This is a draft version of an article I am writing on James. It is not yet finished, but has enough information in it so far that it can be valuable as is until I can finish it. Last updated 07-24-2024

Introduction:

I have been thinking about the book of James for a long time. Specifically I attended a translation workshop on the book, helped Mixtec speakers translate it into Tezoatlán Mixtec and Ayutla Mixtec of Mexico and have checked the book as a consultant in several other Mexican languages. All the preparation, exegesis, study, translating, checking, etc. led to having a number of questions about the book and its purpose. The most basic issue, and a key to resolving many of the other questions and translating the book accurately, is trying to determine who James’ intended audience is.

Some of the answers to this question of the target audience, and the ways it has affected how I understand James’ purpose for writing this book are significantly different than many commentaries I studied and sermons I have heard. I will share some of my unique conclusions. If in the end you do not agree with my conclusions, that is of course fine, I just ask that you consider the book from this unique perspective.

Who is James writing to?

The key to understanding the book of James is determining who is his audience? Many seem to interpret James as if he were writing like Paul, focusing on Gentiles, specifically Christian gentiles. However the thesis of this paper is that his principle audience is Jews, as he states from the very beginning in 1:1: “James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes scattered among the nations.” Literally he says he is speaking to Jewish people.

Some have taken this phrase as his way of speaking of the “new” Israel, with Christians as the people God has now chosen as His special people. Adding to this interpretation, they say, is that at James’ time, there were not twelve tribes of Israel. Ten had been carried away to Assyria around 720 BC, and only two confirmed tribes are left. However, the fact that James adds, “scattered among the nations” could cover even some people from the “lost” tribes, some of which, though living far away, may still retain some of their Jewishness, and who are still heirs in a special way of the promise God made to Abraham.

Many of the issues James brings up in this book deal directly with the problems that the Jewish people were experiencing as they lived in a Greco-Roman culture. More and more Jewish people, especially those living far away from the religious center of Jerusalem, were moving farther away from the law and the basic moral tenets of being Jewish and were conforming to the world. A prime example of a group of people doing this, even though they were living in the heart of Judea, were the Sadducees, more of a political group than religious who were conforming more to the Greco-Roman culture than being faithful to the law and teaching of Moses.

Much of Paul’s teaching is to instruct new Christians in the faith and to keep them from being led away by false teachings and temptations, but the fact is that significant amounts of Jews were moving away from the law, especially the moral law, and living like the pagans. The difference between the teachings of James and Paul will be discussed in more detail later, but suffice to say Paul is mainly speaking to Gentiles while James’ message is directed to his fellow Jewish people, focusing his letter on the issues facing them as Jews

James can be viewed as a transition primer, or a bridge from being a “good” Jew to faith in Jesus. He deals with the most basic parts of faith in God, obeying God and living as God taught. James is taking on the misguided idea that just because they are Jews, they are God’s people and saved, without regard to how they live. Like Jesus said in John: “Don’t think that since you are descendants of Abraham, that you will escape.” He wants the listeners to live like God wants, like their ancestors had taught them, without overly focusing on Jesus. Yet!

He starts with setting the firm foundation: follow the two greatest commandments, just as Jesus taught them: “To love God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength, and to love our neighbor as ourselves.” It would be nice to see James, part 2, where one might expect that he would get to the main point, writing more directly so that they will realize that Jesus is the fulfillment of all that is in the Old Testament, and guide them to give their lives to Him. Then they would understand, as Hebrews explains, and as Paul shows with many OT prophesies, that Jesus is the only way to become right with God.

In fact, if would be more logical if James came before Hebrews in the New Testament. James prepares them to have a closer relationship with God, to obey Him and to love Him and others, then Hebrews goes “straight to the chase” about how Jesus is the whole point of the Old Testament. James essentially wants them to be like the Bereans, to search the Scriptures and find that Jesus is the truth, the fulfillment of the Old Testament.

What are the causes of the problems James addresses?

We can theorize of what influences are affecting the people James is speaking to. If they are living where there are synagogues and significant influences of legalism and the type of issues that Jesus faced with the Pharisee and Sadducees, then the people may be going “through the motions” of obeying the law and traditions outwardly, but not living for God in their daily lives, their hearts being far from him. The more likely scenario would be that these Jewish people are living among the Gentiles and are drifting away and being corrupted by the Gentiles just as had happened to their ancestors. Could they be falling into idol worship and many of the sins that the Gentiles revel in?

In contrast to Paul is speaking to Gentiles who grew up doing these types of sins, and who used to see nothing wrong in doing them. James is speaking to people who theoretically know how God wants them to live, whose law, assuming most know more or less what it says, prohibit all these sins. But quite possibly because of Gentile influence and their own sinful natures they are dabbling in these pagan sins. The Jews are mostly aware that they are breaking God’s laws when they sin like this, while the Gentiles think it is all normal to live such a life.

