Genre and Story:

The Community Setting

of the Epistle of James
DONALD J. VERSEPUT
142 West Pleasant Lake Road
North Oaks, MN 55127

IF THE ISSUE OF GENRE were merely one of taxonomy, the fierce controversy and endless discussion which it engenders would not be worth the
trouble. While the system builder in the soul of the scholar might secretly
lament the loss, literary studies as a whole would surely benefit from the
elimination of one more futile debate. But the search for the appropriate
generic category is neither vain nor futile, for it is fundamentally concerned
with the pursuit of meaning. If, for example, we were to read the maxim of,
say, Jas 1:19 as a piece of traditional paraenesis regarding human conduct in
common situations, our response would not be the same as if we were to see
it as an epistolary exhortation to a gathered community. Hence, the effort
expended in identifying the genre of a work such as the Epistle of James must
be considered energy well spent, despite the disagreements which inevitably
emerge as an unhappy by-product.
The most influential voice in the early part of this century regarding the
genre of James' epistle was that of the Heidelberg scholar Martin Dibelius.
Inheriting a deep skepticism concerning the epistolary form of James' work
from his critical predecessorsalready W. M. L. de Wette voiced doubt "ob
diese Schrift als ein wirklicher Brief verfasst und versandt worden sei"1
Dibelius judged the opening salutation to have been artificially prefixed to

W. M. L. de Wette, Lehrbuch der historisch-kritischen Einleitung in die kanonischen

Bcher des Neuen Testaments (2d ed.; Berlin: Reimer, 1830) 318.

96

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GENRE AND STORY 97

the author's exhortations. The reason was simple. The body of the work lacked
any indication of personal or other situational reasons which might have
forced the author to reach for a pen. Hence, the Epistle of James could not
have been a real letter; it had to be read instead as "paraenesis"a genre of
hortatory literature which resisted any immediate application to a single
audience or single set of circumstances and lacked any demonstrable conti
nuity of thought.2
As resilient as this assessment proved to be, it was not to last. In the first
case, Dibelius's rather crude distinction between "real" letters and literary
works with artificial epistolary features could not bear the weight placed
upon it. As a genre, the ancient letter served a variety of different purposes,
including even that of paraenesis (), as is evinced by the fourthcentury handbook attributed to Libanius.3 The dismissal of James'epistolary
features on the basis of that letter's paraenetic character was, consequently,
too hastily completed to remain convincing. Moreover, Dibelius's steadfast
insistence that paraenesis must exhibit a general applicability and disallow
a coherent dispositio came under heavy attack.4 One particularly effective
blow was delivered by Leo Perdue, who, while approving of Dibelius's generic
label, nonetheless correctly observed that the principle of the general applica
bility of paraenesis pertained solely to the character of the individual precepts,
not to the entire text. It would be rather odd, Perdue wryly remarked, to
suggest that an author compiling a paraenetic text would not deliberately
choose from the wide assortment of traditional moral teaching that material
which most pointedly addressed the real issues in the life of the intended
2
M. Dibelius, Der Brief des Jakobus (KEK 15; 9th ed.; Gttingen: Vanderhoeck &
Ruprecht, 1957) 3-4.
3
See A. J. Malherbe, Ancient Epistolary Theorists (SBLSBS 19; Atlanta: Scholars,
1988) 74-75.
4
The challenge to Dibelius's Kontextverbot began in earnest in the 1970s (see, e.g.,
F. O. Francis, "The Form and Function of the Opening and Closing Paragraphs of James and
I John," ZNW 61 [1970] 110-27; K. Wei, "Motiv und Ziel der Frmmigkeit des Jakobusbriefes,"
in Theologische Versuche 7 [ed. J. Rogge and G. Schule; Berlin: Evangelische Verlagsanstalt,
1976] 107-14; G. Schille, "Wider die Gespaltenheit des Glaubens: Beobachtungen am Jakobusbrief," in Theologische Versuche 9 [ed. J. Rogge and G. Schille; Berlin: Evangelische Verlagsanstalt,
1977] 71 -89; W. Wuellner, "Der Jakobusbrief im Licht der Rhetorik und Textpragmatik," LB 43
[1978] 5-67; L. G. Perdue, "Paraenesis and the Epistle of James," ZNW72 [1981] 241-56;
H. Frankemlle, "Das semantische Netz des Jakobusbriefes: Zur Einheit eines umstrittenen
Briefes," BZ n.s. 34 [1990] 161-97; L. Thuren, "Risky Rhetoric in James?" NovT 37 [1995]
262-84). This led the influential Catholic commentator F. Muner ("Die ethische Motivation im
Jakobsbrief," in Neues Testament und Ethik [ed. H. Merklein; Freiburg: Herder, 1989] 422-23)
to revise his own earlier negative remarks regarding James' continuity. The reversal of Dibelius's
Situationsverbot emerged somewhat later: see, for example, W. Popkes, Adressaten, Situation
und Form des Jakobusbriefes (SBS 125-26; Stuttgart: Katholisches Bibelwerk, 1986).

98 THE CATHOLIC BIBLICAL QUARTERLY I 62, 2000

audience.5 With these rather simple observations the supposed incompatibility
of the epistolary and paraenetic genres as it had been construed by Dibelius
was destined to disintegrate. A generic mixture containing the complete repertoire of both genres was no longer unthinkable.6
Other scholars were not so sympathetic to Dibelius's generic label as was
Perdue. The renewed interest in Jewish wisdom literature emerging already
in the 1960s was to impact significantly the reading of James' work.7 Dibelius,
of course, had already observed a similarity between paraenesis and wisdom
writings, but he dismissed the latter as poetry and, hence, as an inappropriate
generic label for James. Yet for the new generation of scholars, wisdom was
less a category for the epistle's external form than an adjectival expression
describing the mode of James' exhortation. The result was a growing willingness by scholars such as Ernst Baasland and Hubert Frankemlle to describe
James' work as a letter with sapiential character.8 Hence, while few have been
willing to reopen the issue of authenticity, the epistolary form of James' letter
no longer receives the same disrespect with which Dibelius treated it. On the
contrary, the epistolary prescript is increasingly seen to constitute the fundamental generic signal offered by the author, whatever other generic modes
may have influenced the letter's content.
Nonetheless, despite the progress that has been made in response to
Dibelius's overly negative assessment of James' coherence and clarity, there
5

Perdue, "Paraenesis," 247.

