The Letter of James

By Douglas J. Moo

Few New Testament books have been as con­troversial and misunderstood as the letter of James. Its place in the canon was contested by some early Christians, and the reformer Martin Luther called it an “epistle of straw.” The sometimes negative view of the letter among modern theologians, however, is not shared by ordinary believers. Well known and often quoted, James is concise, intensely practical, and filled with memorable metaphors and illustrations. As such, it has become one of the most popular New Testament books in the church. 

This highly original commentary on James by respected New Testament scholar Douglas Moo combines penetrat­ing scholarship with the simplicity of style and pastoral tone characteristic of James itself. After discussing such background issues as authorship, genre, purpose, structure, and theology, Moo provides a verse-by-verse exposition of the text that leads readers to the heart of James’s message—wholehearted commitment to Christ. In addition to expounding the meaning of James, Moo also takes care to provide practical insights for applying that meaning in the church today. 

At once scholarly and accessible, this vol­ume has become a standard commentary on James. The second edition is based upon the newest version of the NIV and incorporates the latest scholarship. It has been expanded, updated, and revised throughout.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Eerdmans
• Release date: Jun 15, 2021
• ISBN: 9781467462358

Douglas J. Moo

Douglas J. Moo (PhD, St. Andrews) is professor of New Testament emeritus at Wheaton College.

Book preview

Front Cover of The Letters of James (PNTC), 2nd EditionHalf Title of The Letters of James (PNTC), 2nd Edition

THE PILLAR NEW TESTAMENT COMMENTARY

General Editor

D. A. CARSON

Book Title of The Letters of James (PNTC), 2nd Edition

Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.

4035 Park East Court SE, Grand Rapids, Michigan 49546

www.eerdmans.com

© 2000, 2021 Douglas J. Moo

All rights reserved

First edition 2000

Second edition 2021

Printed in the United States of America

27 26 25 24 23 22 211 2 3 4 5 6 7

ISBN 978-0-8028-7666-9

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Moo, Douglas J., author.

Title: The Letter of James / Douglas J. Moo.

Description: Second edition. | Grand Rapids, Michigan : William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2021. | Series: The Pillar New Testament commentary | Includes bibliographical references and index. | Summary: The second edition of a commentary on the letter of James that provides a verse-by-verse exposition of the text and practical insights for applying its meaning in the church today—Provided by publisher.

Identifiers: LCCN 2020054728 | ISBN 9780802876669 (hardcover)

Subjects: LCSH: Bible. James—Commentaries.

Classification: LCC BS2785.53 .M65 2021 | DDC 227/.9107—dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020054728

Unless otherwise noted, Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com. The NIV and New International Version are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.™

To Jenny, co-worker in the Lord

Contents

Series Preface

Preface to the Second Edition

Preface to the First Edition

Texts and Translations

Abbreviations

Bibliography

INTRODUCTION

I.   The Letter in the Church

II.  Nature and Genre

III.Author

A. The Case for James of Jerusalem as the Author

B. The Challenge to the Traditional View

C. Final Assessment

IV.Occasion and Date

A. The Readers and Their Situation

B. Date

V.Context of Thought and Theology

A. Cognitive Environment

B. James and Theology

C. God

D. Eschatology

E. The Law / the Word of God

F. Wisdom

G. Poverty and Wealth

H. The Christian Life

I. Faith, Works, and Justification

VI.Structure and Theme

COMMENTARY

OUTLINE OF JAMES

COMMENTARY ON JAMES

I.Letter Opening: Overview of Pastoral Concerns (1:1–27)

A. Address and Greeting (1:1)

B. The Pursuit of Spiritual Wholeness (1:2–18)

1. Trials and Spiritual Wholeness (1:2–4)

2. Wisdom, Faith, and Spiritual Wholeness (1:5–8)

3. Encouraging the Poor, Challenging the Rich (1:9–11)

4. Reward for Enduring Trials (1:12)

5. Trials and Temptations (1:13–15)

6. God’s Good and Consistent Giving (1:16–18)

C. Characteristics of Spiritual Wholeness (1:19–27)

1. Warning about Hasty Speech and Anger (1:19–20)

2. The Right Response to God’s Word (1:21–25)

3. Marks of Pure and Faultless Religion (1:26–27)

II.Letter Body: Development of Pastoral Concerns (2:1–5:11)