As a result, James purpose in writing the book is to lead them back to even the most basic teachings of how God wants them to live and to relate to Him. Every single verse in James is directly related to his purpose. With the overall goal of eventually bridging this to faith in Jesus.

“If the several passages referring to Christ were eliminated, the whole epistle would be as proper in the canon of the Old Testament as it is in the New Testament. In fact, the epistle could be described as an interpretation of the Old Testament law and the Sermon on the Mount in the light of the Gospel of Christ.” (Unger’s Bible Handbook, p. 783)

Brothers

Related to this question of who James is directing his letter to is the concept of “brothers”, a word he uses at least fifteen times in this short book. (1:2a: “Consider it pure joy, my brothers,”) As a translation consultant, I check what are known as back translations, where someone from a minority language translates the text of their translation of a Scripture book “back” into Spanish. For example, a translation in Mixtec may say, “Kúꞌu̱ nda̱ꞌo ini Ndios saꞌa̱ ña̱yuu ndéi ña̱yuú yóꞌo”, and the back translation would be: “God loves very much the people of this world.” I have seen a number of back translation of “brothers” which say, “brothers and sisters who believe in Jesus.” Now this would be okay if James was a letter written by Paul to Gentile Christians, but, is it okay for the book of James which I posit was written to Jewish people, many of whom where not Christians, or at the very least, immature Christians with extremely limited knowledge of Jesus?

It was very common for letters written from a Jewish writer to other Jews to use the term “brothers.” In the New Testament, when one of the apostles is speaking to a group of fellow Jews, it is common to use brothers. In Acts, Peter uses this kind of relational vocative a number of times, for example: Acts 2:14: “Fellow Jews and all of you who live in Jerusalem”, 2:22: “Men of Isrel”, 2:29: “Brothers, I can tell you confidently that the patriarch David died and was buried”, in 3:12 “People of Israel….” 3:17: “Now, brothers, I know that you acted in ignorance, as did your leaders.” 4:8: “Rulers and elders of the people!”

While it is true that brothers is also used in Acts to refer as “Christian” brothers, fellow believers, in the context of James, it seems more appropriate to assume that he is writing mainly to fellow Jews, his people, his brothers (and sisters). James, in Acts 15:13 addresses the Christian Jewish assembly in the following way: “Brothers, listen to me.”

Paul is an interesting case in Acts, for many times he knows that he has a mixed audience, speaking to both Jews and Gentiles. In 14:16, in the synagogue, he starts out saying: “Men of Israel and you Gentiles who worship God, listen to me!” Then in vs. 26: “Brothers, children of Abraham, and you God-fearing Gentiles,”. Then as he comes to his “climax” he combines them all by saying, “Therefore, my brothers,”. In Acts 22:1, as he is about to share his testimony in Jerusalem to mainly Jews, he starts out saying: “Brothers and fathers, listen now to my defense.” And in 23:1, defending himself before the Jewish council: “My brothers, I have fulfilled my duty to God in all good conscience to this day.” Finally in 28:17: Three days later he called together the leaders of the Jews. When they had assembled, Paul said to them: “My brothers,”.

(Proverbs is addressed from 10 on, My son.)

Paul compared to James

Paul speaks mainly to the Gentiles in the majority of his letters, with a focus on teaching the basic truths about Jesus and confronting false teachings, many which come from the Judiazers, trying to build up the church to maturity. Romans is usually the book many point to where Paul seems to have a mixed audience in mind, trying to explain what God did through Jesus to both Jews and Gentiles, with some sections an obvious message to the Jews, and others seeminly directed toward the Gentiles.

In considering how the audience and themes James is focusing on is very different than the issues Paul was addressing, it is valuable to discuss Paul’s message to the Gentiles, since James, as has been noted, is not focusing on the Gentiles, but the Jews. Paul has a two part program when speaking to the Gentiles. First and foremost is to present Jesus as the only way to God, God’s way to become right with Him, the perfect sacrifice for sin who died in our place. While we were yet sinners He died for us. He reconciles us to God, He is our righteousness, the fulfillment of all the OT prophecies. He is the foundation, the most basic part of the message. The only faith that leads us to God and eternal life is in Jesus. Trust in Him!

However, Paul is dealing mostly with Gentiles whose whole life have been the complete opposite of doing God’s will, a lifestyle of abandonment to sin and mostly ignorance or disdain for what God commands, coming out of such a pagan background. Paul knows they need a transformation of the heart and mind, not only to put their trust and faith in Jesus but also the power to live a life pleasing to God. He knows and teaches that this is only possible through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. Because of the radical change needed from their old life to their new life, they also are in desperate need of solid teaching on how to live. Throughout Paul’s letters he has at least twelve lists of three or more sins that in his experience with the Gentile people he has ministered to need the most correction. Every such list except for one includes at least three sexual sins (James does not deal directly with sex), and they all also include many relational sins, how to get along, especially when you have new immature congregations that include both Jews and Gentiles, a significant clash of cultures and backgrounds.