Compare the insightful work of A. J. Malherbe, "Exhortation in First Thessalonians,"
NovT25 (1983) 238-56.
7
U. Luck, "Weisheit und Leiden: Zum Problem Paulus und Jakobus," TLZ 92 (1967)
256; idem, "Der Jakobusbrief und die Theologie des Paulus," TGl 61 (1971) 161-79; idem, "Die
Theologie des Jakobusbriefes," ZTK 81 (1984) 1-30; B. Halson, "The Epistle of James: 'Christian
Wisdom'?" SE 4 (= TU 102) 308-14; R. Hoppe, Der theologische Hintergrund des Jakobusbriefes (FB 28; Wrzburg: Echter, 1977); E. Baasland, "Der Jakobusbrief als neutestamentliche
Weisheitsschrift," ST 36 (1982) 119-39; idem, "Literarische Form, Thematik und geschichtliche
Einordnung des Jakobusbriefes," ANRW2: Principat, 25. 3646-84; R. Schnackenburg, Die sittliche
Botschaft des Neuen Testaments (2 vols.; HTKNT Supplementbnder 1-2; new ed.; Freiburg:
Herder, 1986-88) 2. 194-205; R. Martin, James (WBC 48; Waco, TX: Word, 1988) lxxxvii-xciii;
H. Frankemlle, Der Brief des Jakobus (2 vols.; kumenischer Taschenbuchkommentar zum
Neuen Testament 17; Gtersloh: Gtersloher Verlagshaus, 1994) 1. 62-88; P. J. Hartin, James
and the Q Sayings of Jesus (JSNTSup 47; Sheffield: JSOTPress, 1991); W. Bindemann, "Weisheit
versus Weisheit: Der Jakobusbrief als innerkirchlicher Diskurs," ZNW%6 (1995) 189-217. A
cautionary note regarding the use of "wisdom" to describe the mode of James* exhortations is
voiced by H. von Lips ( Weisheitliche Traditionen im Neuen Testament [WMANT 64; NeukirchenVluyn: Neukirchener Verlag, 1990] 431-34) and is echoed in L. T. Johnson's negative judgment
(The Letter of James [AB 37 A; New York: Doubleday, 1995] 33) that "despite all these resemblances to the wisdom tradition . . . James is scarcely defined by it."
8
Baasland, "Literarische Form," 3654 ("eine fr Vorlesungszwecke in Briefform geschriebene, protreptische, weisheitliche Rede"); Frankemlle, Brief des Jakobus, 1. 68 ("eine neutestamentliche Weisheitsschrift in Briefform").
6

GENRE AND STORY

99

remain yet promising avenues to explore. It will be suggested in the present

study that the ancient text attributed to James is to be read neither as a collec
tion of moral precepts for the individual nor as wisdom literature narrowly
defined, but as a Jewish-Christian letter to the Diaspora regarding the regu
lation of the familiar areas of communal discord typical of ancient voluntary
associations.

I. The Epistle of James as a Letter to the Diaspora

Since the authors of older critical studies generally regarded James'
epistolary salutation to be an artificial prefixation, they tended to understand
its language in a wholly metaphorical manner, as if it were describing the
authorial audience cosmologically rather than geographically. Accordingly,
the author was perceived to be addressing his Christian readers as the true
Israel, persons for whom heaven was their proper home and earth was only
a foreign country.9 The fact that this cosmological dualism did not find any
significant echo in the remainder of the document was not felt to be particu
larly troublesome as long as the prescript was considered to be a vacuous
literary formula. But there is valid reason to question this conclusion.
As I have noted elsewhere, it is far from certain that the simple expression
can easily support the suggested metaphorical understanding.10
A thorough survey of early Christian literature reveals that did not
typically belong to the collection including such terms as or
by which pilgrim identity was more appropriately defined.11 But
9
Such a perception can be found in H. von Soden, Hebrerbrief, Briefe des Petrus,
Jakobus, Judas (HNT 3/2; 2d ed.; Freiburg: Mohr, 1892) 162; J. H. Ropes, A Critical and
Exegetical Commentary on the Epistle of St. James (ICC; Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, 1916) 124-26;
Dibelius, Brief des Jakobus, 66-67; W. Schrge, "Der Jakobusbrief, " in . Balz and W. Schrge, Die
"Katholischen" Briefe: Die Briefe des Jakobus, Petrus, Johannes und Judas (NTD 10; 2d ed.;
Gttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1980) 14; S. Laws, A Commentary on the Epistle of James
(HNTC; San Francisco: Harper & Row, 1980) 47-48; C. Burchard, "Gemeinde in der strohernen
Epistel: Mutmaungen ber Jakobus," in Kirche: Festschriftfr G. Bornkamm zum 75. Geburtstag
(ed. D. Lhrmann and G. Strecker; Tbingen: Mohr, 1980) 315-17. A unique and quite unconvincing perspective is offered by T. B. Cargal (Restoring the Diaspora: Discursive Structure and
Purpose in the Epistle of James [SBLDS 144; Atlanta: Scholars, 1993] 45-49), who suggests that
of 1:1 refers to the wandering from the truth of 5:19-20.
10
D. J. Verseput, "Wisdom, 4Q185, and the Epistle of James," JBL 117 (1998) 691-707.
11
On the usage of , see W. C. van Unnik, Das Selbstverstndnis der jdischen
Diaspora in der hellenistisch-rmischen Zeit (ed. P. W. van der Horst; AGAJU 17; Leiden: Brill,
1993) 74-80, 169-91. Except in its Jewish context, van Unnik notes (p. 74), " wird in
der griechischen geographischen Literatur . . . niemals als terminus technicus fr derartige
Bevlkerungsgruppen gebraucht." It is highly significant that the postapostolic church does not

