1–26 Deliberative Rhetoric The whole of chapter 2 is a fine example of deliberative (sumbouleutikon) rhetoric (see →Aristotle Rhet. 1.3.3), where the speaker seeks to dissuade his audience from a certain action or exhort them to it. Here James attempts to dissuade his readers from showing favoritism to the rich (Jas 2:1–13) and to exhort them to live out their faith through actions (Jas 2:14–26). The diatribe style is used frequently in deliberative rhetoric.

1–13 Exhortation to Impartiality towards the Rich

Structure

Jas 2:1–13: The faith of Jesus Christ is incompatible with actions showing favoritism towards the rich. This section is a chiselled rhetorical argument (Literary Devices 2:1–13).

Contextual Contrast and Continuities

• In exhorting his readers to reject partiality towards the wealthy and influential, James challenges the accepted social stratification of contemporary Greco-Roman society (Ancient Cultures 2:2–3).
• In championing the poor and emphasizing the value of mercy, James draws on the teaching of both the Torah itself and Jesus' own characteristic teaching (Biblical Intertextuality 2:2a; Biblical Intertextuality 2:6a; Biblical Intertextuality 2:6b; Biblical Intertextuality 2:13b).

Interpretation

Two specific passages have attracted the greatest attention in the history of interpretation:

• Jas 2:10 sparked discussion on the relationship between individual commandments and the integrity of the Law as a whole (Christian Tradition 2:10b; Theology 2:10b).
• Jas 2:13 led to debate on the relationship between mercy and judgment (Christian Tradition 2:13a; Christian Tradition 2:13b).

1–13 Rhetorical Structure →Watson 1993a analyzes the rhetorical structure of this section as follows (cf. →Ps.-Cicero Rhet. Her. 2.18.28 for the categories). 

Propositio (the proposition to be proved; Jas 2:1): The faith of Jesus Christ is incompatible with displays of partiality towards the rich and powerful within the Christian community. 

Ratio (the causal basis for the propositio; Jas 2:2–4): The specific example of partiality in seating the rich and influential shows that community members are making judgments incompatible with the non-judgmental faith of Jesus Christ. 

Confirmatio (further confirmation of the propositio; Jas 2:5–7): In aligning themselves with the rich, church members align themselves with enemies of the faith: it is the rich who oppress poor community members and who blaspheme the name of the Lord Jesus: 

• Jas 2:5–6a: partiality directly contradicts God’s preference for the poor; 
• Jas 2:6bc: partiality supports the very people who oppress the community; 
• Jas 2:7: partiality supports the blasphemy of the rich against God. 

Exornatio (embellishment and enrichment of the argument once the propositio is established; Jas 2:8–11): the one who shows favoritism violates the royal law (i.e., the faith of Jesus Christ: the Torah of the Kingdom taught by Jesus). 

Conplexio (a brief conclusion summarizing the argument; Jas 2:12–13): James exhorts the community to abandon favoritism and to speak and act in a way consistent with the royal law. If they continue with their unwarranted judgmental and partial behavior, they themselves can expect a harsh judgment.

1–13 beloved brothers Softening of the Criticism While strongly criticizing the community for the sin of partiality towards the rich, James uses rhetorical techniques to soften his criticism’s harshness:

• Jas 2:5a: he addresses the community as “beloved brothers” (cf. Jas 1:16,19; in contrast to the usual “[my] brothers”). See also Literary Devices 1:2. 

He also employs hypothetical scenarios and rhetorical questions instead of directly accusing members of sin:

• Jas 2:2: “if a man wearing gold rings”; 
• Jas 2:4: “have you not made distinctions”; 
• Jas 2:9: “if you show partiality”. 

Only at Jas 2:6a does one find direct accusation: “But you have dishonored the poor person.” 

2–7 Enthymeme →Wachob 2000 analyzes this section as an enthymeme (77). →Aristotle Rhet. 1.2.8 defines the enthymeme as a rhetorical syllogism.