This all is complicated by the Judiaizers, who, also knowing how “pagan” the Gentiles are, thinking that trusting in Jesus is not enough, are trying to change their “religion”, from pagan to Jewish proselytes, which include a lot of outward rules and laws like circumcision, food regulations, celebrating the Jewish festivals, etc. They are basically treating Jesus as an add-on to making the Gentiles into Jews. Paul rejects this, of course, proclaiming that Jesus is the one and only way to God, and instead of trying to change their lives by changing their religion, he sets out intensely teaching them, “Now that we have faith in Jesus, how then shall we live via the power of the Holy Spirit?” Thus the 12+ lists of the predominate sins he sees them dealing with as he goes from place to place and new church to new church.

James is coming at this from a different perspective. The main people he is writing to, Jews, are the heirs of God’s promises. They have the background of God’s laws and for the most part know how He wants them to live. However, because of some of the factors mentioned earlier, they have drifted away from His perfect law and instructions, be it because of the flesh or Gentile, worldly influence. So he is asking the people to come back to God, to rebuild that foundation that their people have had since Abraham, and as they do this, they will see the need of Jesus. Not Jesus as an add-on to the law, but as the fulfillment of the law, then One the law has been pointing to the whole time. They of course will also need the Holy Spirit to make them new creatures like everyone else, but James writes as though they do have an excellent foundation from which to start from, and if they understand it correctly, it will help lead them to Jesus, both for salvation, and also for a transformed life.

Another interesting point is that James, though he mentions the law, does not mention any of the ceremonial laws, like circumcision, food laws, festivals, sacrifices, etc. Paul mentions all these things to the Gentiles, but with the point being that they do not have to perform all these because it is not necessary for them to convert o Judaism, but to put their faith in Jesus, and Paul’s instructions and lists help them to know how to live a life pleasing to God. One might think that James, if he is speaking to Jews, might mention them, but his focus in entirely on relationships, their relationship with God (love God), and with other (love your neighbor). It are these moral aspects of the law that James focuses on.

James focuses on their Jewishness like Jesus did

To help understand the form in which James presents his advice and teaching in this book, and to reinforce the idea that it is directed primarily to Jews, consider how Jesus taught his Jewish audience, what things he focused on and said, several which have been already mentioned. Consider especially how Jesus spoke to the Pharisees, people who were sometimes proud, hypocritical and did not always show love to others, issues James is dealing with in this book. Or how John the Baptist spoke to his Jewish audience, or even Peter in Acts, talking to the Jewish people. In James, while some or even many are Christians, he is not focusing on this, he is focusing on their Jewishness, just a Jesus did with the people He spoke to. James is rebuking the people for actions and attitudes which are very similar to the ones Jesus was concerned with.

The following passages represent a few instances where Jesus rebuked the Jewish people in a similar way in which James does:

Hypocrisy: Say you believe in God but do not follow His commands

Mat. 23:23: “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices—mint, dill and cummin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness.” (Examples in James and/or Proverbs)

Mark 7:6-8: He replied, “Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you hypocrites; as it is written: “ ‘These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. They worship me in vain; their teachings are but rules taught by men.’ You have let go of the commands of God and are holding on to the traditions of men.

James 1:22-27, 2:15-17, 3:9-10, 3:14-16, 4:1-6, 4:8, 4:11, 5:1-6

Showing preference

Mat. 23:6: “they love the place of honor at banquets and the most important seats in the synaogues”;

Luke 14:8-10: “When someone invites you to a wedding feast, do not take the place of honor, for a person more distinguished than you may have been invited. If so, the host who invited both of you will come and say to you, ‘Give this man your seat.’ Then, humiliated, you will have to take the least important place. But when you are invited, take the lowest place, so that when your host comes, he will say to you, ‘Friend, move up to a better place.’ Then you will be honored in the presence of all your fellow guests.”

Luke 14:12-14: “When you put on a luncheon or a banquet,” he said, “don’t invite your friends, brothers, relatives, and rich neighbors. For they will invite you back, and that will be your only reward.Instead, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind.Then at the resurrection of the righteous, God will reward you for inviting those who could not repay you.”

James 2:1-9, 5:1-6

The concept of faith in James, Paul and Jesus’ teachings

Here is a good place to discuss maybe the most controversial part of James.

2:14-24: What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to him, “Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. But someone will say, “You have faith; I have deeds.” Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do. You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder. You foolish man, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless? Was not our ancestor Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did. And the scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,” and he was called God’s friend. You see that a person is justified by what he does and not by faith alone.

