Another Bible Commentary: James

This letter is commonly attributed to James the Just, the son of Joseph and therefore the half-brother of Jesus Christ (Matthew 13:55, Mark 6:3, Galatians 1:19). (He is frequently confused with James the Apostle, brother of John. However, the letter does not specify which James/Jacob speaks, and it was a common name.) James the Just didn’t believe in Jesus as Messiah until after the Resurrection (John 7:1-5, Acts 1:14, 1 Corinthians 15:7). He was apparently known as “Camel Knees” for the amount of time he spent praying. He was admired by even non-Christian Jews for his piety in the days before the Christians had to stop using the synagogues for meetings. He took over as leader of the assembly at Jerusalem after Peter left town in Acts 12:17. Church tradition says that he was thrown from the Temple roof in 62 AD and that he forgave his own murderers. Early historians attributed the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple to divine justice for the deaths of James the Just and John the Baptist.

This early letter is to Jews and Jewish Christians (Galatians 2:8-9) still zealous for keeping the Law of Moses (Acts 21:20-25). The Temple was still standing, they hadn’t read the Book of Hebrews yet, etc. The simpler standard for Gentiles in Acts 21:25 was spoken by James himself. This letter’s location in the Bible is partly because the letters to Jewish Christians are kept together and this one is shorter than Hebrews. Its position after John, Paul’s letters, Hebrews, etc., does not mean that it supersedes them. If it seems like an Old Covenant Ezekiel 18 mentality is at work here, it is. Don’t forget that you, as a Christian after 70 AD, are not somehow back under the Law of Moses (Acts 13:39, Hebrews 8:13, Hebrews 10:9).

The Book of James is often presented as a pile of random thoughts from a frustrated pastor; looking at the context of the letter will give it a more cohesive theme. To me, it looks more like a commentary/sermon on elements of the Sermon on the Mount and Leviticus 19:9-18 (which the Sermon also drew from) in the setting of Jerusalem before 70 AD. This letter (to a group concerned with keeping the Law of Moses) provides context for the Sermon on the Mount (which was about keeping the Law of Moses). Its advice about taming the tongue fits right in with classics of Jewish literature like Sirach 28, Psalm 34:12-13, and Psalm 141:3-4. It seems that this letter may have been used by Paul’s opponents in Galatia to try to get them to get circumcised. A living faith does produce observable effects in the life of a believer, but please read Romans 7:4. You died to the Law to bear fruit for God. What James calls “works”, Paul calls fruit.

Moreover, placing this letter here can make it seem that James’s “save” and Paul’s developed concept of salvation are somehow equivalent, but I maintain that they were addressing different issues. The Jews all thought they had a place in the World to Come, and Jesus clarified the reality that that kind of salvation was only to be found in Him. Keep Romans 9:30 through Romans 10:4 in mind when James talks about works. Consider that the Old Testament prophets warned Jews of the impending doom of Jerusalem for the purpose of inspiring repentance. Jesus gave them a similar warning in His Olivet Discourse (Matthew 24-25, Mark 13, and Luke 21), and I think James was speaking of similar problems and stakes as the Old Testament prophets – the wrath of the Romans was moreso a widespread concern than the wrath of God. This is a continuation of the same exhortation we saw from John the Baptist (Matthew 3:8-9) because the ax was nearby (Matthew 3:10). Remember the historical background we discussed prior to Matthew. What would a Pharisee say to a Zealot? He would perhaps quote 2 Chronicles 7:14 and assert that if they lived “rightly”, the Romans would go home. I’m not calling James a Pharisee, but as with Jesus’ earthly ministry, the Way’s focus on being set apart through piety (rather than by becoming hermits like the Essenes) made them care about and comment on the same issues as the Pharisees. To support my hypothesis that James was talking about something different with regard to salvation in comparison with the rest of the New Testament Epistles and that he would fit right in with the Old Testament minor prophets, this letter generally lacks Christ’s death, Christ’s resurrection, substitutionary atonement, our new birth, or even the salvation by faith through grace stuff you’d see in Romans 10:1-13, but all that good stuff is back in Peter’s writings to (mostly) Jewish Christians (Galatians 2:9) in the letters that follow it. Peter was actually along for the ride during Jesus’ earthly ministry. Think of how the Jews treated Paul in the Roman legal system, how the Hillel/Shammai followers and the nascent Jewish War infighting factions would have handled doctrinal disputes. Claudius expelled Jews and Jewish Christians from Rome as a result of street violence over “Chrestus”. Accusers in Roman law got the property of the guilty. All of that informs the “get along”, “watch your mouth”, “don’t teach”, “rich = bad”, etc., stuff in James.