A. Discrimination against the Poor and the Royal Law (2:1–13)

1. Rebuke for Discriminating against the Poor (2:1–7)

2. Discrimination and the Kingdom Law of Love (2:8–13)

B. The Faith That Saves (2:14–26)

C. Spiritual Wholeness, Speech, and Community Harmony (3:1–4:12)

1. The Harmful Effects of the Uncontrolled Tongue (3:1–12)

2. The Fruit of True Wisdom: Peace (3:13–4:3)

3. A Summons to Spiritual Wholeness (4:4–10)

4. A Final Rebuke of Sinful Speech (4:11–12)

D. Arrogance, the Abuse of Wealth, and the Christian Response (4:13–5:11)

1. Rebuke of Arrogant Planning (4:13–17)

2. Rebuke of the Abuse of Wealth (5:1–6)

3. Patient Endurance in Light of the Lord’s Return (5:7–11)

III.Letter Closing: Final Pastoral Concerns (5:12–20)

A. Oaths and Truthfulness (5:12)

B. Prayer and Healing (5:13–18)

C. A Concluding Summons to Action (5:19–20)

Series Preface

Commentaries have specific aims, and this series is no exception. Designed for serious pastors and teachers of the Bible, the Pillar commentaries seek above all to make clear the text of Scripture as we have it. The scholars writing these volumes interact with the most important informed contemporary debate but avoid getting mired in undue technical detail. Their ideal is a blend of rigorous exegesis and exposition, with an eye alert both to biblical theology and to the contemporary relevance of the Bible, without confusing the commentary and the sermon. The rationale for this approach is that the vision of objective scholarship (a vain chimera) may actually be profane. God stands over against us; we do not stand in judgment of him. When God speaks to us through his word, those who profess to know him must respond in an appropriate way, which is certainly different from a stance in which the scholar projects an image of autonomous distance. Yet this is no surreptitious appeal for uncontrolled subjectivity. The writers of this series aim for an evenhanded openness to the text that is the best kind of objectivity of all. If the text is God’s word, it is appropriate that we respond with reverence, a certain fear, a holy joy, a questing obedience. These values should be reflected in the way Christians write. With these values in place, the Pillar commentaries will be warmly welcomed not only by pastors, teachers, and students, but by general readers as well.

At first glance some might think it rather surprising that the author of one of this century’s major commentaries on the Epistle to the Romans should turn his hand to write a sympathetic commentary on James. But that is what Douglas Moo has achieved. More than an enlargement of his well-received little commentary on James in the TNTC series, this volume is a fresh and detailed work that displays, in particular, two great strengths. The first is a deceptive simplicity. Even when he is handling remarkably complex exegetical points, Dr. Moo argues his case with an economy and simplicity of style altogether enviable and sure to be appreciated by every reader. The second is a gentle tone of thoughtful application. Without forgetting that this book is a commentary and not a homily, Dr. Moo expounds the text not only with the cool objectivity of the seasoned scholar but with the warm reflection of the pastor. It is an enormous privilege to work with him as a colleague in the institution both of us serve.

D. A. CARSON

Preface to the Second Edition

I am grateful that Eerdmans Publishing Company has given me the opportunity to revise this commentary on James, first published in 2000. The revision is a substantial one. Important commentaries, monographs, and articles have been written in the past twenty years, and I have tried to interact with a good range of these publications (without eliminating or ignoring older works). I have rewritten a number of passages, hoping that the revised form will communicate my ideas more clearly. These revisions have meant a lengthening of the volume (by about 30 percent)—a lengthening, I should note, requested by the publisher.