In the same way, was not even Rahab the prostitute considered righteous for what she did when she gave lodging to the spies and sent them off in a different direction? As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.

The problem this passage has caused is based on the misguided idea that James talks about faith in the same way Paul talks about faith in his letters. The previous discussion about Jews and their issues (not Christians per se) being the focus of James’ letter and not Gentile Christians, who are Paul’s main target audience, is why it is so important to understand the great difference between the two authors in regards to audience and goals of their letters. If we suppose that James uses his voc-abulary the same as Paul does, then we do his book a great disservice.

The faith that James talks about here is not saving faith, it is a faith that in some ways is closer to belief, as he uses the example of the devil “believing in God” but not serving Him. Jesus Himself said similar things to the Jews when He taught, about how they were not really descendants of Abraham because they did not really believe in God nor follow His commands. In fact, he said the father of the Pharisees was the devil. He said things like them tithing but lacking righteousness, of being hypocrites for so many man-made laws that went against the spirit of what Moses taught. They showed no compassion for the poor, the downtrodden, the “sinners.” They travel across the world to make a convert and this person end of much farther from God than they were to start with. He pointed out the big difference between outwardly keeping the law and having a heart that was far from God. This is exactly what James is doing here. Legalistically keeping the law while having a heart far from God, a heart that does not follow the two commands that Jesus focused on, loving God and loving others, is worthless.

The words James are echoing here are not those of Paul and saving faith in Jesus, but of Jesus Himself, of how true love, faith, trust in God will lead us to serve Him and love others. It will affect our actions. We will not just give the law of Moses lip-service, we will obey it as God directs. The faith here is directed to God, not trying to get them to have faith in Jesus (yet!). Have faith in God! Trust Him! Love Him! Act like you are His people! Move His law from your head and lips to your heart and actions! To obey is better than sacrifice!

All this, as already mentioned, is foundational, it is transitional, to move them closer to God, with the assumption being that in his next letter, put all the focus on Jesus! Martin Luther had a problem with this letter apparently because he was reading it as if Paul was writing. He may have thought differently if he had read it as if Jesus were the One talking, Jesus revealing to the people the heart of God and, in many ways, like John the Baptist, teaching to prepare them for the ultimate truth and power of salvation, which was what He was soon accomplish via the cross and the resurrection. When we read James, let us not read it like we are reading Paul writing to Gentile Christians but read it like Jesus talking to fellow Jews, preparing them to have faith in Him.

Religion (thrēskeia) religion/piety

The terms religion and religious appear only five times in the entire Bible. Of these

instances, three are found in James’ epistle: James 1:26 (2X), James 1:27 The usage of religion in 1:27 is the only reference in Scripture where it is used in a positive way.

Paul does not talk this way. He uses terms like in Christ, the Way (piety), etc. (Acts 26:5 -our Jewish religion and 1 Tim 5:4 piety?)

Prayer in the Jewish synagogue

Assuming this letter is addressed primarily to Jews and their issues and not directed specifically to Christians, each time James mentions meeting together and about what happens in meetings, he is most likely referring to the Jewish synagogue and not the house churches Paul spoke in and to so much, though of course Paul also spent a lot of time sharing in synagogues. In fact, since many included Jews who formerly had spent their time since childhood there in worship, reading Scripture, prayer, etc., these same patterns were adopted in their Christian form in the house churches. We of course know that in Jesus’ time there was a problem in the synagogues of certain proud people taking the best seats and humiliating those they considered less religious. We see this same favoritism and pride happening in the meetings in the book of James, and he firmly rebukes them for this.

Before adopting the word “synagogue” (place of gathering), these “houses” were known as the “place of prayer.” This began around 250 B.C. but in the first century, “place of gathering” began to replace “place of prayer”, but both were in use during the apostolic age.

This brings us to a passage in James where applying this knowledge is basic to understanding the context. James 5:13-16: Is any one of you in trouble? He should pray. Is anyone happy? Let him sing songs of praise. Is any one of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up. If he has sinned, he will be forgiven. Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.

While everything mentioned is this passage happened in Christian house churches, it also all happened in synagogues. Prayer, singing songs, calling the elders, confessing sin, praying for others. How does James continue after talking about praying sick for people during these meetings? He gives us the example of a Jewish prophet. James 5:17-18: Elijah was a man just like us. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years. Again he prayed, and the heavens gave rain, and the earth produced its crops. Many other passages in the Old Testament tell of other similar prayers of Elijah, Elisha, Isaiah prayed for king Hezekiah and he was healed, and so many more. So while this passage in James can apply to house churches, it is the thesis of this paper that this scene is taken from a synagogue.