100 THE CATHOLIC BIBLICAL QUARTERLY I 62, 2000

even more importantly, the patently supersessionist implication of the conven
tional reading may well be anachronistic. Despite the fact that in our epistle
the implied audience is organizationally distinguishable from its surroundings,
it is nevertheless doubtful whether the "twelve tribes" of the epistolary pre
script can be naively understood to apply to a group conscious of existing
beyond the borders of Judaism. It is much more plausible to suppose that the
author perceived his audience to have maintained a Jewish identity, regardless
12
of its precise ethnic mix. In this climate, it is unlikely that the alleged shift
in meaning of from a term of Jewish plight to one of cosmological
significance could readily have occurred. If that is indeed the case, the alleged
metaphor effectively dissolves, and in its place stands a pregnant generic allusion.
In an impressive study of the usage of , Willem van Unnik has
aptly reminded us that, far from being a source of pride, "das Leben der Juden
in der Diaspora wird im allgemeinen ungnstig als Strafe beurteilt."13 Indeed,
the very existence of the Jewish Diaspora was widely perceived as evidence
of divine displeasure from which only national repentance and divine mercy
could bring relief. This prevalent notion that Israel's dispersion would one day
be overcome by divine deliverance following national repentance echoed
repeatedly throughout Second Temple Judaism and beyond and became the
occasion for a peculiar subgenre of Jewish epistolary literature to which we may
attach the label "covenantal letter to the Diaspora." In these textswhether
or not they were ever sent as actual letters is immaterialan authoritative
adopt as a metaphorical term for itself but continues to apply it, often as an expres
sion of disqualification, to Israel's displacement from the Land (see, e.g., Justin Dial. 117). On
the other hand, , , and related words were readily available as theological
metaphors: Lev 25:23; 1 Chr 29:15; Philo Agr. 65; Cher. 120; Sobr. 68; Her. 267; Somn. 1.41-45;
Leg. 3.244; Heb 11:13; 2 Clem 5:1, 5; Epistle to Diognetus 5:5; 6:8 (note R. Feldmeier, Die
Christen als Fremde: Die Metapher der Fremde in der antiken Welt, im Urchristentum und in
1. Petrusbrief [WUNT 64; Tbingen: Mohr (Siebeck), 1992] 23-74).
12
In short, it is the ernie question of how James and his community perceived themselves
in regard to their Jewishness which must be determinative for the interpretation of the letter,
rather than the etic judgment of modern scholars regarding the ethnicity of the addressees. On
the distinction between emic and etic perspectives, see M. Harris, "History and Significance of
the Emic/Etic Distinction," Annual Review of Anthropology 5 (1976) 329-50.
13
Van Unnik, Selbstverstndnis der jdischen Diaspora, 79. For a more thorough treatment of diaspora as punishment, see especially, in addition to the earlier formative works such
as O. H. Steck, Israel und das gewaltsame Geschick der Propheten (WMANT 23; NeukirchenVluyn: Neukirchener Verlag, 1967), the contributions to the volume Exile: Old Testament,
Jewish and Christian Conceptions (ed. J. M. Scott; JSJSup 56; Leiden: Brill, 1997). Among
those contributions is one by Scott himself ("Exile and the Self-Understanding of Diaspora
Jews,** 173-218), who corrects van Unnik's distinction between "exile" and "Diaspora," noting that
"the two terms are in fact synonyms" occurring within the covenantal context of sin-punishmentreturn.

GENRE AND STORY

101

center, typically Jerusalem, consoled the assembled communities in the Jewish

Diaspora in the midst of the affliction occasioned by their evil circumstance
and admonished them regarding their covenant responsibilities in hope of the
expected restoration. In each of the extant texts of this typeJer 29:1-23; The
Epistle of Jeremiah; 2 Mace 1:1-9; 1:10-2:18; 2 Apocalypse of Baruch 78-86
the specific content of the instruction varies, but the tone of consolation in
tribulation and the appeal to the motivational power of the future hope
remain constant.14
The first document, arguably the originating document of the subgenre,
is the letter of the prophet Jeremiah to "all the exiles . . . sent into exile from
Jerusalem to Babylon" in Jeremiah 29. In this letter, clothed in the form of
a prophetic oracle, the author exhorts the exilic communities to settle down
for a long stay and assures them at the same time that Yahweh will restore
his people to the Land. The author of the apocryphal Epistle of Jeremiah,
imitating the style of its canonical precursor, offers a similar message of
encouragement and exhortation to Jews in the Diaspora. After giving assurances
that God will one day restore the exiles to the Land, he warns against the
danger of idolatry confronting those who must now live among the Gentiles.
This same pattern of consolation and admonition is repeated in the letters
which are prefixed to 2 Maccabees. While the content of these two epistles
is specifically related to the celebration of appointed feast days, the framework
of the discourse is again distinctly shaped by the expectations of repentance
and restoration characteristic of the subgenre. Finally, the "letter of doctrine
and scroll of hope" in 2 Apocalypse of Baruch 78-86 was explicitly written
to be read aloud in the assemblies of the exilic communities, "that [they
might] find consolation with regard to the multitude of tribulations" (82:1)
and "that [they] might remember the commandments of the Mighty One"
(84:7). Thus, in each of these examples the diasporic existence of the addressees
is associated with affliction, while the author of the letter offers instruction
and encouragement in the hope of a coming salvation.
14

