James 1:1 indicates that he is writing to “the twelve tribes in the Dispersion.” Assuming that this line is to be read literally, we need to understand what a Jewish writer would have meant when he said “twelve tribes” and Diaspora. Simply put, a Jew “living in the Diaspora” was a Jew living outside of “the land.” But things are a bit more complicated than that.
The Judaism of the first century developed the way it did because of the exile. The exile could begin as early as 722 B.C. when Samaria fell to Assyria, but the fall of Jerusalem in 586 B.C. is the usually beginning point for most scholars. The fall of Jerusalem was the event that shaped Jewish religion as we know it in the Second Temple Period because it stripped the Jews of all things which constituted ethnicity. They no longer had land, their language began to shift from Hebrew to Aramaic, and there was a significant threat from intermarriage. The Jews, as a people, were at risk of losing their ethnicity.
Ancient Synagogue in Dura-Europos, Syria
How did the Jews survive the exile? All other peoples of the ancient world integrated and disappeared from history. How many people claim to be Moabites these days? The primary factor is Jewish Religious tradition centered on the Torah. These traditions kept them from assimilating into a host culture. The story of Daniel is only one example of Jews working within a culture yet remaining distinct from it. Centers of Jewish cultures developed in Alexandria and Elephantine in Egypt and in Babylon. These places continued to develop well into the current era. It is likely that Babylon and Alexandria were superior centers of Judaism to Jerusalem for much of the Second Temple period.
Those who chose to live outside of the land rather than return to Jerusalem always face problems in living in accordance with their traditional customs. The main three which are typically identified: monotheism, Sabbath, circumcision, and dietary laws. It is not a surprise to find these as the main points of controversy in the New Testament. While Paul does not shift on monotheism, he does not require gentiles to conform to the other three boundary markers and it is at least possible he may have been open to Jews not practicing food laws or worshiping on a day other than Sabbath.
The important thing to remember when discuss the Diaspora is that it was not as much geographical as cultural. Paul might encounter strongly traditional Jews in Ephesus or Rome, and relatively “liberal” Jews in Jerusalem. In fact, I suggest that the Jews who ran the Temple in the first century were far less traditional than the Jews who worshiped in the Greek-speaking synagogues in and around Jerusalem. The fact that the first violent persecution of the followers of Jesus came out of the Greek-speaking synagogue (Acts 7) is an indication that at least those Diaspora Jews were “conservative” with respect to the Temple.
So back to James. I think that he is certainly writing to Jews who are Christians, but they are people who may very well represent the more conservative form of Judaism before accepting Jesus as Lord. If this is true, it may explain James’ insistence on good works, for example, as a sign of true faith.
If this is the case, how should the “Jewishness” of the letter change the way we read James?
I believe that the Jewishness of the letter should definitely be taken into account when we are reading James. Take for example Pepsi and Coke, without breaking any copy right or other silly laws, lets say that we are an avid Coke drinker, but in recent days, news breaks that Pepsi and Coke are actually the same drink. We just want to stay drinking the same thing we always have just because we’ve always done it. Someone convinces us to try the opposite drink, but we need convincing evidence of this new truth. This is the way a Jew would have been thinking. They want to do what they always have, and thus, someone has to convince them of the truth by talking to them about what they already know. James uses many references back to the OT and Jesus’ teaching about the Law. The Jews knew the law, and I am sure would at least agree with Jesus when he said that he greatest commandment is love because it encompasses all things. As Christians today, we should see this from their perspective, they knew the stories, and knew of Jesus, but had to be pushed over the edge to truly believe.
This is a fair analogy, as long as we don’t start thinking the heretics are like Mountain Dew. I think that you’re right a Jewish person who excepts Christ as Savior probably continue to keep the law because that was how they had always lived in there really isn’t anything sinful about keeping the law. Looking back it Galatians, Paul says that it’s wrong for Gentiles to start keeping the law, but I don’t see anything that implies he would encourage Jews to stop keeping the law. I think that’s a fairly controversial point, something that may not be answered by the letter of James.
