren"; Acts xv. 13, 14: "And after they had held their peace, James answered, saying, Brethren, hearken unto me," &c.; Acts xxi. 17, 18: "And when we were come to Jerusalem, the brethren received us gladly. And the day following Paul went in with us unto James; and all the elders were pre was sometimes used by the Judaising party in opposition to Paul 1—as it was long after his death in the ecclesiastical romance contained in the Pseudo-Clementine Homilies and Recognitions. James himself recognised Paul as the apostle of the Gentiles, and did not insist on a full observance of the law by Gentile converts,2 and in this epistle it is "the perfect law, the law of liberty," he inculcates-" the royal law, according to the scripture, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself." He died a death of martyrdom, stoned by the Jews-as Josephus and Hegesippus relate— shortly before the destruction of Jerusalem, for his testimony to Jesus as the Messiah. 2. The Readers. To the twelve tribes which are of the Dispersion." 4 In view of the Jewish traits in the epistle, which have been already pointed out, and having regard to the migratory habits of the readers, there is no reason to take these opening words in any other than a literal sense. Jews of the Dispersion were to be found in almost every part of 5 1 Gal. ii. II, 12: "But when Cephas came to Antioch, I resisted him to the face, because he stood condemned. For before that certain came from James, he did eat with the Gentiles: but when they came, he drew back and separated himself, fearing them that were of the circumcision"; cf. Acts xv. 24: "" Forasmuch as we have heard that certain which went out from us have troubled you with words, subverting your souls; to whom we gave no commandment." 2 Gal. ii. 9: "and when they perceived the grace that was given unto me, James and Cephas and John, they who were reputed to be pillars, gave to me and Barnabas the right hands of fellowship, that we should go unto the Gentiles, and they unto the circumcision"; Acts xv. 13-21, 25, 26: "And after they had held their peace, James answered, saying, Brethren, hearken unto me: ... Wherefore my judgement is, that we trouble not them which from among the Gentiles turn to God; but that we write unto them, that they abstain from the pollutions of idols, and from fornication, and from what is strangled, and from blood. For Moses from generations of old hath in every city them that preach him, being read in the synagogues every sabbath.. It seemed good unto us, having come to one accord, to choose out men and send them unto you with our beloved Barnabas and Paul, men that have hazarded their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ." 3 i. 25, cf. ii. 12; ii. 8. 4 i. 1; cf. John vii. 35: "The Jews therefore said among themselves, Whither will this man go that we shall not find him? will he go unto the Dispersion among the Greeks, and teach the Greeks?' The word διασπορά ("dispersion") is first found in this sense in the Septuagint of Deut. xxviii. 25, ἔσῃ διασπορὰ ἐν πάσαις βασιλείαις τῆς rns. 5 iv. 13: "Go to now, ye that say, To-day or to-morrow we will go into this city, and spend a year there, and trade, and get gain." |