The close association of Deuteronomic themes with Diaspora correspondence can be

seen as well in the message of the Babylonian exiles to Jerusalem in Bar 1:10-14. On the other
hand, while the epistolary exchange between Baruch and Jeremiah in Paraleipomena of Jeremiah 6-7 has strongly Deuteronomic overtones, it does not include the assembled community
of the Diaspora as one of the partners in dialogue; thereby, it retains a private character. For
examples of letters to the Jewishand Christiancommunities of the Diaspora containing recommendations or authoritative rulings without such Deuteronomic allusions, see t. Sanh. 2.6;
b. Sanh. lib; Acts 15:24-29. On the relationship of 1 Peter, 1 Clement, Polycarp's Letter to the
Philippians, and The Martyrdom of Polycarp to the Jewish tradition of Diaspora correspondence, note E. Peterson, "Das Praescriptum des 1. Clemens-Briefes," in his Frhkirche, Judentum
und Gnosis (Freiburg: Herder, 1959) 129-36; C. Andresen, "Zum Formular frhchristlicher
Gemeindebriefe," ZNW 56 (1965) 233-59; J. B. Bauer, Die Polykarpbriefe (Ergnzungsreihe
zum KEK, Kommentar zu den Apostolischen Vtern 5; Gttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1995)
35-36.

102 THE CATHOLIC BIBLICAL QUARTERLY I 62, 2000

The relevance of this epistolary type to the reading of James' epistle is
not difficult to grasp.15 On the heels of the salutatory address to the "twelve
tribes of the Diaspora," James' introductory challenge to rejoice in the face
of tribulation ( 1:2-8) is most plausibly read against the familiar Deuteronomic
backdrop. For James, as for the other writers of the subgenre, the exilic
existence of Israel was a painful experience requiring perseverance in hope
of God's ultimate triumph on behalf of his people. Indeed, it might be suggested
that the closest parallel to James' sequence of themes is to be found in the
epistolary opening of 2 Apocalypse of Baruch 78, whose author addresses
"the brothers who were carried away in captivity" (v. 2) in these words: "You
have suffered now for your good so that you may not be condemned in the
end . . . particularly if you remove from your hearts the idle error for which
you went away from here" (v. 6). It is in this same vein that James both
consoles and exhorts the scattered tribes: "Consider it pure joy, my brothers,
whenever you encounter various tribulations, knowing that the testing of your
faith produces steadfastness; but let steadfastness have its perfect work" (1:2-4).
In both cases, the afflictions of life in the Diaspora have a purifying effect by
concentrating the attentions of suffering Israel upon the anticipated deliverance
of God.
The remainder of James'epistolary opening (1:2-18) continues this note
of consolation to the community.16 The opening challenge to rejoice in
affliction is supported in Jas 1:9-11 by an unmistakable allusion to Isa 40:6-8,
a text which is read as a threat of doom against those who currently oppress
15
Already H. Windisch (Die Katholischen Briefe [HNT 15; 2d ed.; Tbingen: Mohr,
1930] 4) noticed the analogy between the Epistle of James and Jewish letters to the Diaspora,
particularly Jeremiah 29 and 2 Apocalypse of Baruch 78-87. Most recently, both M. Tsuji (Glaube
zwischen Vollkommenheit und Verweltlichung: Eine Untersuchung zur literarischen Gestalt und
zur inhaltlichen Kohrenz des Jakobusbriefes [WUNT 2/93; Tbingen: Mohr (Siebeck), 1997]
5-50) and K.-W. Niebuhr ("Der Jakobusbrief im Licht frhjdischer Diasporabriefe," NTS 44
[1998] 420-43), independently of each other, have expanded upon this thesis. Unfortunately,
Tsuji's reference to the "Diasporabrief-Tradition" as a background for the Epistle of James is
scarcely integrated into his interpretation of the letter, while Niebuhr restricts his contribution
to the isolation of individual verbal and conceptual parallels between James and the early Jewish
epistolary tradition.
16
In treating Jas 1:2-18 as a discrete unit, we follow the observation of Dibelius (Brief des
Jakobus, 68) "da es sich um einen in gewisser Beziehung gerundeten Abschnitt handelt." The
Suggestion of Francis ("Form and Function," 118-21) that the epistle evidences a "double opening
thematic statement" consisting of 1:2-11 and 1:12-25 is unacceptably awkward. Wuellner's attempt
("Jakobusbrief im Licht der Rhetorik," 5-66) to consider 1:2-12 as the opening textual unit over
against the letter's argumentatio (1:13-5:6) and peroratio (5:7-20) runs aground upon the intimate connection between 1:12 and 1:13-18. While Johnson (Letter of James, 174-75) chooses to
treat the entirety of Jas 1:2-27 s a single whole, he offers no better reason than that these verses
anticipate many of the later themes of the letter and share an "apparently fragmentary state."