James is very different than other New Testament books

To show even more some of the differences between James, Paul and other (Gentile-directed) letters in the New Testament, below is a chart of some key words used in a number of NT books of similar size, specifically the key terms Jesus, Christ and Gospel. The number count is based on the occurrences in the more literal King James version:

Book (KJV)	Jesus	Christ	Gospel
Galatians	19	44	14
Ephesians	21	53	4
Philippians	22	42	9
Colossians	8	29	2
1 Thes	18	16	6
1 Tim	15	17	1
1 Peter	11	27	4
James	2	2	0

As noted in the chart, the Jesus and Christ are only found twice in the book of James, and both times together. 1:1: “James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes scattered among the nations.” And 2:1: “My brothers, as believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ, don’t show favoritism.”

Note that many other words Paul regularly uses are not in this book. At least three of the non-Pauline books also focus their message in on the Jews. Hebrews speaks directly to Jews, but more directly than James, explaining, like Paul, that Jesus is the fulfillment of all the Jewish laws and prophecies. The primary audience of Hebrews is obviously Jewish Christians who are suffering. 1 and 2 Peter are similar, speaking encouragement to Jewish Christians who are suffering.

References from the Old Testament

Like Paul, James also uses references from the Old Testament in his teaching and correction. James, in Acts 15 and writing the letters to the Gentiles, states that: “For these laws of Moses have been preached in Jewish synagogues in every city on every Sabbath for many generations.” The idea being that at least some of the Gentiles who are converts and God-fearers (i.e. Cornelius) know a fair amount of the Old Testament and so it can be used to teach certain truths about God to them as well as to Jews. I have mentioned all the similarities to Proverbs. James also lists a number of Old Testament heroes:

Abraham: 2:21-23: “Was not our ancestor Abraham considred righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? 22You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did. 23And the scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,” and he was called God’s friend.”

Job: 5:11: “You have heard of Job’s perseverance and have seen what the Lord finally brought about. The Lord is full of compassion and mercy.”

Elijah: 5:17-18: “Elijah was a man just like us. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years. Again he prayed, and the heavens gave rain, and the earth produced its crops.”

Rahab: 2:25: “Rahab the prostitute is another example. She was shown to be right with God by her actions when she hid those messengers and sent them safely away by a different road.”

Comparing James, Proverbs and Jesus

Another indication that James is writing with Jewish people in mind is his constant use of terms and ideas from the book of Proverbs. In fact, some have called James the Proverbs of the New Testament. A significant number of the issues the writer of Proverbs addresses are the same issues James addresses. “James is like the book of Proverbs because of its pithy, practical, and pointed counsel regarding the importance of harmonizing one’s walk with one’s talk! Though James is a letter, with its many wise sayings its tone is similar to that of Proverbs.” (f)

James also overlaps consistently with the words of Jesus, from using many of the same ideas to using the exact same wording! This is not surprising, since as we have seen, both Jesus and James are dealing with similar issues facing Jewish people and their relationship with God and with one another.

Themes in James, Proverbs, Jesus’ teaching

1. Relational themes: Tongue, word/speech/say/speak, quarrels/fights/grumble/slander, anger, favoritism/discrimination/oppress/contempt vs. poor, humble/humility, pride/proud, boast/exalt, judge(one another), deceive, envy, curse, peacemakers/seek peace, love, mercy, neighbor, workers

2. Difficult or negative themes: Testing/temptation/tempt/entice/cause to sin, death, murder/kill/shed blood, sin/sinner, evil, devil/satan, world/ungodly/wicked, pleasure, desire, adultry doubt, birth

3. Virtues: Wisdom, know/you know, patience/perseverance/stand firm, faith/trust, prayer, pure/purity/purify, righteous/upright/do right, confess/repent, fear of the Lord/live in fear of God, (Good) fruit, firstfruits

4. God/Lord/Father, bless/blessing/blessed, law, Sum of law: love others, God’s/Jesus’ Word, truth, judge/judgment, save

5. Good counsel: riches, the Poor, tomorrow, listen, life, swearing/vows, our spirit

6. Vocatives

7. Realm of nature: Wind, withering grass/fading flowers, fire, water, figs/olives, sow/ harvest, rain, heaven/sky/God’s realm, sun

1. Relational themes: Tongue, word/speech/say/speak, quarrels/fights/grumble/slander, anger, favoritism/discrimination, humble/humility, pride/proud, boast/exalt, judge(one another), envy, curse, peacemakers, love, mercy, neighbors, workers

Tongue (glōssa)

James: 1:26: If anyone considers himself religious and yet does not keep a tight rein on his tongue, he deceives himself and his religion is worthless.

3:1-12

Proverbs: 6:16: There are six things the Lord hates, seven that are detestable to him: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood,

10:19-20: When words are many, sin is not absent, but he who holds his tongue is wise.

The tongue of the righteous is choice silver, but the heart of the wicked is of little value.