Early Christians met in synagogues; unsaved hearers were always possible. Letters contain evangelistic appeals whether the human authors understood or intended them, because the Holy Spirit knew what Bible we’d need. Hebrews, James, 1 Peter, and 2 Peter are missing from a well-known early list of canonical books, the Muratorian fragment. Jerome admitted sparse attestation by other Christian authors. The letter of James gradually gained support for its authority later. Luther was not a fan early on.

1:1 Getting a letter of this size out to a wider audience could have cost about the equivalent of $5,000 at the time of this writing. Many commentaries say James wrote to those outside Jerusalem, as those people would have just listened to him in person. Conversely, since all of God’s people are strangers here (Psalm 119:19), those “scattered among the Gentiles” may have been the lost sheep so to speak (Matthew 10:6, Acts 18:24-26) and/or under Roman occupation.

1:2-3 See Matthew 5:10-12.

1:4 See Matthew 5:48 and Ephesians 4:13-15.

1:5 See Matthew 7:7-12 and Ephesians 1:17.

1:6–8 See Matthew 14:31 and Mark 11:23-24.

1:9-11 See Matthew 23:12 and Luke 6:20. The boasting of James 1:9-10 is the same boasting in James 4:13-16, which is confidently speaking of the future without qualifiers like “God willing”. There are commentaries that say that rich believers should take pride in how irrelevant their earthly status is vs. our New Identity in Christ. However, since the language of verse 11 is from Isaiah 1:31 and Isaiah 5 about the destruction of rich oppressors and given the existence of James 5, I think this passage just means that the Sadducees had 70 AD coming. There are those that point out it is more similar to Isaiah 40, but that passage includes the poor in “all people” so this is about rich oppressors of the early Church. (You can also see Job 15:29-30 with the understanding that the Bible is reliable about what Eliphaz said but also that God did not speak well of Eliphaz’ credibility at the end of Job.) Also, since Gentiles were once poor (Ephesians 2:12) with regard to the things that matter, then this scenario played out with the end of the Old (Ephesians 2:14, Hebrews 8:13) and its trappings (70 AD).

1:12 There is a lot of noise out there about this verse, but it’s just the Old Covenant “live rightly and live to live rightly another day” so to speak from places like Jeremiah 7:3 and Ezekiel 18:9,22. It’s just another “Do good things and good things happen”, do good things and the Romans will go away (2 Chronicles 7:14), do good things and live past 70 AD (Jonah 3:10), etc.

1:13 God does test in Deuteronomy 13:3, and Jesus is God and was tempted in the wilderness, but this is aimed against blaming God for our actions in a manner not unlike: “If God didn’t want me to take that guys’ wife, He wouldn’t have put me where I could see her naked in 2 Samuel 11.”

1:14 “dragged away” is the “deceived” of verse 16. Before salvation, the heart is wicked (Jeremiah 17:9-10, Matthew 15:19, Mark 7:23, Romans 3:10). Jesus fixes it (Colossians 2:11-12). Any wrong desires belong to Sin personified (Romans 6:12), and believers can be tricked by it into walking in ways contrary to their new nature (1 Corinthians 3:3).

1:15 We know about the wages of Sin (Romans 6:23), but in context the “death” here is from actual conflict (James 4:1-2) leading up to the Jewish War with the Romans.

1:16 To avoid being deceived by Sin, set your mind on things above (Colossians 3:1-2). I bet “above” even shows up in the next verse.

1:17 God made the lights (Genesis 1:14-18). Isaiah 45:7 says He creates less pleasant things too, but Jesus took the bad stuff for us. Isaiah 45:7 was said to Cyrus the idolater; James 1:17 is for God’s children (Matthew 7:11).

1:18 Depending on how you take this, it can apply to Jews and to Jewish Christians.