Many people have helped shape my thinking on James, not least students at Wheaton College and at other institutions and churches. Their questions and interaction have significantly affected what I have written in this volume. I am especially grateful to Michael Kibbe and Grant Flynn, who pointed me to important sources and suggested both substantive revisions and helped polish the writing. As always, however, I express special appreciation to my wife, Jenny. She read the entire manuscript, suggested innumerable changes in wording to clarify the argument, and compiled the indexes. She is, indeed, in the full sense of the word, my co-worker.

Preface to the First Edition

I am very grateful to Don Carson, general editor of the Pillar New Testament Commentary, and to the Eerdmans Publishing Company for the opportunity to write this commentary on the Letter of James. As many readers of this commentary will know, fifteen years ago I wrote a commentary on James for the Tyndale series (The Letter of James [Grand Rapids: Eerdmans/ Leicester: Inter-Varsity, 1985]). The opportunity to revisit this letter has proved to be very profitable for me and, I hope, for students of James. The Pillar series has enabled me almost to double the space I could devote to commentary on the letter. I have therefore been able to pursue issues of background and theology at greater length. I am more impressed than ever by James’s creative use of Hellenistic Jewish traditions in his exposition of practical Christianity. And I remain convinced that the heart of the letter is a call to wholehearted commitment to Christ. James’s call for consistent and uncompromising Christian living is much needed. Our churches are filled with believers who are only halfhearted in their faith and, as a result, leave large areas of their lives virtually untouched by genuine Christian values. Nor am I immune to such problems. As I quite unexpectedly find myself in my middle age years, I have discovered a tendency to back off in my fervor for the Lord and his work. My reimmersion in James has challenged me sharply at just this point. I pray that it might have the same effect on all readers of the commentary.

In addition to series editor Don Carson and Eerdmans editor Milton Essenburg, I have several others to thank for their help with this volume. My research assistant at Trinity, Stephen Pegler, helped compile bibliography and edit the manuscript. My office assistant, Leigh Swain, keyed my earlier commentary into WordPerfect as a source for this work. She and Trinity doctoral fellow Pierce Yates also helped with the indexes. But most of all I want to thank my wife Jenny, to whom I dedicate this book. She also helped with the indexes; but, more than that, she encouraged me in the work when my self-confidence was at a low ebb.

DOUGLAS J. MOO

Texts and Translations

The commentary is based on the New International Version of the Bible (NIV) 2011. The text of this version is quoted at the beginning of every commentary section, with paragraphing and spacing kept intact. All quotations from the English Bible are also from the NIV, unless otherwise indicated.

Quotations from the Greek New Testament are from the Novum Testamentum Graece (Nestle-Aland, 28th ed.), and quotations from the Hebrew/Aramaic Old Testament are from Biblica Hebraica Stuttgartensia. Quotations of the Apocrypha are taken from NRSV; of the Pseudepigrapha from The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha (2 vols., ed. J. H. Charlesworth [Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1983, 1985]); of the Dead Sea Scrolls from The Dead Sea Scrolls Reader (6 vols., ed. D. W. Parry and E. Tov [Leiden: Brill, 2004–2005]); and of Philo from the Loeb Classical Library.

Abbreviations

Bibliography

I. COMMENTARIES ON JAMES

Adam, A. K. M. James: A Handbook on the Greek Text. Waco, TX: Baylor University Press, 2013.

Adamson, J. B. The Epistle of James. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1976.

Allison, D. C., Jr. A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Epistle of James. ICC. New York: Bloomsbury T&T Clark, 2013.

Bengel, J. A. Gnomon of the New Testament. Vol. 5. Repr., Edinburgh: T&T Clark, 1860.

Blomberg, C. L., and M. J. Kamell. James. ZECNT. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2008.

Brosend, W. F. James and Jude. New Cambridge Bible Commentary. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2004.

Burchard, C. Der Jakobusbrief. HNT 15/1. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2000.