13:3 says, “Those who control their tongue will have a long life; opening your mouth can ruin everything.”

15:2: “The tongue of the wise makes knowledge appealing, but the mouth of a fool belches out foolishness.”

15:4: “Gentle words are a tree of life; a deceitful tongue crushes the spirit.”

17:20: A man of perverse heart does not prosper; he whose tongue is deceitful falls into trouble.

18:21: “The tongue can bring death or life; those who love to talk will reap the consequences.”

18:28: Even a fool is thought wise if he keeps silent, and discerning if he holds his tongue.

21:6: A fortune made by a lying tongue is a fleeting vapor and a deadly snare

21:23: “Watch your tongue and keep your mouth shut, and you will stay out of trouble.”

25:15: Through patience a ruler can be persuaded, and a gentle tongue can break a bone.

25:23: “As surely as a north wind brings rain, so a gossiping tongue causes anger!”

26:28: A lying tongue hates those it hurts, and a flattering mouth works ruin.

28:23: He who rebukes a man will in the end gain more favor than he who has a flattering tongue.

31:26: She speaks with wisdom, and faithful instruction is on her tongue.

Jesus: No use of the literal word tongue, but lots of speech acts like in next section:

Word/speech/say/speak (James used “word” as the message, which is discussed in point 4)

James: 1:13: When tempted, no one should say, “God is tempting me.” For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone;

2:3: If you show special attention to the man wearing fine clothes and say, “Here’s a good seat for you,” but say to the poor man, “You stand there” or “Sit on the floor by my feet,”

2:16: If one of you says to him, “Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it?

2:18: But someone will say, “You have faith; I have deeds.”

Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do.

3:2: We all stumble in many ways. If anyone is never at fault in what he says, he is a perfect man, able to keep his whole body in check.

4:13: Now listen, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.”

4:15: Instead, you ought to say, “If it is the Lordʼs will, we will live and do this or that.”

(Scripture says: 2:23, 4:5-6)

Proverbs: 8:8: All the words of my mouth are just; none of them is crooked or perverse.

8:7: My mouth speaks what is true, for my lips detest wickedness.

22:1 He who loves a pure heart and whose speech is gracious will have the king for his friend.

word=30+X

Jesus: Mat. 6:7: And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words.

Mat. 5:22: Again, anyone who says to his brother, ‘Raca’ is answerable to the Sanhedrin. But anyone who says, ‘You fool!’ will be in danger of the fire of hell.

Mat. 6:31: So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’

Mat. 7:4: How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye?

Mat. 7:21-23: Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’ 23Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’

Mat. 12:33-37 (36-37: But I tell you that men will have to give account on the day of judgment for every careless word they have spoken. 37For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned.”)

Mat. 15:8: “ ‘These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.

Mat. 17:20-22: He replied, “Because you have so little faith. I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.”

Lk 6:45 The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For out of the overflow of his heart his mouth speaks.

Lk. 12:10 And everyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but anyone who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven.

Quarrels/fights/grumble/slander

James: 2:7: Are they not the ones (rich) who are slandering the noble name of him to whom you belong?

4:1-2: “What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you? 2You want something but don’t get it. You kill and covet, but you cannot have what you want. You quarrel and fight. You do not have, because you do not ask God.”

4:11 “Brothers, do not slander one another. Anyone who speaks against his brother or judges him speaks against the law and judges it.”

5:9: Don’t grumble against each other, brothers, or you will be judged.

Proverbs: 13:10: Pride only breeds quarrels, but wisdom is found in those who take advice.

15:18: A hot-tempered man stirs up dissension, but a patient man calms a quarrel.

17:14: Starting a quarrel is like breaching a dam; so drop the matter before a dispute breaks out.

17:19: He who loves a quarrel loves sin; he who builds a high gate invites destruction.

20:3: t is to a man’s honor to avoid strife, but every fool is quick to quarrel.

22:10: Drive out the mocker, and out goes strife; quarrels and insults are ended.

26:20: Drive out the mocker, and out goes strife; quarrels and insults are ended.

S: 10:18: He who conceals his hatred has lying lips, and whoever spreads slander is a fool.

30:10: “Do not slander a servant to his master, or he will curse you, and you will pay for it.

Jesus: Mat. 15:19: For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander.

Mk. 7:22: greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly.

Anger

James: 1:19-20: My dear brothers, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, for man’s anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires.

Proverbs: (15X) 5:17, 14:4, 15:1, 20:2, 20:16, 21:14, 22:3, 22:24, 27:4, 27:12, 27:13, 29:8, 29:11, 30:33

Jesus: Mat. 5:22: But I tell you that anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment.

Mk. 7:22: greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly.