• Major premise (unstated): making distinctions within the community between rich and poor is incompatible with holding the faith of the Lord Jesus.
• Minor premise: making distinctions between rich and poor is an act of partiality (Jas 2:4).
• Conclusion: acts of partiality are incompatible with holding of the faith of the Lord Jesus and should not be done.

4–7 have you not made distinctions Confirmatio: Rhetorical Questions Written in the diatribe style, this section asks a series of rapid-fire rhetorical quesitons (cf. →Epictetus Diatr. 1.12; cf.  →Quintilian Inst. 9.2.6–11 on using rhetorical questions in proofs):

• "Have you not made distinctions?"
• "Has not God chosen the poor?"
• "Are not the rich exploiting you?"
• "Is it not they [i.e., the rich] who blaspheme?"

In each case, the expected answer is "Yes": these are points that James' readers should know.

James' questions also gives a clue as to the social location of James' audience. Since he questions them on their response to both rich and poor, it may be inferred that they themselves are at neither extreme. 

6c dragging you off into court Possible Scenarios The following are two possible scenarios in which the wealthy or powerful may have taken a poor person to court.

Compelling a Debt Payment

The wealthy could take debtors to court to force them to repay loans. In the Roman Empire of James' time, farmers and other workers often went into debt, in part due to a relatively high rate of taxation. Small farmers would often lose their ancestral land if they were unable to pay their debts.

The Gospel tradition often refers to debtors who are unable to repay loans (see Mt 18:21–35; Lk 7:41–43; 12:57–59; 16:1–8) and are thus threatened with legal action and perhaps prison (see Mt 18:30–35; Lk 12:58). Note Jesus' advice to settle matters with adversary before going to court (Lk 12:58), implying that justice would be hard to attain in a court system that legally gave preferential treatment to the rich.

Legal disputes may well have also involved disputes over rents, wages, and taxes.

In a first-century Jewish context, the court was likely the local synagogue with the priest acting as judge.

Fraudulent Legal Claims

In accusing a man of using armed force to seize the rightful property of others, Cicero also alludes to less overtly violent means of defrauding others of property:

• →Cicero Mil. 74 "the chicanery of litigation (calumnia litium)…illegal titles and securities" (iniustis vindiciis ac sacramentis; Watts 1931, 88–89).

6b oppressing Oppression of the Poor by the Rich One particular and common example of the oppression of the poor by the more powerful and wealthy was the illegal seizure of property (cf. →James: Rich and Poor).

• Egyptian papyri of the first centuries AD describe wealthy or influential people using threats, intimidation, and physical attacks to deprive the poor of their land (→MacMullen 1974, 6–11).

One 2^nd c. AD letter describes what must have been a typical scenario:

• →P. Fouad 26.14–16: a villager complains of unjust treatment by an official "who possesses a great deal of influence in the villages through his arrogance and violence (authadiaᵢ kai biaᵢ); and I shall be unable to oppose him before a [local] jury (dikastai) of this kind, for he is very influential" (polu dunastês esti; →MacMullen 1974, 11).

Eusebius quotes from Melito's apology to Marcus Aurelius regarding anti-Christian legislation:

• →Eusebius of Cesarea Hist. eccl. 4.26.5 "shameless informers and lovers of other people's property have taken advantage of the decrees, and pillage us openly, (phanerôs lêᵢsteuousi) harrying day and night those who have done nothing wrong" (Lake et al. 1971, 1:388–89). 
• →Seneca Ep. 90.39, personifies greed (avaritia): "she adds one estate to another, evicting a neighbor either by buying him out or by wronging him" (iniuria; Gummere 1917, 2:424–25); cf. →Cicero Mil. 74.

Even the upper classes were not free from the danger of having their land illegally seized:

• →Josephus A.J. 17.308 reports that Herod killed nobles under unjust pretenses and took their estates;
• →Pliny Nat. 18.35: the Emperor Nero put to death six great landowners who owned "half of Africa."

1–13 Liberation Theology Perspectives

Taking the Perspective of the Poor

Commenting on Jas 2:5b from the perspective of the Latin American poor, Elsa Tamez concludes,

• James clearly states that God indeed has a partiality for the poor. "If favoritism is prohibited in the community it is because favoritism always favors the rich, never the poor."

