This we do not know. Unlike most of Paul’s epistles, there are no personal details. We are left to conjecture, as in the case of Jude and 1 John. The picture drawn in the epistle is that of Jewish Christians of the poorer classes, with a small number of richer brethren (1:10), struggling for life in the midst of a social and economic environment that was utterly unsympathetic, not to say hostile. The process of adjustment was difficult and perilous. There were perils to the individual and to the church life, and James shows real mastery of the situation that confronted the Jewish Christians in the middle of the first century in the scattered regions where they were found. He writes to them in a firm tone but with manifest understanding and sympathy.
Character of the Epistle
The book, small as it is, is a little gem in conception and expression. It reminds one of portions of the book of Proverbs, some of the Psalms, portions of the Prophets, the Twelve Patriarchs, the Wisdom of Jesus the Son of Sirach, the Wisdom of Solomon, Philo, and the Sermon on the Mount. It is quite possible that both Paul and Peter had read the Epistle of James; at least there are several coincidences between them. At any rate, there seems to be some literary connection between some of Paul’s epistles (Rom., 1 Cor., Gal.), 1 Peter and Hebrews, and the Epistle of James. Some contend that the epistle makes use of these New Testament books. M. Jones[45] thinks that the author had some knowledge of the Stoic philosophers, but this could have come through Hellenistic Judaism, as for instance the Wisdom of Solomon and Philo.
The author, as already shown, writes in the smooth and easy Koine of a gifted and cultivated Jew of Palestine. One does not have to say with Patrick[46] that James had a wide knowledge of classical Greek. He may never have read a line of “classical” Greek, but he knew well the current Greek of his day and used it with fine skill. It is not a labored production and is in no sense artificial. The author is full of the Old Testament and writes like one of the prophets; yet he has a firm grip upon the essence of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
The book forms a fine link between the Old and New Testaments. James, the brother of the Lord Jesus, understands the Old Testament and loves Moses still. He seeks to interpret Christianity more fully on its ethical and social side to the Jewish Christians of his time, who are in sad need of help, beset as they are by Jew and Gentile, and with an imperfect grasp of the new gospel. They find in this epistle just what they need to make practice correspond to profession, to square life with creed. The lesson is still needed today. There is a peculiar pertinence about the teaching of James that appeals to modern men who are nothing if not practical.
III
Joy in Trial
Evidently these early Jewish Christians had their share of trial. Who, alas, does not have his portion? The problem with us all is to learn how to find the spring of joy in the midst of sorrow. There are always perplexities and anxieties. The sea is restless even in its moments of calm beauty.
Variety in Trials (1:2)
There is the tone of an elder brother in this epistle, and we see it at the start when James says “my brothers.” It is no perfunctory phrase with him. It is “trials,” not “temptations,” that James here has in mind, though the same word probably means temptation in 1:12. The word in the Greek came to have either sense, though originally it meant only to try, to attempt, just as our English word “tempt” was at first simply “try.” But it is a short step from “try” to “make trial of” one when suspicion exists or evil desire arises. Hence all through the Greek we find the old Greek word used in both senses. The New Testament usage varies. There are a half dozen other passages where the word has the idea of trial (Luke 22:28; Acts 20:19; Gal. 4:14; 1 Peter 1:6; 4:12; Rev. 3:10). In 1 Peter 1:6 the identical expression “manifold trials” appears. Oesterley[47] wrongly insists that “temptation” is the meaning in James 1:2 on the ground that “the writer’s Judaism is stronger than his Christianity,” and he then uses it as an argument against the genuineness of the book.
A soldier (Parry) does have “true joy” in victory over temptation, like Wordsworth’s “happy warrior,” but that is beside the mark here. There is no conflict here with the avoidance of temptation urged by Jesus (Matt. 6:13; Luke 11:4; Matt. 26:41; Luke 22:40). James refers rather to external trials into which men fall—trials that are not only unwelcome but also unsought and unexpected.[48] It is almost the picture of a stumble in the dark when one finds himself surrounded by hostile forces, just as the poor man fell among robbers (Luke 10:30).