1:19-20 See Sirach 5:11. Roman taxation had dispossessed many people. Conditions were similar to the days of the Old Testament prophets when their government was collaborating with the Assyrians. There is Matthew 5:22 based on Leviticus 19:17-18 about causeless anger with a fellow Jew, and then there’s this, which seems more like “forget starting a revolt against Rome” which would make the extended discussion of taming the tongue later part of a cohesive message and not just a pile of Post-It notes.

1:21 The “word planted in you” looks like Matthew 13:1-23’s Parable of the Sower. The word for “planted” also connotes “innate” like the laws on the new heart in Jeremiah 31:33. Jesus, the Word (John 1), definitely saves, but for those still zealous for the Law of Moses (Acts 21:20), the Torah in their hearts was thought to be a ward against getting killed by the Romans (Deuteronomy 6:6,24). The “soul” in some translations is the same word as breath; they thought living rightly would keep them breathing (Ezekiel 18:9,22).

1:22-25 See Matthew 7:24-27. When you look in the mirror, see a saint. The Law of Moses made freedom (Psalm 119:45) and blessing (Psalm 128) possible under the Old Covenant, and the Pharisees thought that if the Zealots would behave, freedom from the Romans would happen (2 Chronicles 7:14).

1:26 “tongues…religion is worthless” See James 3:8; that’s all of us, we all need Jesus. See also Proverbs 10:19.

1:27 This is the Old Covenant tzedakah righteousness (Isaiah 58:6-10). Christians are entirely clean (Colossians 1:22), so this is another opportunity for us to remember to Believe and to Love. See Isaiah 1:17, Deuteronomy 27:19, and Psalm 68:5. Being polluted by the world looks like Revelation 2:14-16, Romans 1:18-32, and the like. James 4:4-10 says that humility is the opposite of worldliness.

2:1-4 See Leviticus 19:15. The rich Herodians praised Jesus for being fair in this manner in Matthew 22:16 (when they were trying to get Him to say something that would get Him killed.) Since God has been known to financially bless the faithful like Abe, the prevailing Old Covenant view was that the rich were more virtuous because they had evidence of God’s favor. James himself just reinforced that idea in James 1:25. We must also consider that in an agricultural society with land allocated by God, to grow rich often meant that someone else grew poor (Proverbs 22:28, 1 Kings 21). Plus, any say with the government short of begging mercy from the king was a landowner’s prerogative and the rich got to do as they pleased (Isaiah 1:23).

[Speculation Time: Notice that this is addressed to believers in the Lord Jesus Christ, but there is no mention of His death, resurrection, etc., so this could amount to believers in Jesus the Messiah’s interpretation of the Torah. Let’s revisit which James may have written this. Jesus’ inner circle, The Three, are named James, Peter, and John. The letters to Jewish Christians we have with named authors are attributed to James, Peter, and John. A man named James was a member of the Three, and keeping a post-Sermon pre-Cross letter from him (he was martyred in Acts 12:2) as a memento would be on-brand for Christians. Telling people to repent and offering oil-adjacent healing (James 5:14-15) sounds like this letter is set in the days of Mark 6:12-13. What if knowing only Jesus’ teachings about the Torah, as a letter written by James the Apostle before the Crucifixion would be about, is the incomplete knowledge that Apollos had in Acts 18:24-26 before finding out about grace?]

2:2 “meeting” Synagogue.

2:5 See Matthew 5:3.

2:6 These would be the James 5 rich oppressors like the Temple Establishment, Roman collaborators, etc. The world/the flesh/the devil’s standards are not Jesus’. James seems to have been discouraging things like theft and violence in the face of being squeezed by the Romans in the years leading up to the revolt. Words drift in meaning over time. “Exploiting” here is overburdened, under tyranny, squeezed financially, overtaxed, cheated, extorted; similar to what we discussed for Exodus 3:9 and Deuteronomy 24:14-15. Given the Bible’s stance on slavery, paying someone to do a job they don’t particularly like is not necessarily exploiting them.

2:7 They’re either denying Christ or lying in God’s Name for the verse 6 court stuff (Isaiah 32:7).

2:8 See Leviticus 19:18. See also Mark 12:31 and Matthew 22:39.

2:9 See Leviticus 19:15.

2:10 See Matthew 5:20, Deuteronomy 27:26 (especially Septuagint), and Galatians 3:10. Then, look ahead to James 3:2. We all break all of it all the time; we all need Jesus.