Tamez criticizes contemporary biblical exegetes of Jas 2:1–13 on two points:

• Many exegetes comment that one should not conclude from this passage that all wealthy people are bad or should be condemned (Christian Tradition 2:5b). Nothing in the text itself would occassion such a comment, and thus reveals that these exegetes write from the perspective of the wealthy and powerful.
• Some exegetes argue that James' reference to "the poor" signifies those who are pious, and thus does not indicate their economic status.  In the view of these scholars, "The rich become the piously poor and the poor rich in piety, and the economic order and the unjust power stay as they are." In Tamez's view, James, on the contrary, clearly refers to the economically poor, and criticizes the wealthy for their oppression of them (→Tamez 2002, 36–37).

Partiality as Discrimination

• Smit argues that the closest modern counterpart to James' concept of partiality is discrimination, and applies it specifically to apartheid in South Africa. Partiality towards the wealthy and powerful necessarily involves a dehumanization of the poor and powerless, who are seen not as human beings created in God's image, but defined by non-essential characteristics such as race and economic status (→Smit 1990, 65–67).

1–13 Theme of Wholeness and Division James continues the contrast between godly wholeness and sinful division: just as an individual person should not be divided and double-minded (Jas 1:6–8), so too the church members should not be divided by showing partiality to the rich in the community (Jas 2:4). See also→James: Perfection / Wholeness in James .

6c–7 they themselves …is it not they: Emphasis Placed on “the Rich” Using the grammatically unnecessary pronoun "they" (autoi), James emphasizes the absurdity of his audience's actions: the readers show partiality to the rich, in spite of the fact that they themselves (i.e., the rich) oppress them and drag them to court.

6a dishonored the poor one The Sin of Shaming the Poor

• G-Prv 14:21 : "He who dishonors the needy sins (atimazôn penêtas hamartanei): but the one that pities the poor is deemed most happy" (eleôn de ptôchous makaristos).
• 1Cor 11:20–22: Paul makes a similar point when he criticizes the inequalities evident in the gatherings of the Corinthian community, where some go hungry while others get drunk: "do you show contempt for the church of God and make those who have nothing feel ashamed (kataischunete)?"

6b oppressing you Prophetic Denunciation of the Rich Oppressing the Poor The same verb is often used in the prophetic tradition to refer to the rich and powerful taking advantage of the poor and weak:  

• G-Am 8:4: "Do hear this, you who lord over (katadunasteuô) the needy in the morning, and oppress the poor from the land."
• Cf. Ez 18:12 (oppresses the poor and needy: ptôchon kai penêta); Mi 2:2; Mal 3:5 (oppress a widow); Ws 2:10: "Let us oppress the righteous poor." See also →James: Rich and Poor

1–13 Divisio Textus

•  →Ps.-Andreas Catena, recognizing James' primary focus on the issue of partiality within the church, places Jas 2:1–13 under the heading, "Concerning imparital (aprosôpolêptos) love for each person according to the law" (Cramer 1844, 8:9).

See →James: Medieval Divisio Textus .

1–9 Use in Lectionary →RML : Thursday, Week 6, Year 2.

1–10,14–17 Use in Lectionary →RCL : Proper 18, Year B- Longer Reading = Jas 2:1-17.

1:1–5:20 James Depictions of the Author Depictions of James, the author of the epistle, in paintings, statues, manuscript illustrations, engravings, woodcuts, and embroidery on liturgical vestments are particularly prominent in the Middle Ages. A common consensus of the artists is that the author of the epistle is James the Just, leader of the Jerusalem church; he is typically further identified with James, son of Alphaeus, one of Jesus' Twelve (Mk 3:18), and "James the Less" (Mk 15:40). The iconography of James draws particularly on accounts of James recorded in →Eusebius of Cesarea Hist. eccl. 23 and →Jerome Vir. ill. 2, who in turn draw on accounts from Clement of Alexandria and Hegesipus. See also →James: Introduction. 

