Jameschapter 1
27 verses · BSBJames book hub →
Speaks with:1 Peter 1×5Ephesians 4×4John 3×2Matthew 7×21 Peter 5×2John 13×2
Summary
Chapter summary
'James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes which are of the Dispersion', then the hardest counsel in the New Testament: 'Count it all joy… when ye fall into manifold temptations; knowing that the proving of your faith worketh patience' (1:2-3). Let him that lacketh wisdom ask of God, 'who giveth to all liberally and upbraideth not', but ask in faith, for the doubter is like the surge of the sea driven by the wind. Lust conceives and brings forth sin, and sin full-grown brings forth death, whereas 'every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights' (1:17). Be doers of the word, not hearers only.
Context
Epistle · James — James overview
- A. 1–8 Count It Joy: Trials, Patience, and Wisdom for the Asking
- B. 9–11 The Rich Man Fades Like a Flower in the Grass
- C. 12–18 God Tempts No One; Every Good Gift Comes Down
- D. 19–27 Be Doers of the Word, Not Hearers Only
The outline
A.Count It Joy: Trials, Patience, and Wisdom for the Askingvv. 1 to 8
Read vv. 1 to 8 →B.The Rich Man Fades Like a Flower in the Grassvv. 9 to 11
Read vv. 9 to 11 →C.God Tempts No One; Every Good Gift Comes Downvv. 12 to 18
Read vv. 12 to 18 →D.Be Doers of the Word, Not Hearers Onlyvv. 19 to 27
Read vv. 19 to 27 →
The world behind this chapter
James 1The history
The scattering was old and wide. Jews had lived outside the land since the exile, in Babylon, Egypt, Syria, and across Asia Minor, and the persecution after Stephen's death pushed believers further out. A letter to the twelve tribes in the scattering assumes readers in synagogue-shaped communities everywhere.
The picture of the doubter is a sea picture, and the readers knew that coast. The Mediterranean in a squall drives water in whatever direction the wind takes; a wave has no course of its own.
The rich man withering is a weather report. When the desert wind blows in off the east — the sirocco, called by locals the scorcher — hillsides of wildflowers that were brilliant in the morning are brown husks by evening. It happens in a single day, every year.
The mirror was polished bronze, not glass. It gave a real but imperfect image, and it had to be kept clean and held at an angle; a man glancing into one and walking off had done something everyone recognized as careless.
What it meant to them
The first hearers were poor, displaced, and being told by their circumstances that God had passed them over. The letter opens by telling the lowly brother to boast in his high position and the rich in his humiliation — reversing the ranking the whole world used.
The chapter ends where the letter will keep returning: religion God accepts looks after orphans and widows. In a society with no safety net, those were the two categories with nobody obliged to feed them.
Sources cited
- Alfred Edersheim, Sketches of Jewish Social Life
- Craig S. Keener, The IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament
The text of this chapter
This page carries no textual note on James 1. Where this site has examined a place the manuscripts differ, the examination is in the manuscripts room. Every place this site examines →
Connections from this chapter
v. 2 · Written to them
Count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations
topics/suffering→MannaFest topical index
v. 12 · Written to them
Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God
topics/temptation→MannaFest topical index
v. 19 · Written to them
Wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God
topics/anger→MannaFest topical index
This page draws on Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory; John Calvin, Commentaries; John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the New Testament and Matthew Henry, Complete Commentary.