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GENRE AND STORY 103

the community. Of the rich it is said that they "will pass away like the flower
of grass" ( , 1:10; cf. LXX Isa 40:6, ). Indeed,
when the sun rose with its scorching wind, it "withered the grass" (
, 1:11; cf. LXX Isa 40:7, ) and "its flower fell"
( , 1:11 ; cf. LXX Isa 40:7, ),
with the result that its beauty was destroyed. God will one day redeem his
people from their bondage, regardless of the apparent might of their enemies,
for in the face of his overwhelming power all human glory is brief and
ephemeral. For James, , that is, the community members
per se, should boast in their exalted position within the chosen remnant, for
they will experience God's deliverance through the destruction of their foes.17
It is only after punctuating this note of consolation with the beatitude
of 1:12 that James adopts a more cautionary tone, warning an imaginary
sluggard that no excuse for failure can be derived from attributing the
temptation of the moment to God. God, James insists, does not tempt his
people but has "by the word of truth" brought them forth to be the chosen
heirs of the coming regeneration. In view of the significance of Isaiah 40 as
the primary text underlying James' exordium, it is quite probable that, as
Luke Johnson has suggested, in Jas 1:18 echoes the irn^x *m
of Isa 40:8.18 Hence, James' readers, in the midst of their tribulation, are
firmly reminded that God's eternal word has already carved out a community
of salvation and will one day accomplish the promised redemption.19
Having thus encouraged his readers in the Diaspora, and having foiled
any attempt to escape the burden of perseverance, James begins his instruc
tions in the middle of the letter's body which follows (1:195:11).20 In 1:21,
the content of his admonitions is explicitly related to the manner of reception
17
That of 1:10-11 is not a member of the community should be self-evident
upon a careful reading of the text (Dibelius, Brief des Jakobus, 80). As a result, James' use of
Isa 40:6-8 is similar to that in 2 Apoc. Bar. 82:7, for there too one encounters an effort to lift
the spirits of readers in the Diaspora by evoking the Isaian picture of their adversaries' evanescence,
in contrast to the use of the same text in 4Q185 1-2 i.9-ii.2, where the imagery of judgment from
Isa 40:6-8 evokes a warning rather than consolation; see the fuller discussion in Verseput, "Wisdom,
4Q185, and the Epistle of James."
18
Johnson, Letter of James, 191. Note 1 Pet 1:25, where of Isa 40:8 is
equated with > .
19
On the renewal of creation, see Pseudo-Philo L.A.B. 16:3; 32:7; 4 Ezra 7:75; 2 Apoc.
Bar. 32:6; 1 Enoch 45:4-5; 1Q434 2 i.2-3. For James, cosmic and covenantal history intersect,
so that the end of the community's tribulation is the regeneration of creation.
20
By reading Jas 5:7-11 together with the immediately preceding segment rather than as
the beginning of the letter's closing (as is frequently done, e.g., by Frankemlle, "Das semantische
Netz des Jakobusbriefes," 175-84), we acknowledge the force of Muner's succinct comment
(Jakobusbrief, 199), "Der Zusammmenhang dieses kleinen, aber sehr wichtigen Abschnittes mit
der vorausgehenden Gerichtsandrohung gegen die Reichen ist sehr eng."

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T H E CATHOLIC BIBLICAL QUARTERLY I 62, 2000

of the divine word, which must be "done" and not merely heard. In good
Deuteronomic fashion the "word" of 1:18 is now described as
21
, becoming even in 1:25. Once we have
properly observed the significance of the epistle's character as a letter to the
diaspora, these once puzzling terms assume a new significance. We need not
search long to discover that the dispersion of Israel was associated with
"slavery," from which divine liberation was characteristically expected (see,
e.g., Bar 4:32; 2 Mace 1:27; T. Iss. 6:2; T. Napht. 4:2; Mos. 3:14; Josephus
A J. 4.8.2 190; 4.8.46 313; Philo Praem. 164).22 For James, the community's
formative message was the law which would be written on the hearts of God's
people and associated with the anticipated ingathering of dispersed wanderers
from the servitude to which they were subjected.
II. Instructions to the Christian-Jewish Associations
Having illuminated the generic background of James' letter, we turn next
to the content of its epistolary instructions. While the letters to the Jewish
Diaspora mentioned above display a family resemblance in their implied
setting and covenantal motif, the specific content of the admonitions imparted
to the communities of the Diaspora was as varied as the occasions which pro
voked the respective compositionthe celebration of a festival, the impending
death of a revered prophet, or simply the author's apprehensions for the
continued purity of his scattered coreligionists. In the case of James' epistle,
the author's instructions represent neither the typical topoi of Jewish wisdom
literature nor the familiar motifs of early Christian paraenesis. Rather, a
peculiar principle of selection has been at work, highlighting communal issues
21
The internalization of the divine word may signify an intensive occupation with the
study of the Law (Isa 51:7; Ps 37:31; Josephus Ap. 2.18 178 [ . . .
]), or what is accomplished by a divine act (Jer 31:33; 1QH
4.10; also, judging from the use of the verb mn [uaVa nsmin rwVi], 4Q504 1-2 ii. 13, a document
best understood "in the context of a pre-Qumranic phenomenon," according to E. Chazon, "Is
Divrei Ha-MeDorot a Sectarian Prayer?" in The Dead Sea Scrolls: Forty Years of Research [ed.
D. Dimant and U. Rappaport; STDJ 10; Leiden: Brill, 1992] 17). Jas 1:21 falls in the latter
category. Note that the "circumcision of the heart" in Let. Barn. 9:1-8 is termed
in v. 9. While pagan authors were certainly familiar with the distinction
between written documents and internalized teaching (e.g., Plutarch Moralia 779C, 780C), there
is little in James* letter to suggest that he borrows the Stoic idea of innate Reason.
22
For a brief discussion of the use of motifs of slavery and freedom to depict the Deutero
nomic pattern, see S. Vollenweider, Freiheit als neue Schpfung (FRLANT 147; Gttingen:
Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1989) 133-45. In the case of Josephus, however, L. H. Feldman ("The
Concept of Exile in Josephus," in Exile [ed. Scott], 172) notes that "Josephus clearly regarded
the exile as everlasting and never foresees an end to it."