Favoritism/discrimination/oppress/contempt vs. the poor

James:

2:1-4: My brothers, as believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ, don’t show favoritism. Suppose a man comes into your meeting wearing a gold ring and fine clothes, and a poor man in shabby clothes also comes in. If you show special attention to the man wearing fine clothes and say, “Here’s a good seat for you,” but say to the poor man, “You stand there” or “Sit on the floor by my feet,” have you not discriminated among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts?

2:9: : ““Love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing right. But if you show favoritism, you sin and are convicted by the law as lawbreakers.”

5:4-6: Look! The wages you failed to pay the workmen who mowed your fields are crying out against you. The cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord Almighty. 5You have lived on earth in luxury and self-indulgence. You have fattened yourselves in the day of slaughter. 6You have condemned and murdered innocent men, who were not opposing you.

Proverbs: 14:31: He who oppresses the poor shows contempt for their Maker, but whoever is kind to the needy honors God.

17:5: He who mocks the poor shows contempt for their Maker; whoever gloats over disaster will not go unpunished.

22:16: He who oppresses the poor to increase his wealth and he who gives gifts to the rich—both come to poverty.

28:3: A ruler who oppresses the poor is like a driving rain that leaves no crops.

29:13: The poor man and the oppressor have this in common: The Lord gives sight to the eyes of both.

Jesus: Lk. 14:8-10: When someone invites you to a wedding feast, do not take the place of honor, for a person more distinguished than you may have been invited. If so, the host who invited both of you will come and say to you, ‘Give this man your seat.’ Then, humiliated, you will have to take the least important place. But when you are invited, take the lowest place, so that when your host comes, he will say to you, ‘Friend, move up to a better place.’ Then you will be honored in the presence of all your fellow guests.

Lk.14:12-14: (13:But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, 14and you will be blessed. )

Humble/humility (usually contrasted with pride)

James 4:6: But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says: “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”

4:10: Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.

Proverbs 3:34: He mocks proud mockers but gives grace to the humble.

6:3b: Go and humble yourself; press your plea with your neighbor!

11:12: When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with humility comes wisdom.

15:33: The fear of the Lord teaches a man wisdom, and humility comes before honor.

18:12: Before his downfall a man’s heart is proud, but humility comes before honor.

22:4: Humility and the fear of the Lord bring wealth and honor and life.

Jesus: Mat. 11:29: Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.

Mat. 18:4: Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.

Mat. 23:12: For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.

Pride/proud

James: 4:6: But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says: “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.

1:9-10: The brother in humble circumstances ought to take pride in his high position. 10But the one who is rich should take pride in his low position, because he will pass away like a wild flower.

Proverbs: 8:13: To fear the Lord is to hate evil; I hate pride and arrogance, evil behavior and perverse speech.

3:34: He mocks proud mockers but gives grace to the humble

11:2: When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with humility comes wisdom.

18:12: Before his downfall a manʼs heart is proud, but humility comes before honor.

21:24: The proud and arrogant man—“Mocker” is his name; he behaves with overweening pride.

29:23: A man’s pride brings him low, but a man of lowly spirit gains honor.

Jesus: see exalt below.

Boast/exalt

James 3:5: Likewise the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark.

3:14: But if you harbor bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast about it or deny the truth.

4:16: As it is, you boast and brag. All such boasting is evil.

Proverbs 25:14:  Like clouds and wind without rain is a man who boasts of gifts he does not give.

27:1: Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring forth.

25:26: Do not exalt yourself in the kingʼs presence, and do not claim a place among great men;

30:22: “If you have played the fool and exalted yourself, or if you have planned evil, clap your hand over your mouth!

Jesus: Mat. 23:12: For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted. (X3)

Judge (one another)

James: 2:4: have you not discriminated among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts?

4:11-12: Brothers, do not slander one another. Anyone who speaks against his brother or judges him speaks against the law and judges it. When you judge the law, you are not keeping it, but sitting in judgment on it. There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the one who is able to save and destroy. But you—who are you to judge your neighbor?

Proverbs 31:9: Speak up and judge fairly; defend the rights of the poor and needy.”

Jesus: Mat. 7:1-5: Do not judge, or you too will be judged. 2For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.

Lk. 6:37: Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven.

Jn. 8:15: You judge by human standards; I pass judgment on no one.

Deceive

James: 1:22: Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.

1:16, 1:26

Proverbs: 24:28: Do not testify against your neighbor without cause,

or use your lips to deceive.

14:15, 26:19

Jesus: Mat. 24:4-5: Jesus answered: “Watch out that no one deceives you. 5For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will deceive many.

24:11: and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people.

24:24: For false Christs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and miracles to deceive even the elect—if that were possible.

Envy

James: 3:14: But if you harbor bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast about it or deny the truth.

3:16: For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice.