Burdick, D. W. James. Pages 159–205 in vol. 12 of The Expositor’s Bible Commentary. Edited by F. E. Gaebelein. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1981.

Calvin, J. Commentaries on the Catholic Epistles. Translated by J. Owen. Repr., Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1948.

Cantinat, J. Les Épîtres de Saint Jacques et de Saint Jude. Paris: Gabalda, 1973.

Chaine, J. L’Épître de Saint Jacques. Paris: Gabalda, 1927.

Davids, P. The Epistle of James. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1982.

Dibelius, M. A Commentary on the Epistle of James. Rev. by H. Greeven. Philadelphia: Fortress, 1976.

Doriani, D. M. James. Reformed Expository Commentary. Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R, 2007.

Frankemölle, H. Der Brief des Jakobus. Gütersloh: Gütersloher, 1994.

Guthrie, G. H. James. Pages 197–273 in vol. 13 of The Expositor’s Bible Commentary. Edited by T. Longman III and D. E. Garland. Rev. ed. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2006.

Hartin, P. J. James. SP 14. Edited by D. J. Harrington. Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 2003.

Hiebert, D. E. James. Rev. ed. Chicago: Moody, 1992.

Hort, F. J. A. The Epistle of St. James. London: Macmillan, 1909.

Huther, J. E. Critical and Exegetical Handbook to the General Epistles of James, Peter, John and Jude. New York: Funk & Wagnalls, 1887.

Johnson, L. T. The Letter of James. Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1995.

Knowling, R. J. The Epistle of St. James. London: Methuen, 1910.

Laws, S. A Commentary on the Epistle of James. New York: Harper & Row, 1980.

Martin, R. P. James. Waco, TX: Word, 1988.

Mayor, J. B. The Epistle of St. James. 2nd ed. London: Macmillan, 1913.

McCartney, D. G. James. BECNT. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2009.

McKnight, S. The Letter of James. NICNT. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2011.

Mitton, C. L. The Epistle of James. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1966.

Moffatt, J. The General Epistles of James, Peter and Jude. London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1928.

Moo, D. J. The Letter of James. PNTC. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2000.

———. The Letter of James. TNTC. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1985.

———. The Letter of James. TNTC. Rev. ed. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2015.

Mußner, F. Der Jakobusbrief. 4th ed. Freiburg: Herder, 1981.

Painter, J., and D. A. deSilva. James and Jude. Paideia Commentaries on the New Testament. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2012.

Reicke, B. The Epistles of James, Peter and Jude. AB 37. Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1964.

Ropes, J. H. A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Epistle of St. James. ICC. Edinburgh: T&T Clark, 1916.

Ross, A. The Epistles of James and John. London: Marshall, Morgan and Scott, 1954.

Schlatter, A. Der Brief des Jakobus. Stuttgart: Calwer, 1956.

Tasker, R. V. G. The General Epistle of James. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1956.

Varner, W. The Book of James: A New Perspective. Woodlands, TX: Kress Biblical Resources, 2019. Accessed through Logos Bible Software.

Vlachos, C. A. James. B&H Exegetical Guide to the Greek New Testament. Edited by M. J. Harris and A. J. Köstenberger. Nashville: B&H Academic, 2013.

Vouga, F. L’Epître de S. Jacques. Geneva: Labor et Fides, 1984.

Windisch, H. Die katholischen Briefe. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 1951.

Witherington, B., III. Letters and Homilies for Jewish Christians: A Socio-Rhetorical Commentary on Hebrews, James and Jude. Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic, 2007.

II. SECONDARY SOURCES

Achtemeier, P. J. 1 Peter. Hermeneia. Philadelphia: Fortress, 1996.

Adamson, J. B. James: The Man and His Message. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1989.

Allen, R. M. Justification and the Gospel: Understanding the Contexts and Controversies. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2013.

Allison, D. C., Jr. Blessing God and Cursing People: Jas 3:9–10. JBL 130 (2011): 397–405.