Several prominent features of these portrayals may be noted:

• Following the tradition that he was the first bishop of Jerusalem, James is often portrayed anachronistically in bishop's vestments.
• James is often portrayed holding a fuller's club, alluding to the tradition that James was beaten to death with a such a club. Variations show him holding different types of clubs. Another related tradition shows James holding a bow such as one used by hat-makers of the Middle Ages.
• James bears a striking physical resemblance to his brother Jesus.
• One artistic tradition, based on accounts found in the preface to the →Gloss. Ord. and →de Voragine Leg. aur., portrays the infant James as part of a large extended family. According to this legend, St. Anne, mother of the Virgin Mary, had three children named Mary with three different husbands. James and his brothers Joses (Joseph), Simon, and Jude (cf. Mk 6:3) are the sons of Mary (daughter of Anne and Cleophas; cf. Jn 19:25) and Alphaeus (cf. Mk 3:18). James and his brothers are thus cousins of Jesus (son of Mary, daughter of Anne and Joachim) and of St. John the Evangelist and James the Greater (sons of Mary, daughter of Anne and Salomas).

The following images are noteworthy:

• A painting of James in the Armenian Sts. James Cathedral, Jerusalem: James is dressed in episcopal robes, wears a miter and holds a crozier (→Gowler 2014, 54).
• Blessed James Apostle. In the →Stav. Bib. (1093-97) illuminations of the apostle James are at the introduction to the Catholic epistles (f. 197 r→) and at the beginning of his epistle (f. 197 v→.). The apostle stands, holding a book.
• Apostle James the Less, statue, south portal of Chartres Cathedral, early 13^th century.

James holds a club.

• Leonardo da Vinci (1495-98), The Last Supper, Santa Maria delle Grazie, Milan. 

James, who resembles his brother Jesus, is second from his left. This full-scale copy was the main source for the— unfortunate—twenty-year restoration of the original (1978–1998). It includes several lost details such as Christ's feet, the transparent glass decanters on the table, and the floral motifs of the tapestries that decorate the room's interior.  It was first mentioned in 1626 by the author Bartolomeo Sanese as hanging in the Certosa di Pavia, a monastery near Pavia, Italy, but it is unlikely that it was intended for this location. At some point, the upper third of the picture was cut off, and the width was reduced. Giampietrino is thought to have worked closely with Leonardo when he was in Milan. A very fine, full-size copy of this painting, before it was cut down, is installed at Tongerlo Abbey in Westerlo, near Antwerp, Belgium. 

• Lucas Cranach the Elder (1509), Infant Saint James among his relations, a triptych in the Stadelsches Kunstinstitut, Frankfurt, Germany. The infant Jesus, his mother Mary, and Mary's mother St. Anne are portrayed in the center. To the right is St. Anne's other daughter Mary, her husband Zebedee, and sons John the Evangelist and James the Greater. To the left is another of St. Anne's daughters named Mary with her husband Alphaeus; their children James, Joses (Joseph), Simon, and Jude are in the left and center panels.

The side and central panels describe a a great hall with blue grey walls and three-colored tiles. In the side panels are depicted the half sisters of Virgin Mary, called after their fathers Mary Cleophas (left) and Mary Salome (right) together with their husbands.

Left panel: St. Mary Cleophas and Alphaeus (with the features of Friedrich the Wise with their two sons, the Apostles St. James the Less (at her breast) and Joseph Justus, called St. Barnabas, as annunciator of the Gospel of Matthew depicted with a book.