James is an interesting and useful book precisely because of its Jewishness. We need to understand that Christianity did not come out of nothing, but it was formed from the ultimate fulfillment of Jewish Messianic prophecies. Since that is the case, the Old testament enlightens us on some of the thoughts of God on specific subjects, for instance social injustice. It would be foolish to try and understand what James 5:1-6 means without first understanding the traditions of social injustice that Judaism has. This can also be said about James exhortations on wisdom (James 3:13-18), for if we don’t have an understanding on what the Jews perceive as wisdom than those exhortations why we should pursue it can become lost on us. I think the Jewishness of the letter should change on how we view the theology and the analogies. We should look at it in the light of the Old Testament and the transition to a new covenant. From the light of the Old Testament it would be obvious that works would reveal your faith, just the works are now focused on things other than the traditional sacrifices. From a Jewish mindset it is obvious that a person’s faith in God is proved by the works that he does, and it is a warning that it is impossible to determine if a person has faith without the outworking of that faith, which will always result in good works. So I think that an understanding of the Jewishness of this book is of vital importance to understanding on what the author is talking about.
I really like what Anthony said about Pepsi and Coke. Helpful, and funny! I think that the “Jewishness” of James is very important to the understanding of the book. Jobes points out that James is similar to some of the wisdom literature of the old testament like Psalms and Proverbs. I could not agree more, as it seems to contrast the ways of the just and the wicked in a similar fashion to that of Psalm 1. Reading it in a more conservative light gives the reading the impression that the Jews who were scattered across the land were very interested in preserving their culture. I love that James uses the analogy of the ship and the rudder in chapter 3. This is strikingly similar to the way Jesus taught, which stands out as internal evidence that he was his brother. In my opinion the book reads very similarly to the Psalms of David in certain parts, and it shifts gears from the heavy theology of Paul.
James is really a great letter. It has very practical theology, for instance, 1.27 tells use that religion is caring for widows and orphans. Literally it’s telling us to love everyone the way we want to be loved, just as Jesus taught. I find this same verse to also be very Jewish in nature. The law has very specific rules to help protect the widows and orphans and now James really is alluding back to the idea of the law. I believe he’s less concerned with the, make yourself look Jewish by following food and Sabbath laws, and rather is focus on religion that shows a growing relationship with God. The Jewishness of this letter is really telling us to obey the spirit of the law, you show me you’re religious based on following a bunch of rules, but I show you my “religion” by living it out.
I think that some of these comments have helped clear up this situation of “Jewishness” of the letter. I really like the analogy of Coke and Pepsi. The Jews want to stay with what they know and not what is foreign to them. It reminds me of the fact that people can know everything in the Bible, every story, metaphor, and verse, but if they don’t believe it, it doesn’t do any good for them. Having faith is essential to knowing God’s Word and acting upon it (Hebrews 11:1). James is similar to Proverbs and Psalms regarding the wisdom aspect. James 4:4 clearly states to not be of the world but rather to be a light to the people who are living worldly lives as opposed to godly lives.
I would say that while the “Jewishness” of James may lead to a different interpretation then what is at face value, I would still argue that many of the teachings still apply to modern Protestant or even Catholic Christianity. For example mentions the following of the “perfect law” will lead to the follower being blessed. Because James is written with a Jewish Christian audience in mind it would make sense that whoever the author is mentions the Law and the fact that Jesus and His perfect Law are superior to the Law of their forefathers. Even in James 2:14-25 makes the point that faith without works is dead, and while that statement can be controversial and even be used to make people feel that they need to earn or prove their salvation. I would argue that it’s a important passage to remember. If the body of Christ is not active in the world then how are we supposed to be a correct representation of Christ. Jesus was always out taking care of others through healing, praying, or feeding them. Jesus’ actions proved that he was the real deal, and the same can be said of us.
The Jewishness is a lovely thing that lets us peek into the past and see what the new believers were struggling with. It could be applied to us as well. Seeing how the book addresses the issues that they were facing we could apply it to modern day jews as well; if we were to be ministering to them. We could also see how he reacts to them. They are simply used to one thing and are concerned about changing how they live their lives. There are many people today who also fit that category. People who are unsure of changing the way they live; James gives a good way to know how to talk to these people.
It also should be studied more. Because this book was written to a crowd who as focused on the old, we may have to study some parts more intricately to get the full meaning for us today. All the Bible is good for teaching, meaning that there is no reason it shouldn’t be picked apart for a modern perspective of it.
