The Ignatius Catholic Study Bible New Testament (265 page)

1:12 the crown of life:
The Greek is appositional ("the crown which is life"). It refers to the eternal life that awaits the saints who have patiently and faithfully endured the trials of life (2 Tim 4:8; Rev 2:10).
those who love him:
A biblical description of those who keep God's commandments (Deut 5:10; 7:9; Jn 14:15). James will later stress that salvation and life are for those who not only believe in the Lord, but who love and obey him through faithful deeds (Jas 2:14-26). 
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1:13 God . . . tempts no one:
God tests us by putting us in situations that invite us to trust him (Gen 22:1). However, he never tempts us to turn away from him as Satan does (Mt 4:1). James is adamant that God is neither the author nor the promoter of evil, nor can he himself be tempted or overpowered by it. Sin is our own doing; it is conceived when we desire evil and is born when we act upon those desires (Jas 1:14-15) (CCC 2846-47). 
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1:17 the Father of lights:
I.e., the Creator of the sun, moon, and stars (Gen 1:14-19). Unlike these heavenly luminaries, which are constantly changing in brightness and position due to eclipses, lunar cycles, and the alternation of days, God is eternally unchanged and is ever consistent in blessing those who love him (Jas 1:12) (CCC 212). 
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1:18 word of truth:
The gospel of new life in Christ (Eph 1:13; 1 Pet 1:23-25).
first fruits:
James compares believers of the first generation (1:1) to the first sheaf of spring wheat that was cut from the field and offered to God in the Temple (Lev 23:9-11). This first portion was meant to thank the Lord for his gifts and to seek his blessing for an abundant harvest. Paul uses this image for Israelite believers (Rom 11:16). 
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1:19-25
Two kinds of hearing are distinguished: in conversation, listening is more important than speaking (Sir 5:1112), but in responding to the gospel, obeying is more important than merely listening (Lk 11:28; Rom 2:13). 
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1:20 the anger of man:
In biblical wisdom literature, anger is vented, not by the wise, but by the foolish (Prov 29:11; Eccles 7:9). Meekness is the virtue of gentleness and inner strength that restrains it (Jas 3:13; Mt 11:29). 
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1:21 implanted word:
The gospel is compared to a seed that is planted in the soul, where it can sprout and bear fruit for salvation. This may be an allusion to Jesus' parable of the Sower (Mt 13:1-9, 23). 
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1:23 a mirror:
One who merely hears the gospel is like one who merely
glances
at his reflection and soon forgets what he has seen (1:24). One who hears and obeys the gospel is like one who
gazes
into the law of Christ and sees there the path to blessing and life that he desires to follow (1:25). 
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1:26 bridle his tongue:
A warning treated in detail in 3:112. 
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1:27 Religion:
The Greek term is
thrēskeia,
which generally denotes religious acts of worship. For James, proper service to God is not reducible to a set of beliefs or liturgical rites; it includes prudent speech (1:26) as well as practical service to others.
visit orphans and widows:
Pure religion reaches out to the needy and takes practical steps to provide for their welfare. Charity of this sort was expected of Israel (Deut 14:29) and is exemplified most perfectly by Yahweh (Ps 68:5) (CCC 2208). • Religion involves two kinds of acts. Some are directed immediately to God, such as sacrifice, adoration, etc. Others are directed to honoring God by means of the virtues he commands. Thus, visiting the fatherless and widows is an act of religion, as is the effort to keep oneself unstained by the world (St. Thomas Aquinas,
Summa Theologiae,
II-II, 81, 1). 
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2:1-7
James cautions believers not to favor the rich and discriminate against the poor. Though the world despises and oppresses the poor, God honors and blesses them with abundant faith (2:5; 1 Cor 1:26-31). These verses are followed by a warning that partiality and prejudice against the less fortunate violate the Levitical law of charity (Jas 2:8-13). 
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Word Study

Assembly
(
Jas 2:2
)

Synagōgē
(Gk.): can refer to a "gathering" of people or to a building used as a "synagogue". The word is used 56 times in the NT; it is also commonly found in the Greek OT, where it often refers to the assembled "congregation" of Israel (Num 16:3; Josh 22:16; Ps 74:2). Though the word is never wholly disconnected from gatherings of people, by NT times the term can also refer to the physical structure where religious gatherings took place. Synagogues in this sense were built both in Israel (Lk 7:5) and in the Diaspora (Acts 13:14; 17:17). These were houses of Jewish worship and instruction in the Scriptures (Mt 6:5; Lk 4:16; Acts 15:21), as well as places of judicial deliberation and discipline (Mt 10:17; 23:34; Lk 12:11). The use of the word in Jas 2:2 is ambiguous. It may to refer to a synagogue building as the
place
where early believers assembled, either as a church community or as a Jewish Christian presence alongside non-believing Jews (Acts 9:2). Or, too, it may refer to a congregation of
people
gathered for worship and prayer but without direct reference to the physical location as such. In any case, language traditional to Judaism is here employed with reference to Christian believers.