Armerding, C. ‘Is Any among You Afflicted’: A Study of James 5:13–20. BSac 95 (1938): 195–201.

Augustine, Saint. On Nature and Grace. Pages 22–92 in Four Anti-Pelagian Writings. Edited by J. A. Mourant and W. J. Collinge. FC 86. Washington, DC: Catholic University of America Press, 1992.

Baasland, E. Literarische Form, Thematik und geschichtliche Einordnung des Jakobusbriefes. ANRW 2.25.5 (1988): 3646–84.

Bachmann, E. T., and H. T. Lehman, eds. Word and Sacrament I. Vol. 35 of Luther’s Works. Philadelphia: Muhlenberg Press, 1960.

Baker, W. R. ‘Above All Else’: Contexts of the Call for Verbal Integrity in James 5.12. JSNT 54 (1994): 57–71.

———. Personal Speech-Ethics in the Epistle of James. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 1995.

———. Searching for the Holy Spirit in the Epistle of James. TynBul 59 (2008): 293–315.

Baly, D. The Geography of the Bible. New York: Harper & Row, 1974.

Barclay, W. Letters of James and Peter. 2nd ed. Daily Bible Study. Glasgow: Saint Andrew Press, 1960.

Bauckham, R. James and Jesus. Pages 100–137 in The Brother of Jesus: James the Just and His Mission. Edited by B. Chilton and J. Neusner. Louisville: Westminster John Knox, 2001.

———. James: Wisdom of James, Disciple of Jesus the Sage. London: Routledge, 1999.

———. Jesus and the God of Israel: God Crucified and Other Studies on the New Testament’s Christology of Divine Identity. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2008.

———. Jude and the Relatives of Jesus in the Early Church. Edinburgh: T&T Clark, 2004.

———. The Spirit of God in Us Loathes Envy: James 4:5. Pages 270–81 in The Holy Spirit and Christian Origins. Edited by G. N. Stanton, B. W. Longenecker, and S. C. Barton. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2004.

———. The Tongue Set on Fire by Hell (James 3:6). Pages 119–31 in The Fate of the Dead: Studies on the Jewish and Christian Apocalypses. Edited by R. Bauckham. NovTSup 93. Leiden: Brill, 1998.

Baum, A. D. Content and Form: Authorship Attribution and Pseudonymity in Ancient Speeches, Letters, Lectures, and Translations—A Rejoinder to Bart Ehrman. JBL 136 (2017): 381–403.

———. Pseudepigraphie und literarische Falschung im Frühen Christentum. WUNT 2/138. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2001.

Beale, G. K. New Testament Biblical Theology. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2011.

Bergauer, P. Der Jakobusbrief bei Augustinus und die damit verbundenen Probleme der Rechtfertigungslehre. Vienna: Herder, 1962.

Berkhof, H. The Christian Faith. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1979.

Blomberg, C. L. Christians in an Age of Wealth. Biblical Theology for Life. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2013.

———. Neither Poverty nor Riches: A Biblical Theology of Material Possessions. NSBT. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1999.

Bowden, A. M. An Overview of Interpretive Approaches to James 5.13–18. CurBR 13 (2014): 67–81.

Brown, R. E. An Introduction to the New Testament. New York: Doubleday, 1997.

Bruce, F. F. The Epistle to the Galatians. NIGTC. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1982.

———. Peter, Stephen, James and John: Studies in Non-Pauline Christianity. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1979.

Burkitt, F. C. Christian Beginnings. London: University of London, 1924.

Byron, J. Living in the Shadow of Cain: Echoes of a Developing Tradition in James 5:1–6. NovT 48 (2006): 261–74.

Cadoux, A. T. The Thought of St. James. London: James Clarke, 1944.

Calvin, J. Commentaries on the Catholic Epistles. Translated by J. Owen. Repr., Grand Rapids: Baker, 1999.

———. Institutes of the Christian Religion. Translated by F. L. Battles. 2 vols. Philadelphia: Westminster, 1960.