GENRE AND STORY 105

such as speech, leadership, and treatment of the poor in the assembly.23 In
this regard, a significant clue to the social world of the epistle has been
provided by Bo Reicke.24 Although Reicke's effort to enlist James in a battle
against eschatological Schwrmerei should be viewed with some reserve, his
suggestion that the typical abuses of the ancient associations (collegia, ,
) might profitably illuminate the background of James' letter must
25
be gratefully acknowledged.
There is little serious debate of the thesis that the early Christian congre
gations would have been regarded by outsiders simply as another form of
26
association. Whether or not these early Christian groups consciously modeled
23

See the insightful remark of L. T. Johnson ("The Social World of James: Literary
Analysis and Historical Reconstruction," in The Social World of the First Christians: Essays in
Honor of W. A. Meeks [ed. L. M. White and O. L. Yarbrough; Minneapolis: Fortress, 1995] 195
n. 78), "The group is always being addressed in James even when individual cases are being
considered; the exhortation in the majority of ancient paraenetic texts is to the individual."
24
B. Reicke, Diakonie, Festfreude und Zehs in Verbindung mit der altchristlichen Agapenfeier (UU 1951/5; Uppsala: Lundequistska Bokhandeln, 1951) 320-47.
25
On the Greco-Roman associations, see P. Foucart, Des associations religieuses chez les
Grecs: Thiases, ranes, orgeons, avec le texte des inscriptions relatives ces associations (Paris:
Klincksieck, 1873); W. Liebenam, Zur Geschichte und Organisation des rmischen Vereinswesens
(Leipzig: Teubner, 1890); J.-P. Waltzing, Etude historique sur les corporations professionnelles
chez les Romains, depuis les origines jusqu' la chute de l'Empire d'Occident (4 vols.; Louvain:
Peeters, 1895-1900); F. Poland, Geschichte des griechischen Vereinswesens (Preisschriften . . .
von der Frstlich Jablonowskischen Gesellschaft zu Leipzig 38; Leipzig: Teubner, 1909); A. Boak,
"The Organization of Gilds [sic] in Greco-Roman Egypt," 68 (1937) 212-20; E. Ziebarth,
Das griechische Vereinswesen (reprint, Wiesbaden: Sandig, 1969; original, 1896); M. San Nicol,
gyptisches Vereinswesen zur Zeit der Ptolemer und Rmer (2 vols.; Mnchener Beitrge zur
Papyrusforschung und antiken Rechtsgeschichte 2; 2d ed.; Munich: Beck, 1972); J. S. Kloppenborg, "Collegia and Thiasoi: Issues in Function, Taxonomy and Membership," in Voluntary
Associations in the Graeco-Roman World (ed. J. S. Kloppenborg and S. G. Wilson; London:
Routledge, 1996) 16-30.
26
Note especially the evidence of Pliny Ep. 10.96. Cf. Origen Cels. 1.1; Tertullian Apologeticus 38-39. Regarding the Christian churches' closest organizational relatives, the Jewish
synagogues, Josephus (A.J. 14.10.8 214-16) records a letter of Julius Caesar likewise equating
the Jewish assemblies with . The epigraphic evidence for the structure of the Jewish
communities in the diaspora reveals administrative titles frequently parallel to those in pagan
associations (e.g., , ; cf. Poland, Geschichte des griechischen Vereins
wesens, 337-67; yet on the distinctives of Jewish models of leadership, see J. T. Burtchaell, From
Synagogue to Church: Public Services and Offices in the Earliest Christian Communities [Cam
bridge: Cambridge University Press, 1992] 265-67). Note the conclusion of E. M. Smallwood
(The Jews under Roman Rule, from Pompey to Diocletian: A Study in Political Relations
[SJLA 20; 2d ed.; Leiden: Brill, 1981] 133): "though the synagogues resembled collegia superficially
in holding regular meetings and in possessing communal funds, they differed radically from
them in other respects: their functions were wider than those of collegia, since they were respon
sible for the organization and administration of all aspects of the life of the community and not
for a single aspect, religious worship, alone." On the relationship between the early church and

106 THE CATHOLIC BIBLICAL QUARTERLY I 62, 2000

their organizational structure on the ancient clubs with their bewildering
variety of aims and functions has been a warmly debated question for over
27
a century, but it is less the matter of influence than the fundamental
similarities which interest us. Membership in bpth church and collegium was
established voluntarily, by free decision to associate, rather than by birth.
Both were small groups in which face-to-face social intercourse on a regular
basis was possible and was encouraged. Both engaged in common meals
typically accompanied by rituals and cultic activities. Given these very signi
ficant analogies, it is certainly not wrongheaded to point to the characteristic
offenses which plagued the ancient associations as instructive for those trying
to comprehend the endemic problems of early Christian congregations.
Unfortunately, however, literary evidence regarding the internal affairs
of the Greco-Roman associations is sparse.28 The clearest evidence of their
inner workings is provided primarily by their papyrologically and epigraphically preserved statutes. Already J.-R Waltzing and Erich Ziebarth pointed
out correctly that one should not regard such statutes as modern institutional
charters which specify the club's purpose, its membership, and its officers with
their responsibilities, in an orderly fashion.29 Such statutes in antiquity were
far more chaotic, skipping randomly from topic to topic, often regulating
narrowly select issues while leaving others seemingly unattended. Nonethe
less, irrespective of their individuality, these statutes do present a consistent
picture of small social groups, often of not more than thirty or forty members,30
to whom the issues of membership, leadership, andinterestinglypreven
tion of verbal and physical abuse at regular meetings were of paramount
importance.
the voluntary associations, see R. L. Wilken, "Collegia, Philosophical Schools, and Theology,"
in Early Church History: The Roman Empire as the Setting of Primitive Christianity (ed.
S. Benko and J. J. O'Rourke; London: Oliphants, 1971) 268-91; W. A. Meeks, The First Urban
Christians (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1983) 77-80; J. S. Kloppenborg, "Edwin Hatch,
Churches, and Collegia," in Origins and Method: Towards a New Understanding of Judaism and
Christianity; Essays in honour of John C. Hurd (ed. . . McLean; JSNTSup 86; Sheffield:
JSOT Press, 1993) 212-38; W. O. McCready, "Ekklsia and Voluntary Associations," in Voluntary Associations (ed. Kloppenborg and Wilson), 59-73.
27
The initial suggestions in this direction from G. Heinrici ("Die Christengemeinden
Korinths und die religisen Genossenschaften der Griechen," WT 20 [1876] 465-526) and
E. Hatch (The Organization of the Early Christian Churches: Eight Lectures Delivered before
the University of Oxford[Bampton Lectures, 1880; London: Rivington's, 1881]) raised a storm
of controversy conveniently described by Kloppenborg, "Edwin Hatch," 212-20.
28
An instructive glimpse into the raucous political agitation of the Alexandrian
is provided, however, by Philo (Flacc. 135-45).
29
Waltzing, Etude historique sur les corporations, 1. 371; Ziebarth, Das griechische Vereins
wesen, 145.
30
Poland, Geschichte des griechischen Vereinswesens, 287: "etwa zwei bis drei Dutzend
Genossen waren offenbar eine recht bliche Erscheinung."