2:5 heirs of the kingdom:
Echoes the beatitude spoken by Jesus in Lk 6:20. The point is not that poverty itself is a blessing, but that those with little in the world are better prepared to rely on God for their needs. It is the attitude of a child who trusts in his heavenly Father (Jas 1:17) that secures our inheritance in the kingdom of heaven (Mt 18:1-4) (CCC 2546-47). 
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2:7 that honorable name:
Presumably the name is "Christ", on account of which believers are called "Christians" (Acts 11:26; 1 Pet 4:16). 
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2:8 the royal law:
The law of Christ's kingdom (2:5), which incorporates the Mosaic laws of charity (2:8; Mt 22:34-40) and the commandments of the Decalogue (2:11; Mt 19:16-19) into the gospel teaching of Jesus (Mt 5-7; CCC 1972).
You shall love your neighbor:
A citation from Lev 19:18. • The precept of love is the summation of every commandment in the Torah dealing with our neighbor (Rom 13 :8-10). Beyond the quotation here, there are several allusions to Lev 19 throughout the Letter of James. This is clearest in the warnings against partiality (2:9; Lev 19:15), slander (4:11; Lev 19:16), withholding wages (5:4; Lev 19:13), and oath swearing (5:12; Lev 19:12). 
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2:10 fails in one point:
To trespass even a single commandment makes one a transgressor of the royal law of Christ and a sinner in the eyes of the Lawgiver. The challenge is to follow the laws of charity comprehensively, not selectively, realizing that God will judge both our speech and our actions by this standard (2:12) (CCC 578, 2069). 
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2:11 Do not commit adultery . . . kill:
Two of the Ten Commandments (Ex 20:13-14). 
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2:13 mercy triumphs:
Our conduct in this life sets the terms for our judgment in the next. Thus, the extent to which we have shown mercy to others is the extent to which we will receive mercy from the Lord (Mt 5:7; 6:14-15; 18:21-35). The following verses show that mercy is more than an attitude—it is expressed concretely through works of mercy and charity (Jas 2:14-16; Sir 16:14; Mt 25:34-40) (CCC 2447). 
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2:14 Can his faith save him?:
The form of the question in Greek implies a negative answer. It makes explicit what James teaches implicitly throughout the rest of the chapter: that our willingness to put faith into action has a direct bearing on whether or not we will be saved in the end (CCC 162). 
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2:18 some one will say:
James makes use of a teaching style called "diatribe", where an imaginary conversation partner poses questions and raises objections that the author answers for his audience (2:20; 4:13-16). It cannot be assumed, given the use of this literary device, that James is debating an actual opponent who was harassing his readers. See also note on Rom 2:1-3:20.
You have . . . I have:
The issue is whether faith and works represent two different but equal ways to be justified before God. James denies the proposition and insists that faith that is not expressed in works is dead faith, not saving faith (2:26). If one has faith but no good works, he is no better off than the demons, who believe yet face the certainty of condemnation rather than justification (2:19). • Just as faith apart from works is dead, so works apart from faith are dead. If we have right doctrine but fail in right living, our doctrine is useless. So too, if we are careful about life but careless about doctrine, that will not benefit us either (St. John Chrysostom,
Homilies on Genesis
2, 14). 
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2:19 God is one:
The monotheistic faith of Israel (Deut 6:4). The demons are proof that it is possible to have merely intellectual faith without works of charity (Mk 3:11) (CCC 181416). 
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2:21 justified:
The doctrine of justification includes an initial action, whereby God makes the believer righteous by an infusion of grace, and an ongoing process, whereby the believer grows in righteousness by exercising his faith through good works. The latter sense is highlighted here (CCC 198795). See word study:
Justified
at Rom 2.
offered his son:
A reference to the sacrifice of Isaac in Gen 22:1-19. • Abraham had long believed in the Lord (Gen 15:6) before his faith was tested by the command to burn Isaac on the altar (Gen 22:12). This was not the first test he had faced as God's servant (1 Mac 2:52), nor was it the first time he had put his faith into action (Heb 11:8-9). It was rather the high point of Abraham's spiritual journey and the climactic ordeal that tested his trust in Yahweh like never before (Heb 11:17-19). Having passed the test in heroic fashion, his faith was at last "completed" (Jas 2:22).
See note on Jas 1:2
. 
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