TL;DR version: It gives a perspective on early Christian issues; it should also be studied more to get a modern day perspective of how we are to read the book.
-Tyler
Very helpful and informative. Thank you.
James writes to the “twelve tribes dispersed among the nations”. These Jewish Christians are all over the world of the early church anywhere from Roman to what is now Iraq. These people have been placed in these locations due to the exile of Israel in 722 BC and the exile of Judah in 586 BC. Although the people who dispersed them have different methods of doing so, history tells us that there were pockets of people who were dispersed and never decided to permanently return to the land after they were given permission. In fact, until the time of Saddam Hussein, there was a good size Jewish community living in Iraq who had been there since the exile.
James 1:1 refers to “the dispersed” or “the dispersion”, which in the original Greek literally means “scattered” or “to scatter” (Jobes, 163). James recognizes he is not writing to people who are in Jerusalem, at the temple daily and immersed in Jewish culture. Rather, he is writing to Jewish people who have a history of being tempted with the cultures around them (Jobes, 163).
The letter of James is correcting the thinking in the early Jewish Christian church that struggled with various concepts, including inequality due to wealth (1:9-11, 2:1-13, 5:1-6), trials (1:2-5), and living differently than the world (2:14-26, 4:1-12) (Jobes, 165). James deals with issues that would have been common among Jewish Christians living in a culture that was not their own that already did not like Jews, but hated them even more so for being Christians (Jobes, 164).
In James 1:1 the mention to the twelve tribes in the Dispersion immediately puts the letter in a box. Clearly, this is a letter written to Jewish-Christians living in the greater area around the promise land. Jews and their culture have been extremely resilient throughout history. Like you stated, their traditions were what held their culture together while in exile. They did not succumb to the culture of those around them (for the most part). They were diligent about being Jewish. So even though these Jews that James is writing to are scattered around the known world most do not stray from their Jewishness. But this address is not just geographically spread Jews. It is not just to Jews who are outside the holy land. This address is to Jews who have experienced dispersion in their hearts as well. Those who are Jewish but not like the Pharisees. Possibly those who are considered to be “less righteous” than the Pharisees. This letter is clearly specifically written to Jews.
This can raise the questions as to whether this letter applies to us as Gentile-Christians today. Clearly, all Scripture is inspired by God and beneficial to the believer (2 Tim 3:16-17). And if that is the case, then what do we do with a text that is written to Jews in the first century if we are not Jews? The first thing we can do is accept that the audience who was meant to read this letter we Jews. This, however, does not take any of the applications away from James to a Christian in America today. This understanding may give more context to whoever reads it with respect to the subtle Jewish undertones. The application, for the most part, can be translated to Christianity. Seeking wisdom when facing trials is something that translates into both a Jew and a Gentile Christian (James 1:5). Another very applicable topic to both Jewish-Christians and Gentile-Christians is taming the tongue (James 3). While James is written to Jewish-Christians, the principles are still the same.
I never thought too much of verse 1 of James. In the past, I have typically read it as a minor detail, but after reading Jobes and this blog post, there are a lot of cool things to take away from the phrase, “to the twelve tribes scattered among the nations.” Of course, knowing the historical context of the book and the people of the time also plays a huge role in being able to dig deeper into this passage. As mentioned by both Jobes (Ch. 5) and this blog post, the Jews were scattered from their homeland starting around 722 BC after the Assyrians had conquered them. This caused an obvious spreading of the culture and the Jewish people throughout the lands. This allowed for possible picking up of other cultures and perhaps other religious elements. Jobes mentioned after the exile many Jews returned, but some did not and remained in the diaspora. Letters were often written to those remaining in diaspora in order to help keep them on the right track and perhaps away from other potential negative influences in other lands. I like how Dr. Long mentions that the diaspora is not necessarily a geographical area but rather a culture. This is neat to think about considering that means of communication and finding people weren’t as advanced as they are now, so to be able to find the Jews after years and years of exile and to reach out to them and right letters to them to help keep them strong spiritually is quite a statement about how much they cared for one another and the importance they placed on their spirituality.