GENRE AND STORY 107

Space will not permit an exhaustive review of all the extant club statutes,
but three can be chosen for their degree of preservation and their representa
tive value. The first comes from late Ptolemaic Egypt and is apparently a draft
of a lex collegii kept by an official of the guild of Zeus Hypsistos. After desig
nating the president, obviously a wealthy patron of the association, and
defining his obligations, the statutes turn to the responsibilities of the members:
All are to obey the president and his servant in matters pertaining to the corpo
ration, and they shall be present at all occasions to be prescribed for them and
at meetings () and assemblies () and outings ().
It shall not be permissible for any one of them . . . to make factions ()
or to leave the brotherhood of the president for another, or for men to enter into
one another's pedigrees at the banquet or to abuse one another ()
at the banquet or to chatter () or to indict () or accuse
() another or to resign for the course of the year.31
The emphasis of this document on the harmony of the assembled group is by
no means unusual. It is repeated again and again throughout the ancient
Mediterranean world in similar prohibitions against provocation and angry
speech within the collegia?2
A further example can be seen in the detailed statutes of the Attic society
of Iobacchi (178 CE.) which, after stipulating entrance fees, contributions
and meeting times, prescribe the following:
No one may either sing, or create a disturbance, or applaud in the assembly, but
each shall speak and act his role with all good order and quietness under the
direction of the priest or the archbacchus . . . If anyone starts afight() or
is found acting disorderly (), or occupying the seat of any other mem
ber, or insulting () or reviling () anyone, the person so reviled
or insulted shall produce two of the Iobacchi to declare by an oath that they
heard him insulted or reviled, and he who was guilty of the insult or abuse shall
pay to the society twenty-five light drachmas.33
For a final instructive example, we shall remain in Attica and examine
an engraved statute likewise from the second century CE. Once more, near
the beginning of the document we have regulations regarding peace and
order within the assembly:
31
PLond. 2710. See C. Roberts, T. Skeat, and A. Nock, "The Guild of Zeus Hypsistos,"
#77*29(1936)40-42.
32
Cf. PMich. 243,7-8; PDemLille 29; PDemCairo 30605; 30606; 31179; PPrague. Trans
lations of the Demotic statutes can be found in F. de Cnival, Les associations religieuses en
Egypte d'aprs les documents dmotiques (Bibliothque d'tude 46; Cairo: Institut d'archologie
orientale, 1972).
33
W. Dittenberger, Sylloge Inscriptionum Graecarum (3d ed.; 4 vols.; Leipzig: S. Hirzel,
1915-24) 1109 lines 64-80. The importance of seating arrangements, indicated here, appears as
well in PMich. 243, and it may be reflected in the curious arrangement of names in PMich. 246.

108

THE CATHOLIC BIBLICAL QUARTERLY I 62, 2000

If anyone during the meeting ( ) enters a fight (), let him pay
on the following day a fine of ten drachmai if he participated in it, and without fail
34
let him be (made to be) expelled after his fellow eranistai have cast a vote.

In the light of the obviously reoccurring concern among ancient organi

zations to regulate membership, leadership, and communal behavior even to
the point of seating arrangements, we are led to take a new look at the Manual
of Discipline (1QS) discovered among the Qumran scrolls. As Moshe Weinfeld has cogently argued, this document closely resembles the legal codes of
the pagan associations, particularly in cols. 5-7.35 Despite the profound distinc
tion between the intemperate parties of the Hellenistic world and the Jewish
monastic sect, the same issues of a communal nature are heavily represented
here. To cite only a single section from this lengthy catalog,
They shall admonish one another in truth (nX3), humility (may) and merciful love
( nanx) to one another. He must not speak to his fellow with anger (*|X3) or
with a snarl (ruyVna) or with a [stiff] neck [or in a jealous spirit] of wickedness
(ytrh mi niopa),... and they shall eat (in) unity, say benedictions (in) unity, and
give counsel (in) unity. And in every place where there are ten men (belonging
to) the Council of the Community, there must not be lacking among them a
man (who is) a priest. And each member shall sit according to his rank before
him.36
34