Central panel: Joseph, who seems to seems to sleep, the Virgin, dressed in blue with yellow lining, Anna and the Christ Child on her knee, who is stretching out his hand towards an apple given to him by Virgin Mary. Anna's three husbands following →de Voragine Leg. aur. are shown in the background in the matroneum: on the left Joachim, who is attracted by the holy women in front of him and whose relation is also shown by the corresponding blue and yellow color of his dress, Cleophas (with the physiognomy and chain of Emperor Maximilian I and Salomas, with the physiognomy of Sixtus Oelhafen von Schöllenbach, secretary of Friedrich III, Maximilian I and Karl V), who are talking to each other. There is an architectural structure by a great stone bench in the foreground of the central panel with two marble columns on the sides, over which is strectched a cloth of gold. On the right column is a tablet with date and signature: [LVCAS CHRONVS FACIEBAT ANNO 1509. The parapet of the matroneum is decorated by a sculptured frieze with dancing putti holding six escutcheons with the six fields of Electorate of Saxony. In the hall are shown the 17 members of the Holy Kinship. In the central panel are shown two more children of Mary Cleophas and Alpheus, the Apostles Simon, patron saint of weavers, dyers, tanners and saddlers and Jude, who went on mission and suffered their martyrdom together and therefore are regularly depicted together.

Right panel: St. Mary Salome and Zebedee (with the features of Frederick III, Elector of Saxony, and his brother Herzog Johann der Beständige). St. Mary Salome, dressed in gold with dark red lining, is combing her son Saint James the Greater and while Saint John the Evangelist is hiding in her dress.

• Paolo Veronese (Caliari) James as Bishop (1500s). Burghley House Collection, Lincolnshire, UK. The Bridgeman Art Library. James with crozier and miter, holding a book.

• Saint James the Less, painting by El Greco (c. 1612), Museo del Greco, Toledo, Spain. 

James is shown holding a Bible, symbolizing his status as a scriptural writer, in one hand. James is depicted in the Mannerist style with elongated form and without any of the traditional iconographic symbols

•   Communion of the apostle Jacob→ Painting by Niccoló Bambini (Late 1600s / early 1700s).

The risen Jesus appears to James and breaks bread with him (based on an account recorded in →Jerome Vir. ill. 2, said to be drawn from the Gospel according to the Hebrews).

• James the Less→: statue by Angelo de Rossi (1705-11) in Saint John Lateran, Rome.

James holds a book and club.

• Saint James the Less→, painting by James Tissot (1886-94) in the Brooklyn Museum.

James, resembling Jesus, prayers on his knees with outstretched arms. It perhaps reflects Hegesippus' statement that James spent so much time in prayer that his knees were as hard as a camel's.

Eastern Orthodox traditions

• James the Just, Russian icon, 16^th century. Novgorod. James is depicted in episcopal robes and holds a book.

The inscription bearing the name of the saint has disappeared, but the iconography—facial features and beard shape —suggest that the icon is of James. Byzantine art places him among the founding fathers of the Church. As the creator of the first liturgy containing memorial services and the author of the message, which speaks of the healing power of prayer (Jas 5:14-16), he was also worshipped in ancient times as a healer. In Novgorod, James is prayed for the end of the epidemics. In sacred iconography, the representations of James of Jerusalem alone are very rare. We know the icons of Novgorod in which he is represented with other saints: Nicholas the Thaumaturgist, James the brother of God, Ignatius the bearer of God, end of the 15^th c.; James the brother of God, Cosmas and Damian, 2^nd quarter of the 16^th c. The icon comes from the best workshops in Moscow or Novgorod.

• Martyrdom of James the Just. Illustration from the Menologion of Basil II. (PG 117:6-612). Late 10^th, early 11^th c. AD. Vatican Library. Vat.gr. 1613. Image 131.→  

For discussion of visual depictions, see →Gowler 2014, 53-62; →Bedford 1911.

6a dishonored Public Shaming To dishonor a person is a serious offense in the Jewish and Greco-Roman societies of James' time, which relied heavily on honor and shame as mechanisms for enforcing cultural values.

• →P. Petr. II. 4 (6) 15–16: Referring to an incident when a crowd jostled and almost attacked him while he was distrubing bread, a 3^rd c. BC Egyptian official writes, "for it is a terrible thing to be shamed before a crowd" (en ochlôi atimazesthai; 2:10).

In James' scenario (Jas 2:2–3), the poor person is publically shamed when he is directed to a less honorable seating or standing position (cf. Lk 14:9).