Campbell, R. A. The Elders: Seniority within Earliest Christianity. Edinburgh: T&T Clark, 1994.

Cargal, T. Restoring the Diaspora: Discursive Structure and Purpose in the Epistle of James. Atlanta: Scholars Press, 1993.

Carpenter, C. B. James 4.5 Reconsidered. NTS 47 (2001): 189–205.

Carson, D. A. The Inclusive Language Debate: A Plea for Realism. Grand Rapids: Baker, 1998.

———. James. Pages 997–1013 in Commentary on the New Testament Use of the Old Testament. Edited by D. A. Carson and G. K. Beale. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2007.

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Carson, D. A., P. T. O’Brien, and M. A. Seifrid, eds. The Complexities of Second Temple Judaism. Vol. 1 of Justification and Variegated Nomism. WUNT 2/140. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2001.

Catechism of the Catholic Church. 2nd ed. Washington, DC: United States Catholic Conference of Bishops, 2019.

Chester, A., and R. Martin. The Theology of the Letters of James, Peter, and Jude. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1994.

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Collins, C. J. James 5:14–16: What Is the Anointing For? Presb 23 (1997): 82–83.

Cranfield, C. E. B. The Message of James. SJT 18 (1965): 182–93, 338–45.

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Davids, P. H. The Epistle of James in Modern Discussion. ANRW 2.25.5 (1988): 3621–45.

———. The Meaning of APEIRASTOS in James I.13. NTS 24 (1977–1978): 386–92.

———. A Theology of James, Peter, and Jude: Living in the Light of the Coming King. BTNT. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2014.

Deppe, D. B. The Sayings of Jesus in the Paraenesis of James. PhD diss., University of Amsterdam, 1990.

Donker, C. E. Der Verfasser der Jak. und sein Gegner. Zum Problem der Einwandes in Jak. 2:18–19. ZNW 72 (1981): 227–40.

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———. Unity and Diversity in the New Testament. Philadelphia: Westminster, 1977.

Edgar, D. H. Has God Not Chosen the Poor? The Social Setting of the Epistle of James. JSNTSup 206. Sheffield: Sheffield Academic, 2001.

Eichholz, G. Glaube und Werke bei Paulus und Jakobus. Munich: Kaiser, 1961.

Eisenman, R. Eschatological ‘Rain’ Imagery in the War Scroll from Qumran and in the Letter of James. JNES 49 (1990): 173–84.

Elliott, J. H. The Epistle of James in Rhetorical and Social Scientific Perspective: Holiness-Wholeness and Patterns of Replication. BTB 23 (1993): 71–81.

———. 1 Peter: A New Translation with Introduction and Commentary. AB 37B. New York: Doubleday, 2000.

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———. The Meaning of ‘YLH in Jas. III.5. NTS 2 (1995): 48–50.

Evans, C. Comparing Judaisms: Qumranic, Rabbinic, and Jacobean Judaisms Compared. Pages 161–83 in The Brother of Jesus: James the Just and His Mission. Edited by B. Chilton and J. Neusner. Louisville: Westminster John Knox, 2001.

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Feuillet, A. Le sens du mot Parousie dans l’Evangile de Matthieu—comparison entre Matth. xxiv et Jac. V, 1–11. Pages 261–88 in The Background of the New Testament and Its Eschatology. Edited by W. D. Davies and D. Daube. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1964.

Foster, R. J. The Significance of Exemplars for the Interpretation of the Letter of James. WUNT 2/376. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2014.

France, R. T. The Gospel of Matthew. NICNT. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2007.

Francis, F. O. The Form and Function of the Opening and Closing Paragraphs of James and 1 John. ZNW 61 (1970): 110–26.

Frankemölle, H. Das semantische Netz des Jakobusbriefes: Zur Einheit eines umstrittenen Briefes. BZ 34 (1990): 161–97.