A. Raubitschek, "A New Attic Club (RANOS)," The J. Paul Getty Museum Journal 9
(1981) 93-98.
35
M. Weinfeld, The Organizational Pattern and the Penal Code of the Qumran Sect: A
Comparison with Guilds and Religious Associations of the Hellenistic-Roman Period (NTOA
2; Fribourg: Editions universitaires; Gttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1986). Cf. also M. Klinghardt, "The Manual of Discipline in the Light of Statutes of Hellenistic Associations," in
Methods of Investigation of the Dead Sea Scrolls and the Khirbet Qumran Site: Present Realities
and Future Prospects (Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences 722; ed. . O. Wise et al.;
New York: New York Academy of Sciences, 1994) 251-70; S. Walker-Ramisch, "Graeco-Roman
Voluntary Associations and the Damascus Document: A Sociological Analysis," in Voluntary Asso
ciations (ed. Kloppenborg and Wilson), 128-45. H. Bardtke ("Die Rechtsstellung der QumranGemeinde," TLZ 33 [1961] 93-104) was the first to draw attention to the similarities between the
organization of the Qumran sect and the pagan associations. Even in", one of the self-appellations
of the Qumran community, is best explained as a parallel to the Greek term used of
pagan associations (B. Dombrowski, "" in 1QS and : An Instance of Early Greek
and Jewish Synthesis," HTR 59 [1966] 293-307). For an additional example of a religious asso
ciation in the eastern Mediterranean, see the Palmyran inscription published by J. Teixidor, "Le
thiase de Blastor et.de Beelshamn d'aprs une inscription rcemment dcouverte Palmyre,"
CRAIBL (1981) 306-14.
36
This is Charlesworth's translation of 1QS 5.24-6.26 (E. Qimron and J. H. Charlesworth, "Rule of the Community," in The Dead Sea Scrolls: Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek Texts
with English Translations 1: Rule of the Community and Related Documents [Princeton Theological Seminary Dead Sea Scrolls Project; ed. J. H. Charlesworth; Tbingen: Mohr (Siebeck);
Louisville: Westminster John Knox, 1994] 25-27).

r^

GENRE AND STORY 109

While the language is patently Jewish, the characteristic concerns of the ancient
associations are clearly recognizable in these words, as elsewhere in the scroll.
The potential for altercations and discord was a significant threat to the
existence of the voluntary associations, the more so since they frequently
included a range of social status which was only partially relativized by
membership in the society.37 The close social intercourse promoted by the
associations, together with their reliance upon patronage and the accompanying
tendency to cater to wealth or status, rendered the careful regulation of the
potential for conflict a vital necessity.
Returning to the contents of the middle of James' letter's body, we notice
immediately the parallels between the author's admonitions and the issues
plaguing other voluntary societies in the ancient world. After consoling his
readers in the diaspora who find themselves in a troublesome situation (1:218), James launches into an injunction against contentious speech (1:19-27),
urging humble behavior rather than anger (
) in much the same language as the ordinances of Qumran (1QS 5.2526). In the subsequent admonition of James 2, the author then takes aim
against the familiar deference to the rich so blatantly characteristic of the
ancient associations in their dependence upon the beneficence of wealthier
patrons, even placing this admonition in the traditional context of appropriate
seating arrangements (2:1-26). Thereupon, the author engages the matter of
leadership and the misuse of the tongue in the context of the assembly (3:14:10), before drawing his exhortations regarding the harmony of the group
to a close in the solemn warning, "Do not speak against one another (
), brethren. He who speaks against a brother, or judges
his brother, speaks against the Law and judges the Law. . . . There is only one
Lawgiver and Judge who is able to save and destroy; who are you who judge
your neighbor?" (4:11-12). In the remainder of the epistle he continues the
dialogue with the imaginary recalcitrant over behavior outside the community
(4:13-5:6), before finally offering encouragement to the "brethren" not to
complain against one another (5:7-12) but to seek God in all aspects of life
(5:13-20). Seen in this light, the instructions given to the readers are plainly
not those one would expect of Hellenistic paraenesis as it was traditionally
addressed to the individual person, or even of wisdom literature narrowly
37
An inscription recording the names of the belonging to a second-century Italian
Dionysiac association reveals a breadth of social status from an ex-consul, his family, and his
acquaintances to slaves and freedmen (see B. H. McLean, "The Agrippinilla Inscription: Religious
Associations and Early Church Formation," in Origins and Method [ed. McLean], 239-70). In
name, all members enjoyed the same privileges; in practice, however, wealthier members commonly
used their resources to pay for banquets, building projects, and the like in return for special honor.

110 THE CATHOLIC BIBLICAL QUARTERLY I 62, 2000

defined; rather, the author's primary purpose lay in the regulation of those
typical communal squabbles which were consistently a source of concern in
the ancient world.
III. Conclusion
Luke Johnson is correct, of course, in suggesting that the consideration
of the text as a "real letter" is dependent upon the judgment regarding the
authenticity of its authorial claim.38 But leaving this question aside for another day, we can reasonably conclude from the self-presentation of the text
that, regardless of the hand which held the reed, it was intended to be read
as a "covenantal letter to the Diaspora," offering consolation and instruction
in view of the hope of the expected restoration. Indeed, if our depiction of
the story implied in the composition of the Epistle of James is sound, we are
confronted not with a paraenetic letter addressed to a group of individual
persons but with an encyclical regulating matters of perpetual concern to
ancient voluntary associations. Its fundamental purpose is to warn the assembled Christian congregation not to commit the error of presumption against
God by assuming that their worship without obedience will impress the
Father of lights who has called them to a new existence as the first fruits of
the expected regeneration. Rather than being driven by the hybris which
assaults the honor of others and orders the life of the community without
deference to divine authority, the community is to be characterized by a
gentleness which restrains the tongue and reveres the poor. When the Epistle
of James is read in this manner, as a communal instruction to a gathered
congregation rather than as an ethic for individual believers, it will yield new
information on the internal dynamics of the first-century church.
Johnson, Letter of James, 24.

^ s
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