Can we be faithful friends of God like Abraham? Can we resist the pressures of the world, our rebellious human impulses, and the influence of the devil? Can Christians live together in peace as we seek solutions to life’s problems? James addresses these issues in his letter as he seeks to motivate Christians to develop a mature and consistent faith and to show how Christians are to live in their relationship with God and with one another. Setting James, Jesus’ brother, became the recognized leader of the Jerusalem church shortly after Jesus’ resurrection. He wrote to Jewish Christians (Jas 1:1) who had been scattered by the persecution which began with the stoning of Stephen (Acts 8:1; 11:19). They lived among the Jews who had previously been “scattered abroad” in the Diaspora (Jas 1:1; see John 7:35). The Diaspora had its origins in the Assyrian dispersion of Israel (the northern kingdom) in 722–721 BC and in the Babylonian exile of Judah (the southern kingdom) in 586 BC. This dispersion later included many Jews who traveled extensively throughout the Greek and Roman empires (Jas 4:13; Acts 13:14; 17:1). By the middle of the first century, there were Jewish communities all o...

The Letter of James Purpose To share practical wisdom and to challenge readers to maintain their faith—a faith that is active and other-focused Author James, brother of Jesus Date Around AD 46 Setting Written—presumably from Jerusalem—to Jewish believers who had scattered following the persecution which began with the martyrdom of Stephen

1:1 James: See “James, Brother of Jesus” Profile. • By identifying his readers as the “twelve tribes,” James affirms Christianity’s continuity with Israel’s heritage. The Exile had dispersed the twelve tribes, but Jewish interpreters looked forward to God reuniting them (see Psalms of Solomon 17:26-28; Testament of Benjamin 9:2; cp. Ezek 37:15-28; Matt 19:28). Christ has spiritually brought an end to Israel’s exile and reunited the tribes. • Jews scattered abroad (Greek diaspora) were living outside Palestine (John 7:35; Acts 2:5; 8:1; 11:19). • Greetings! (Greek chairein): This greeting is typical in first-century Greek letters (Acts 15:23; 23:26) and interpersonally (Matt 26:49; Luke 1:28).