2:11 See Exodus 20:13-14 and Deuteronomy 5:17-18. Remember that straying from God in the Old Testament was consistently portrayed with a sexual immorality metaphor; the Zealots were in their own estimation faithful to their God but were also murdering Romans and Roman collaborators.

2:12 “act as” You won’t be judged (John 5:24), but live rightly anyway because it just makes sense. Again, the Law of Moses made freedom (Psalm 119:45) and blessing (Psalm 128) possible under the Old Covenant, and the Pharisees thought that if the Zealots would behave, freedom from the Romans would happen (2 Chronicles 7:14). Jeremiah said to pray for (Jeremiah 29:7) and get along with their subjugators.

2:13 See Matthew 5:7. The mercy/pity/compassion/kindness (the Greek has a lot of flavors) that Jesus commanded in His lessons about the Old Covenant (Luke 17:3-4, Matthew 18:21-35) was at least toward the repentant/contrite. The Old Covenant demanded perfect forgiveness due to the implications of Leviticus 19:17-18 and Deuteronomy 32:35, and only Jesus forgives perfectly. We killed Him with our sins (Isaiah 53:5-6), and He forgave us (Luke 23:34). He turns away no one who comes to Him (John 6:37), and His performance is what matters, not ours (2 Timothy 2:13). We’re encouraged to forgive in Colossians 3 and Ephesians 4 in light of the fact that we’re already totally forgiven. So, what is James, zealous for the Law of Moses (Acts 21:20) saying? Stabby Romans were coming in 70 AD (Leviticus 26:31), but a reprieve was also possible (Exodus 34:6, Jonah 4:2). For those wondering why mercy that triumphs over judgment wouldn’t also triumph over judgment of the unmerciful, without addressing that paradox this verse makes more sense if you cast the merciful as Jews/Jewish Christians and the unmerciful as the Romans: live “New”, because God has got your Romans handled.

2:14 See 1 John 2:4-11. Reconciling James and Paul about whether faith alone saves is an ongoing hobby for theologians. To address the more modern conversation, behavior flows from your (new) nature. For us, “deeds” or “works” are the fruit of the Spirit. Paul basically said “You’re saved; act like it”, and James can be understood as saying “If you never act like it, are you saved?” See Galatians 5:6, Galatians 5:22-23, 1 Corinthians 13, Colossians 3:1-17. We are grace-powered (1 Corinthians 15:10, Titus 2:11-12). Grace is free or it is not grace (Romans 11:6). That being said, I don’t think James and Paul were talking about the same things. Paul addressed a Gentile audience about gaining a place in the World to Come through faith in Jesus Christ that they otherwise would never have been able to obtain. James addressed a Jewish Christian audience (that had already anticipated going to the Bosom of Abraham) about the same concerns expressed in Isaiah 5, Jeremiah 7:1-15, etc. Both James and Isaiah warned about lack of fruit (Isaiah 5:2), and both James and Isaiah did so while the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple was imminent. The people were said to “have faith” in the sense of having the faith, or being Jewish (Matthew 3:9) just like in 586 BC. Again, this is a continuation of the same exhortation we saw from John the Baptist (Matthew 3:8) because the ax was nearby (Matthew 3:10).

2:15-16 Hospitality to fellow believers and the refusal to do so are also a topic in 3 John:5-10. John 8:39 says they would have been expected to be generous like their ancestor Abe (but there’s more about that in the verse 21 note).

2:17 “In the same way” Verses 15 and 16 naturally bring attention to corporal works of mercy like providing for the hungry, thirsty, inadequately clothed for weather conditions, and unsheltered (travelers and otherwise). Other popular services to provide include visiting the sick and the imprisoned as well as other hard-to-pay-back kindnesses like burying the dead. Without neglecting those things, James used the lack of utility of well wishes to a hungry belly to show “in the same way” the lack of efficacy (in preventing death at Roman hands) of a faith without the deeds James encourages like not judging, being patient, being mindful of what is spoken, and humility. Paul makes it very clear that our works do not save us and that faith is what is necessary, but a saving faith tends to do nice things too (2 Thessalonians 1:11). See Romans 3:27 and Ephesians 2:8-10.

