The Jewish Annotated New Testament (294 page)

23
:
Timothy
, Paul’s companion, see 1 Cor 4.17; 2 Cor 1.1; Phil 1.1; 1 Thess 1.1; also the recipient of two disputed Pauline letters, 1 and 2 Timothy. Acts 16.1–3 reports that his mother was Jewish.

24
:
Saints
, see 3.1; 6.10.
Those from Italy
, most likely Italians living abroad. Paul’s Letter to the Romans points to a sizable community of Jesus-followers in Rome by the mid-first century. Some use this verse to suggest that the Romans were the original addressees; see the Introduction.

1.1
–8:
Importance of faith.

1
:
James
, Gk “Iakobos” from Heb “Ya‘aqov.”
Servant of God
(lit., “slave”; see translators’ note
a
), a title, e.g., Deut 34.5.
Sifre Deut
. 3.24 identifies by name those who (presumptuously) gave themselves the title and those who received the title from God.
Lord
(Gk “kurios”), meaning master, like the Hebrew “Adonai,” substituted for the tetragrammaton. James uses a standardized opening formula identifying author and addressee(s); see, e.g., Phil 1.1.
And of the Lord Jesus Christ
, joining “Jesus Christ” to “the Lord” breaches later Jewish ideas of monotheism (
b. Sanh
. 63a) but may not, according to later Jewish sources, constitute idolatry; James approves the belief that “God is one” (2.19).
Twelve tribes
, the followers of Jesus, appropriating imagery from Israelite history, pictured the messianic ideal of the return of the exiled tribes as referring to the Christian present (Acts 15.15–21), as opposed to (unredeemed) Israel whose tribes remain in captivity.
Dispersion
, Gk “diaspora,” Heb “galut,” “golah,” Jewish communities in Gentile lands.
Greetings
(lit., “rejoice,” Phil 3.1), a frequent opening for a letter (see Acts 15.23); see also Gamaliel’s epistle in
b. Sanh
. 11b: “To our brothers, inhabitants of the Dispersion. … Great be your peace always.”

2
:
My brothers
(see translators’ note
b
), the opening address of a moral sermon as in
m. Ta’an
. 2.1.
Trials
, see Mt 5.10–12.

3
:
Testing … endurance
, in
Tanh. Num
. “beha‘alotekha” 8 names many righteous people who withstood tests of faith, including Levites who martyred themselves to preserve their faith and law (Deut 33.9) and cites Ps 11.5 (God “tests the righteous”).

4
:
Let endurance, m. Avot
1.1, “be patient/temperate in judgment,” both in experiencing divine judgment and in adjudicating human justice.
B. Ber
. 17a explains the positive side of Prov 15.1 by adding to “a temperate/soft expression turns away wrath” the phrase “and increases wholeness/peace between relatives and friends and all humanity and even foreigners come-to-market: thus will one be beloved above, and endeared below, and be welcomed by all.”
Be … complete
,
Gen. Rab
. 79.5, “‘Complete’ means in body, in property, in wisdom, and in children.”

5
:
Wisdom … given you
,
y. Ber
. 4.4, “Grace us with wisdom” (followed by) “You have graced us with wisdom.” See Ps 16 praising constancy of faith and Prov 16.33 on all things coming from God. The “Amidah” or “standing” prayer that opens Jewish worship calls attention to “God on high [who] fully gives tender goodness” (“‘El’elyon gomel
ḥ
asadim tovim”).

6
:
Like … sea
, an image of inconstancy (cf. the waves in
Midr. Min
., 305).
Midr. Ps
. 119.46 describes those tossed around “who grasp the rope by both ends” looking for salvation, like those wavering between God and Baal (1 Kings 18.21). See Ps 34.4–6 (Heb vv. 5–7) for the power of faith.

7
–8
:
Double-minded
,
Midr. Mishle
12.20, refers to two minds (lit., “two kidneys”) that will bend a person toward good but also away from it; two hearts are both good and evil advisers (Eccl 10.12; Ps 32.10 [Heb v. 11]). Anything of “two kinds” (Deut 22.9–11) represents lack of wholeness; thus James is urging his audience to integrity of being.

1.9
–11:
Poor and rich.

9
:
Lowly … up
,
Num. Rab
. 22 states that God judges, lowering one and raising another (Ps 75.7 [Heb v. 8]). In this world, the true social order is often reversed (
b. Pesah
. 50a). In the next world the righteous bask in their “crowns” of spiritual attainments and in “seeing God” (
b. Ber
. 17a). See also Lk 1.52–53; 6.20–25.

10
–11
:
And the rich … low
, see 1 Sam 2.7–8 and
Tanh. Vay
. 10, citing Ps 35.5.
Because the rich will disappear
, cf. Job 14; Ps 34.
Sifre Deut. piska
43 shows cases where abundance led to sin and perdition, as in the generation of Noah.

1.12
–18:
Temptation and good deeds.