———. Zum Thema des Jakobusbriefes: Im Kontext der Rezeption von Sir 21,1–18 und 15,11–20. BN 48 (1989): 21–49.

Furnish, V. P. II Corinthians. AB 32A. Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1984.

Gammie, J. G. Paraenetic Literature: Toward the Morphology of a Secondary Genre. Semeia 50 (1990): 43–51.

Gnilka, J. Der Philipperbrief. 4th ed. HThKNT. Freiburg: Herder, 1987.

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Goppelt, L. Theology of the New Testament. 2 vols. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1975, 1976.

Gordon, R. P. καὶ τὸ τέλος κυρίου εἴδετε (Jas. 5.11). JTS 26 (1975): 91–95.

Gundry, R. H. Commentary on the New Testament. Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 2010.

Gunter, J. J. The Family of Jesus. EvQ 46 (1974): 25–41.

Guthrie, D. New Testament Introduction. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1990.

———. New Testament Theology. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1981.

Hagner, D. A. The New Testament: A Historical and Theological Introduction. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2012.

Hahn, F. Die Vielfalt des Neuen Testaments. Vol. 1 of Theologie des Neuen Testaments. 3rd ed. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2011.

Hansen, G. W. The Letter to the Philippians. PNTC. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2009.

Harris, M. J. Prepositions and Theology in the Greek New Testament. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2012.

———. Slave of Christ: A New Testament Metaphor for Total Devotion to Christ. NSBT 8. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1999.

Hartin, P. J. James and the Q Sayings of Jesus. Sheffield: JSOT Press, 1991.

Hass, C. Job’s Perseverance in the Testament of Job. Pages 117–54 in Studies on the Testament of Job. Edited by M. A. Knibb and P. W. van der Horst. SNTSMS 66. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1989.

Hayden, D. R. Calling the Elders to Pray. BSac 138 (1981): 258–86.

Heide, G. Z. The Soteriology of James 2:14. Grace Theological Journal 12 (1992): 69–97.

Heiligenthal, R. Werke als Zeichen: Untersuchungen zur Bedeutung der menschlichen Taten im Frühjudentum, Neuen Testament und Frühchristentum. WUNT 2/9. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 1983.

Hengel, M. Der Jakobusbrief als antipaulinische Polemik. Pages 248–78 in Tradition and Interpretation in the New Testament: Essays in Honor of E. Earle Ellis for His 60th Birthday. Edited by G. F. Hawthorne and O. Betz. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1987.

———. Judaism and Hellenism. 2 vols. Philadelphia: Fortress, 1974.

Hodges, Z. C. Absolutely Free! Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1989.

———. Dead Faith: What Is It? Dallas: Redención Viva, 1987.

———. The Gospel under Siege. Dallas: Redención Viva, 1981.

———. Light on James Two from Textual Criticism. BSac 120 (1963): 341–50.

Hoppe, R. Die theologische Hintergrund des Jakobusbriefes. Würzburg: Echter, 1977.

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Introduction

The Epistle of James has had a checkered history. Its place in the canon was contested by some early Christians. The reformer Martin Luther called it an epistle of straw and relegated it to a secondary status within the NT. And modern theologians sometimes dismiss the letter as a holdover from Judaism that does not truly express the essence of the Christian faith. Yet quite in contrast to the neglect and even somewhat negative view of the letter among academics and theologians is the status of James among ordinary believers. Few books of the NT are better known or more often quoted than James. It is probably one of the two or three most popular NT books in the church. We will investigate in the sections that follow in the introduction just why some theologians have had difficulties with James. But why is James so popular among believers generally? Three characteristics of the letter seem to provide the answer.

First, James is intensely practical, and believers looking for specific guidance in the Christian life naturally appreciate such an emphasis. Typical of the letter is 1:22, arguably the most famous command in the NT: Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. James is filled with similar clear and direct commands. In fact, the letter contains a higher frequency of imperative verbs than any other NT book. James’s purpose is clearly not so much to inform as to chastise, exhort, and encourage.