2:18 We get what he means, and yet at its logical limits it seems to deny the existence of thoughtcrime like coveting. Wow, I thought James liked the Sermon on the Mount. I’m kidding a little: thinking is a deed, and impure thoughts are of impure things as we’ve discussed at length a few times already.

2:19 Here’s another clue that the focus of this letter is more Jewish than Christian: the faith that is mentioned is faith in God. Some Jews in 586 BC thought they were safe because of who they were; after all, Jerusalem and the Temple had been spared from an Assyrian invasion in the days of Hezekiah. Demons can pass a theology test. You don’t buy salvation with ongoing works, but have you done the right thing with your knowledge? Remember Hebrews 3:16 through Hebrews 4:3 about failing to enter the Promised Land due to unbelief. Have you, at this end of history, run to Jesus for salvation? That’s the most important thing (John 6:28-29). Did the Jews do what John the Baptist and Jesus said to do to avert the events of 70 AD? Ultimately, no. Did the Jewish Christians flee to Pella around 66 AD like Jesus said to in His Olivet Discourse? Yes, they did.

2:20 “foolish” See Matthew 5:22, Galatians 3:1, and James 1:26; James, Paul, and I need Jesus all day every day. It is precisely “faith without deeds” that is needed (Romans 4:4-5, Ephesians 2:8-9), which is to say trusting Jesus’ works and not our own, but having “a” faith (believing in the Jewish God) without acting on His plan for salvation (by running to Jesus) is another matter. There are plenty of people who “grew up in the Church” who have never seriously called out to Him (Romans 10:13). The acts of obedience that are about to be praised in the following verses are all one-time expressions of faith in the God that resurrects/saves, like you did when you accepted Christ.

2:21-24 Here’s a thing that happened one time. Abe’s faith is praiseworthy, and he gave nothing he owned in Genesis 22. Yes, God owns everything; yes, Abe was willing to sacrifice, but all he actually gave was faith. We can see Abe’s faith because he acted like someone who believed in God’s power to raise the dead, but God had already seen what He needed to see. I feel like Paul would have objected to or clarified what James said here. See Romans 4. Abe was declared righteous by faith in God’s promise in Genesis 15:6 (and we Gentile believers are alluded to in Genesis 15:5). Abe wasn’t circumcised until Genesis 17 and didn’t try to sacrifice Isaac until Genesis 22, but he’d been righteous according to God for mere belief that God is trustworthy since Genesis 15. Abe had faith that worked, but he wasn’t righteous because of the works; the most commendable thing he did was believe (John 8:39,56). His faith was demonstrated, but not “fulfilled” in a sense of the righteousness being contingent upon his actions. See Galatians 3:6-18, Galatians 2:16, and Romans 3:28.

2:25 Here’s another thing that happened once; a one-time expression of faith in the God that saves and faith that God is more powerful than man. Demons believe, but a hooker opened a door one time (Joshua 2, Matthew 10:41).

2:26 Believers have already opened the door like Rahab and offered a substitute (Jesus) like Abe in our place. Moving the context back from Paul’s concept of salvation to what I think James is saying:“demonstrate your faith in God in how you act with regard to Roman occupation or you might end up dead in 70 AD.”

3:1 See Matthew 15:11, Mark 7:15, (and Sirach 28 for bonus points) for background. However, since believers are done being judged by God (John 5:24), what remains is judgment by humans: Church leaders attract a spotlight, and the world loves to catch someone making mistakes, being a hypocrite, or contradicting themselves. James 3:1-2 also appears to speak to the factionalism seen in James 3:14, James 4:1, and James 4:11.

3:2 See Psalm 130:3-4. We all stumble in many ways. James is even more of a realist about this than Ecclesiastes 7:20. For anyone deluded enough to think their speech is perfect, see verse 8. See also Isaiah 6:7.

3:3-5 Little things like words can lead to big things like a revolt against Rome; see the verse 6 note.

3:6 See Psalm 39:3. What is translated as “Hell” here is Gehenna, the burning trash heap outside Jerusalem where child sacrifices once happened. The judgment of Gehenna in Jeremiah 19 was the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple in 586 BC, as it would happen again in 70 AD. See also Proverbs 12:18, Proverbs 15:1, Proverbs 17:27-28, and Proverbs 18:21.