12
:
Blessed … temptation
, see Ps 1.1, “blessed [or “favored”] the man” (Heb “‘ashrei ha’ish,” Gk “makarios anēr”). This formula appears in biblical (1 Kings 10.8) and Talmudic (
m. Yoma
8.9) literature, DSS (1QS 525.1–4), and the Gospels (Mt 5.3–12).
Temptation
(Gk “peirasmos”) is used in Jas 1.2 (NRSV translates “trials”); see Mt 6.13; 26.41, and elsewhere.
Midr. Tann
. to Deut 23.15 shows how self-control leads to eternal life.
Crown
, a wreath given to athletes, soldiers, and leaders.

13
: Num 15.39–40 warns against following personal lusts and temptations, while the commandments of God are meant to prevent sin.

14
–15
:
Desire … sin … death, Kallah Rabbati
2.6 remarks that lustful thoughts lead to sinful actions and sin kills (also,
b. Ber
. 33a); it is not the serpent that kills, but sin. Rabbinic literature contains many references to “temptation” and the “evil desire.” For example,
b. Sukk
. 52a compares the righteous winning their struggle against temptation to one who conquers a mountain;
b. Sukk
. 52b advises that one can melt and smash the evil urge by engaging in Torah study. God will help defeat it.
B. B. Bat
. 16b equates the “evil urge,” “satan,” and “the angel of death.”

17
–18
:
From … Father of lights
, this epithet for God (“Father of Light” as divine power) is found in the sectarian writings of the DSS (1QM 13.10; 1QS 3.20; cf. CD A 5.18).
With whom there is no variation
, James, like Mal 3.6, speaks of God’s unchanging faithfulness.
Birth … truth
,
Gen. Rab
. 8 (to Gen 1.26) says God convened a committee (“us”) to oversee humanity’s creation, initially comprised of Truth, Mercy, Righteousness, and Peace. Truth and Peace, foreseeing humanity’s true nature, objected to the creation of humans, and Truth was for a period cast out from the divine counselors (see Ps 85.10–11 [Heb vv.11–12]). On (new)
birth
see Jn 3.5–6.
First fruits
, the first word of Gen 1.1 (“bereshit”) when read as “for the first” rather than “in the beginning” is taken (
Lev. Rab
. 36.4) to refer to “first fruits” (“reshit,” Ex 34.26) in the sense by which Jer 2.3 metaphorically defines Israel as God’s first fruits (“reshit”), the choicest of the nations.

1.19
–27:
Ears, eyes, hands, mouths.

19
:
Let everyone … speak
, see Sir. 5.11 (“Be quick to hear, but deliberate in answering”); cf.
m. Avot
1.15, “say little and do much.”
Slow to anger
,
m. Avot
5.11 stresses, “be slow to anger; quick to pacify.”

21
:
Implanted word
, see “Implanted Word” above.

22
:
But be doers of the word
, for Jews, “doers” refers to performing Torah. Some rabbis (
b. Shabb
. 88a) linked “we will do and we will hear” at Sinai (Ex 24.7) to “doers of his word” and “hearers of his word” (Ps 103.18–21). James restricts the “implanted word” command to the law of mercy (1.27).

23
–24
:
Immediately forget
,
Avot de R. Natan
A 22.2 states that the saintly Hanina ben Dosa counseled that if one’s thoughts were of greater focus than one’s deeds, the former would eventually perish. Ps 36 condemns the boastfulness of sinners.

25
:
But those who look … perfect law … liberty
, for James to
look
is to meditate on moral laws.
B. Men
. 99b finds great reward for those who constantly meditate on Torah. Ps 19.7 (Heb v. 8) states: “The law of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul.” The law of liberty (2.12) means that the way individuals act toward others impacts how God acts toward the individuals (
m. Sot
. 1.7).
The perfect law
is later called “the royal law” (2.8), the law that teaches compassion.
B. Eruv
. 54a, referring to Ex 32.16 describing the tablets of the law as God’s writing “engraved,” reads “engraved” [Heb “
ḥ
arut”] law as if it said “freedom” [Heb “
ḥ
eirut”] law, suggesting that the law of Sinai itself is a law of freedom.

26
:
Bridle their tongues
, see Prov 11.13 for the danger of gossip; see also on 3.6.

27
:
God, the Father
, lit., “before the God and father.” The implication is that God has a son. Jews would say “our Father” as in
b. Ta’an
. 25b (see also Mt 6.9 and the salutations of various Pauline epistles).
Care for orphans … distress
, James restricts the implanted word/command to the law of mercy.
M. Ta’an
. 2.1 says, “God saw their works” (Jon 3.10) not their mourning rituals. Likewise for James, without acts of loving-kindness, confessing beliefs is worthless. See e.g., Deut 10.18.
Unstained by the world
, an expression of freedom from the earthly, unspiritual side of human existence based on bodily desires and jealousies; see 4.4. James worries about “pagan” mores and assimilation as do
b. Mo’ed Qat
. 16b and
b. Ber
. 59a, where God weeps over his children assimilating among the pagan nations.