I think James’ driving point to the Jewish Christian audience in this first verse is to remind them of the reason they have stayed separate from whatever culture surrounds them; monotheistic worship of YHWH. Due to their worship of God alone, there were many things that they did in response to His grace like circumcision, sabbath, and dietary restrictions. Considering this, bringing up their dispersion in the initial greeting could remind them very quickly of the unity they can have with their Jewish counterparts. That any Jew in Jerusalem is just as dispersed as the ones in Rome. They all represent the same society which is why I appreciate your inclusion of cultural separation. In that case, any Jew in Jerusalem or Rome can receive the teachings of this letter and know that they are a separate culture in the world, whether they are more conservative or liberal. What follows after this reminder of separation seems to be the actions that are more important to James than acts of justification. Instead, James will explain to them that their good works for the poor, and the widowed are necessary acts of compassion. And will, appropriately, challenge them to review the level of compassion in their hearts. Considering that this audience was likely more conservative, I think this challenge serves to push them beyond the limits of only practicing circumcision, sabbath and dietary restrictions. James wants them, as those who has a living faith, to pour out the compassion that ought to be in their hearts for the sake of others. The practical application of James seems pretty apparent. Even though we have been justified by Christ, our responses to that justification looks very different when compared to second temple Jews. But we can still read James and learn the importance of these acts of compassion for those in need.
From a historical, and I suppose personal, perspective this blog was very interesting to me. Because I have Jewish roots in my family, I of course am always very interested in both in my own Jewish history, as well the history of Jews in general. As I was growing up I would often get asked what my heritage was, and I would typically say part Jewish. But that would then lead people to believe I meant religion. After trying to clarify I was Christian but Jewish in heritage, it would often get confusing and eventually I would not know how to answer the question! You stated in the post it was the fall of Jerusalem that shaped the Jewish religion, while also essentially stripping the Jewish people of everything that constituted their ethnicity. That statement alone seemed to define the confusion I often faced when trying to explain my heritage, and made me realize that perhaps the Jewish people are one of the only groups whose ethnicity and religion are synonymous, yet often confused with each other? It also shows the magnitude of how the Diaspora has been spread throughout history, that there are Jews of every ethnicity.
When it comes to Jewishness of the book of James, it seems that because James was the leader of the Jerusalem church we can (and should) read his writing as a “Jewish” letter to Jewish converts. Jobes emphasizes that there are several passages which “assume the centrality of the law in God’s dealings with people” (p. 165) which would have been something relatively meaningless to Gentile Christians. Additionally, his use and references to the Old Testament (2:25; 2:19) would seem to point to a Jewish audience, again because they are the ones who would understand such references. Just like if I want to teach a group of kindergarteners the difference between fiction and nonfiction books (as a librarian), I would need to do it in terms they would understand…as opposed to a group of middle schoolers. In the same way, James is using teaching that the Jewish believers would fully understand, because it is their history. This to me shows that we also should read this letter with an awareness of it’s “Jewishness”, while still understanding that we can also learn from its message.
Reference
Jobes, K.H. (2011). Letters to the Church. Zondervan.
With the opening of James 1:1, the author gives us context on who the audience was and what therefore to expect from an epistle written to Jews from a Jewish writer. It says, “James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelves tribes in the Dispersion”. Obviously, we pick up from the start of the letter that this letter was written to the Jews, hence, the twelve tribes that were scattered or dispersed from Palestine. They were not in their homeland and were living in other, probably, pagan cities. Therefore, since the Jewish people were dispersed, there was a need for unification and clarity that James provided and made clear in his letter. In the Epistle of James, the author writes with words of encouragement, clarity on issues such as favoritism, wisdom, and pure religion, and even sharp rebuke. It was typical, according to Jobes, for prophets or “servants of God” (v.1) to write to Jews in exile or in dispersion. So therefore, this letter could be considered an exile book as well as a book of wisdom to the Jewish community. It is a book full of richness on godly living, whether Jew or Gentile, but it was originally written to the Jews scattered abroad who were in need of a word from a “servant of God”.
So often today I think when as a church when reading through the Bible it’s not because we are focused on studying the text, but rather reading it and looking for a meaning behind it all. We are looking for how the passage can serve our needs or give us the answers we want. It wasn’t until this past year that I truly understood how to read the Bible and interpret it correctly. By studying the part of scripture we read over such as names, or in this case the audience it was originally meant for.