3:7-8 Lots of human effort has been spent toward this goal. Again, the Stoics who wanted to “tame the tongue” (like James wanted to) said that speech was ideally 1) correct with regard to content/grammar/vocabulary/etc. 2) clear/understandable 3) concise/few words 4) clean of vulgarity and/or emotion 5) appropriate to the audience and setting. A more modern construction is whether a statement is true, kind, necessary, and an improvement upon the silence. In context, the conflicts between the Jewish factions and between the Jews and Rome were spurred on by words of criticism, anger, etc. We all stumble in many ways (James 3:2), therefore our efforts are in vain (James 1:26). We all need Jesus.

3:9 See Genesis 1:26. The Fall affected this (Genesis 5:3), but not enough to say we no longer resemble Him (Genesis 9:6), whether dead “in Adam” or alive “in Christ”.

3:10-12 See Matthew 7:16. While we are not saved for our perfect speech but for Christ’s blood, try refraining from saying or thinking anything negative for a week, and I bet you’ll feel better.

3:13-16 Remember the climate of factionalism and the looming revolt against Rome in the days in which this was written. The Greek words for jealousy and ambition used here point at the level of forming your own Zealot subfaction for overthrowing Rome and stabbing your way to fame and fortune, not just being the best you that you can be (Matthew 5:16).

This is a good place to remember that wanting is distinct from coveting. The Hebrew concept of “covet” involves plotting to take in Exodus 34:24, Deuteronomy 7:25, Joshua 7:21, Proverbs 6:25, Micah 2:2, etc. In the Greek translation of the Old Testament we call the Septuagint or LXX, “covet” is represented by the Greek word epithumeo “set the heart upon” or strong desire is not as precise. There is a difference between thinking “something like that would be nice” and “I want to have exactly that and for that guy not to have it”.

3:17 See Galatians 5:22-23 and Proverbs 8:22-36.

3:18 See Matthew 5:9.

4:1-3 See 1 Corinthians 3:3. Since Colossians 2:11-12 is true, even if your Bible in English says “your desires” here, the desires actually belong to Sin (Romans 6:12-22). Coveting (which requires intent to take) leads to violence. Don’t be an ingrate; be satisfied, work for your own, or ask God to bless you. He loves you and wants you to be happy (Psalm 37:4, Matthew 7:7-8, and 1 John 5:14). As for spending what they got on their own pleasures (the same word is used in Titus 3:3 – see that note), someone with a Pharisee worldview (which the Way would have been closest to among the historical groups we discussed earlier) would say that the Zealots wanted to kick Rome out without meaningfully reconnecting the people with God (2 Chronicles 7:14, Matthew 6:24).

4:4 The adultery reference is exactly as an Old Testament prophet would have used it to describe their infidelity to God as Husband. With regard to what friendship with the world means, remember that Abe is a great example of a friend of God (James 2:23) as well as a rich polygamist. Therefore, what is commonly referred to as “worldliness” is not what is meant here. See Deuteronomy 8:18; since God has been known to make faithful people prosperous, greed/covetousness of what rightfully belongs to others is the problem. Playing by the world’s dog-eat-dog rules in their efforts to overthrow Rome and best each other for supremacy over Judea is what friendship with the world and enmity with God looks like. In other words, what James 4:4 has a problem with is acting like James 4:1-3.

4:5 “the spirit” is the human spirit (more evidence James included evangelistic appeals to the unconverted), since He need not long for the Holy Spirit. I mention this because some translations capitalize “spirit” here. See Exodus 34:14 and Ezekiel 36:26.

4:6 See Proverbs 3:34 and Matthew 23:12. And yet, He gives us even more grace. It is superabundant; a Christian cannot exhaust it (Romans 5:20). The proud people James addressed were the nationalists from verse 2.

4:7 To resist the devil, do not obey him. Realize that Sin’s ideas are not your ideas.

4:8 See Isaiah 1:16. Christians cannot get any closer to God than we already are thanks to what Jesus did for us; see the verse 10 note.

4:9 See Matthew 5:4, Luke 6:25, and Joel 1:8-15. Again, James spoke like an Old Testament prophet would have about the impending destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD.

4:10 Think about what He did for us at salvation: He brought you close (Ephesians 2:4-16), we are united with Him (John 17:20-23, Romans 6:5), we share a Spirit with Him (1 Corinthians 6:17), He’s in us (Colossians 1:27), and we’re in Him (1 Corinthians 15:22). How did we get all that, even to the point of being raised and seated with Christ in Heaven already? By humbly admitting our need for Him. Therefore, James 5:10 in context basically says, “literally just become a Christian already instead of plotting to revolt against Rome”.

4:11 See James 2:8 and Matthew 7:1-5. In context, treating the Gentile believers as second-class citizens in the Kingdom of Heaven would have come naturally to some. See Acts 21:20-25 for James’ audience’s concern for the Law and our freedom from it if you need a reminder.

4:12 See Matthew 10:28 and Romans 14:4. James immediately started judging the dishonestly wealthy in verse 13 (see James 5:4 for clarification). Letters were for public reading at assemblies, so not everything is for believers. Think of an acquaintance’s wall posts on social media: some are aimed at old classmates, others might be rants to the government, etc.

4:13 See Proverbs 21:30 and Proverbs 27:1. He holds the future, so don’t worry about it (Matthew 6:34). This does not negate the rest of the stuff about being prudent from Proverbs. Be prepared, don’t be anxious, and trust God.

4:14 This is a pretty good summary of Ecclesiastes.

4:15 Let’s live like that, God willing.

4:16-17 James 5:4 further clarifies what they should have been doing.

5:1 Some translations correctly title this section “Warning to Rich Oppressors”. “Rich” is not middle class or a wage slave. This is “steppin’ on people” rich. These are bad shepherds, like Herod and the Sadducees. Jesus had warned them that 70 AD was coming.

Also, with regard to the things of God, the Old Covenant Jews were richer than anyone else at the time (Romans 9:4-5), and the Gentiles were poor (Ephesians 2:12). See Deuteronomy 10:19 and Genesis 12:3.

5:2 See Matthew 6:19.

5:3 See Proverbs 11:4 and Sirach 29:10, but also see Sirach 13:24 and Ecclesiastes 9:7-10. There is nothing wrong with earning honestly or being blessed by God. The way in which the money in this verse is tainted is clarified in the next verse.

5:4 James’ words fit right in with Amos 8:4-6, Micah 2:2, Micah 6:10-12, etc. Compared to the Old Testament prophets, James spoke about similar issues and similar consequences. Day laborers lived hand-to-mouth. Taking their efforts and then sending them and their families to bed hungry was theft. See Leviticus 19:13, Deuteronomy 24:14, and Leviticus 19:9-10.

5:5 These would be the blasphemers and the predators from James 2:6-7 and James 4:1-2. Remember the fat sheep of Ezekiel 34:20 which was another way of describing the bad/exploitative leaders from Ezekiel 34:2-4? See the next verse.

5:6 The rich that were denounced in James 5:5 were condemning and murdering the innocent. Saying “who was not opposing you” contrasts their action with lawful self-defense. How were they doing this? By starving the day laborers (James 5:4). Again, Roman taxation had dispossessed many people, making them easier to exploit. Conditions were similar to the days of the Old Testament prophets when their government was collaborating with the Assyrians. James and the Old Testament prophets gave their messages in similar situations to similar audiences about similar consequences. See Psalm 62:10.

5:7-8 James’ rant against the oppressors has concluded, and he addresses his fellow Jews and Jewish Christians again. I’ve already posited that James and Paul spoke of different types of salvation (eternal destiny vs freedom from Roman oppression), as all Jews expected a place in the World to Come, and that James speaks like an Old Testament prophet, so the coming of the Lord mentioned here is equivalent to The Day of the Lord: Jeremiah 30:5-7, Ezekiel 30:1-4, Isaiah 2:11-12, Joel 2:1-2, Joel 2:31, Malachi 4:5, etc. The Day of the Lord is whenever He visits to punish or to save. There are a lot of people focused on one big Day of the Lord in the eschatological sense of it being the end of man’s “day”, but He’s had plenty of notable days involving floods, burning sulfur, etc. James told them to be patient (like a farmer; a familiar image used similarly in Psalm 128) for God to act (Deuteronomy 32:35) instead of what they ended up doing (which was years of war among their own factions and revolting against Rome). See James 1:25 and its note.