I think reading verse one of James sets us up for a better understanding throughout the rest of the book. While there are general truths to be learned from the book of James we are not the original audience, however, if we read it like we are we lose out on the deeper meaning and understanding behind the book. As mentioned above and in Jobes chapter 5 there is so much information to be known about the original audience. Once we know this we can better understand the true reason the book of James was written. Which is how we should study the Bible, rather than choosing verses to serve our ideas.
The “Jewishness” of James really does bring into context the cultural and historical purpose for the author to write James. Jobes argues that if James the Just were the author of this writing, then it would make sense for him to say, “to the twelve tribes in the Dispersion” because those who were in his church were scattered during the Diaspora of Jews, as is mentioned in Acts (Jobes, 157). Considering that the recipients of James were Jewish Christians, then it would make reading the letter that much different, than that of Gentiles or other Christians. Since Christianity and the acceptance of Jesus as Christ was so new, it made the tone and message of James that much more different. The Jewish Christian recipients needed to understand God’s moral law that is found within the Old Testament and then connect that to the what it meant for Christ to be centered around what was already taught (Jobes, 163). Understanding this context of James really influences and changes the way that James is read. Some believe that James was arguing against what Paul teaches about “saved by faith, not by works”, however when we look at the context of the book we can see that this isn’t the case (Jobes, 112). Therefore when it comes to understanding James, the “jewishness” of the book needs to be taken into account, otherwise there is a potential failure to examine the letter properly and we miss out on what the author intended for its readers.
The “Jewishness” of James plays a hug role in how we read and interpret the letter today. When James addresses the letter to “the twelve tribes in the Dispersion” it’s important to understand the cultural context behind this. The Jews were scattered among the nations when they went into exile in Assyria and Babylon. “The word diaspora derives from the Greek verb that means ‘to scatter’ and was used to refer to those Jews living, not in the Promised Land, but scattered among the nations” (Jobes, 163). However, Long states that, “the important thing to remember when discussing the Diaspora is that it was not as much geographical as cultural” (Long). They were scattered in different cultures and it was hard to stick to their own culture while in exile. It is easy for the culture around us to influence our own, personal culture. Those who are a part of the Body of Christ are away from their heavenly homeland. It is hard to stick to the ways of our heavenly Father when we live in a sinful world that does everything completely opposite of Him. The Jews were able to avoid becoming a host culture by sticking to the traditions of the Torah. In the same way we need to study, know, and practice what God’s Word says in order to prevent ourselves from becoming a part of the worldly culture.
As long as the law is Mosaic. And not the 600 additional created by the pharasee
Yes, Mosaic Law / Torah. One clarification: according to Jewish Tradition there are 613 laws in the Torah. The Pharisees developed an oral tradition with many more practices to “build a fence around the Law.” So the 613 Laws are the Torah (ie., in the Hebrew Bible, Old Testament), the oral tradition is not. If you are interested, I wrote this: Jesus and the Traditions of the Pharisees – Matthew 15:1-9
https://readingacts.com/2021/10/05/jesus-and-the-traditions-of-the-pharisees-matthew-151-9/
Wonderfully written
James’ address is not limited to Jewish Christians but is addressed to all the children of Israel, at home and abroad. Why limit the power of god?
In the very first verse of the entire book of James, the book mentions the twelve tribes in exile. Which is referring to the exiled Hebrew peoples from nations of Judea and Israel, the original nations of the Hebrew people. James is directly addressing the Hebrew people because the twelves tribes were Hebrew with a very few exceptions. James most likely wasn’t just referring to the Jews in Jerusalem, but all Jews amongst the old world that never returned to the homeland. To add onto context James is addressing Jews that recently converted to Christianity, so the population of these dispersed Jewish Christians is small. On the specific subject of doctrine James make the attempt of closing the gap between Judaism and Christianity, with good works and faith, but a critical part of the Christianity is good works comes after faith and not vice versa. What the book of James seems like it trying to do is address to two different religions at once, without imputing critical different doctrine from each other. I don’t think James should be read contextually on its own and needs the reinforcement of future letters and doctrine to be relevant for us. So, reading the book with the expectation that its content and doctrine is not refined until later in the New Testament. This book in particular shouldn’t be recommended to newly converted Christians because James comprises some doctrine for its time.