5:9 “judged” See Matthew 7:1-2 for what was on James’ mind, but also remember that Christians are done being judged, and our inheritance is being kept safe for us (John 5:24 and 1 Peter 1:4). He can come through the door quickly after (from our perspective) a long wait, and it will be too late to act when He comes; accept Christ today. That being said, this is just another reference to an existing Old Testament concept (1 Chronicles 16:33).

5:10 “prophets” See Matthew 5:12.

5:11 The Lord is full of compassion and mercy, and He gave Job double for his trouble.

5:12 See Matthew 5:33-37. Greek manuscripts lack spaces, so translators’ judgment of where words begin and end can affect the meaning: “under” hypo “judgment” krisin is likely hypokrisin or hypocrisy. Why? Because John 5:24, Romans 8:1, etc., did not suddenly get superseded by this random verse near the back of the book. We all stumble in many ways (James 3:2), and yet He saves us completely (Hebrews 7:25).

5:13-19 is like James’ version of Ephesians 6:10-20.

5:13 “pray” See Matthew 7:7-8.

5:14 “oil” was their equivalent of modern medicine (Mark 6:13, Luke 10:34) like Timothy’s use of wine in 1 Timothy 5:23. Yes, pray, but don’t feel like medicine is off-limits or indicative of a lack of faith. The Jews had village elders anointing and praying for sick people like this in the years before the New Testament. (Also, if you have cessationist suspicions about how it seems that the miraculous guaranteed healing powers seen in the early church diminished to Paul advising Timothy to take his medicine, then since James was one of the earliest books written in the New Testament, the "elders" in this case would be the apostles specifically empowered by Jesus to heal and to bind and loose with regard to the forgiveness of sins.)

5:15 As in Matthew 9:2, if disease is a symptom of sin, then to forgive is to heal. This is Moses-style intercession. The prayer of faith by the righteous did not heal the unrighteous in Psalm 35:13. This whole letter recommending repentance could have been set in the days of Mark 6:12-13.

5:16 See Psalm 34:15-16 and Isaiah 59:1-2. Old Covenant believers prayed for each other like this so God would listen since God doesn’t listen to sinners, but He listens to those who do His will (John 9:31). However, His will for you is to believe in Jesus Christ (John 6:28-29). He takes your sins away, and He’s the best at doing that (John 1:29). I will hear no talk of a “sin barrier” to believers’ prayers (Hebrews 10:14). We have faith-based righteousness (Genesis 15:6). Even better, since we’re righteous in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:21), you have dozens of Elijahs available to pray for you.

See Psalm 32:5. To confess (homologeo) is to agree with or to say the same thing as someone. Agree with God about how sin is not working for you anymore, but remember that Christians are already forgiven because of what Jesus Christ did for us (Hebrews 9:22, Hebrews 10:14). Early confused Christian groups used to confess to the whole congregation (a holdover from Numbers 5:6-7) for reconciliation with the offended parties (Matthew 5:23-24), but attention from voyeuristic/judgmental outsiders led to just talking to human “priests”.

5:17-18 in 1 Kings 17 and 1 Kings 18. See Psalm 91:14-15.

5:19-20 If wandering from the truth meant mere sin among believers, then James 3:2 would damn everyone. You could read this as being about knowingly committing apostasy at most. Also not every “among you/us” in the Bible refers to believers or the in-group; for example, see Joshua 9:7, Joshua 9:22, etc. Ezekiel 18 is part of the Old Covenant; turn-or-burn as presented here is not the New Covenant. Jesus is the culmination of the Bible (Romans 10:4), so Jews trying to press on without Him with their soon-to-be-without-the-Temple Judaism were the wanderers. James encouraged evangelism of unsaved associates. Jesus is the Truth (John 14:6). Regarding “Someone”, He is the Vine, and we are but branches (John 15:5). Anything God likes, He’s doing within us (Romans 14:4, Hebrews 13:20-21, Philippians 1:6, Philippians 2:13, Jude 24). He drives no one away (John 6:37), and He’s faithful when we wander (2 Timothy 2:13). “Whoever” turns a sinner from their error? Only Jesus can do that. Our Shepherd keeps us. I capitalized “Someone” and “Whoever” for a reason. Our Savior saves us from death and blots out our sins (Isaiah 43:25).

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