Proverbs: 3:31: Do not envy a violent man or choose any of his ways,

14:30: A heart at peace gives life to the body, but envy rots the bones.

23:17a: Do not let your heart envy sinners,

24:1: Do not envy wicked men, do not desire their company;

Jesus: Mk. 7:22: greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly.

Curse

James: 3:9: With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in Godʼs likeness.

Proverbs: 20:20: If a man curses his father or mother, his lamp will be snuffed out in pitch darkness.

3:33: The Lordʼs curse is on the house of the wicked, but he blesses the home of the righteous.

11:26: People curse the man who hoards grain, but blessing crowns him who is willing to sell.

28:27: He who gives to the poor will lack nothing, but he who closes his eyes to them receives many curses.

30:11:“There are those who curse their fathers and do not bless their mothers

Jesus: Lk. 6:8: bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.

(Mat. 5:44): But I tell you: Love your enemies (bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you) and pray for those who persecute you,

Mat. 15:4: For God said, ‘Honor your father and mother’ and ‘Anyone who curses his father or mother must be put to death.

Mat. 25:41: Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.

Peacemakers/seek peace

James 3:18: But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. Peacemakers who sow in peace raise a harvest of righteousness. (3:17 peace-loving)

Proverbs 12:20: There is deceit in the hearts of those who plot evil, but joy for those who promote peace.

Jesus: Mat. 5:8: Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God.

Love

James 1:12: Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him.

2:5: Listen, my dear brothers: Has not God chosen those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom he promised those who love him?

2:8: If you really keep the royal law found in Scripture, “Love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing right.

Proverbs: 3:12: because the Lord disciplines those he loves, as a father the son he delights in.

8:17: I love those who love me, and those who seek me find me.

8:21: bestowing wealth on those who love me and making their treasuries full.

10:12: Hatred stirs up dissension, but love covers over all wrongs.

14:22: But those who plan what is good find love and faithfulness.

15:9: The Lord detests the way of the wicked but he loves those who pursue righteousness.

16:6: Through love and faithfulness sin is atoned for; through the fear of the Lord a man avoids evil.

21:21: He who pursues righteousness and love finds life, prosperity and honor.

Jesus (love enemies, Father loves the Son, Son loves Father plus…)

Mat. 12:18: Here is my servant whom I have chosen, the one I love, in whom I delight;

Mat. 12:37-40: Jesus replied: “ ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

Mat. 24:12: Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold,

Lk. 11:42: Woe to you Pharisees, because you give God a tenth of your mint, rue and all other kinds of garden herbs, but you neglect justice and the love of God. You should have practiced the latter without leaving the former undone.

Jn. 13:34: A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”

Jn. 14:15: If you love me, you will obey what I command.

14:21: Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him.”

Jn. 14:23-24: Jesus replied, “If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.  He who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me.

Jn. 15:9-10: As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father’s commands and remain in his love.

Jn. 15:12-13: My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.

Jn. 15:17: This is my command: Love each other.

Jn. 16:27: No, the Father himself loves you because you have loved me and have believed that I came from God.

Mercy

James 2:13: because judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful. Mercy triumphs over judgment!

3:17: But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere.

5:11: As you know, we consider blessed those who have persevered. You have heard of Job’s perseverance and have seen what the Lord finally brought about. The Lord is full of compassion and mercy.

Proverbs 18:23:  A poor man pleads for mercy, but a rich man answers harshly.

21:10: The wicked man craves evil; his neighbor gets no mercy from him.

28:13: He who conceals his sins does not prosper, but whoever confesses and renounces them finds mercy.

Jesus: Mat. 5:7: Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.

Mat. 9:13: But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”

Mat. 12:7: If you had known what these words mean, ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the innocent.

Mat. 23:23: “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices—mint, dill and cummin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former.

Mk. 5:19: Jesus did not let him, but said, “Go home to your family and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you.”

Neighbor

James: 2:8: If you really keep the royal law found in Scripture, “Love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing right.

4:12b: But you—who are you to judge your neighbor?

Proverbs: 3:29: Do not plot harm against your neighbor, who lives trustfully near you.

Jesus: 19:19: honor your father and mother,’ and ‘love your neighbor as yourself.’

Workers (deserve their wages)

James: 5:4: Look! The wages you failed to pay the workmen who mowed your fields are crying out against you. The cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord Almighty.

Proverbs: 12:14: From the fruit of his lips a man is filled with good things as surely as the work of his hands rewards him.

(31:9: Speak up and judge fairly; defend the rights of the poor and needy.”)

Jesus: Lk. 10:7: Stay in that house, eating and drinking whatever they give you, for the worker deserves his wages. Do not move around from house to house.

2. Testing/temptation/tempt/entice/cause to sin, death, murder/kill,shed blood, sin/sinner, evil, devil/satan, world, pleasure, desire , adultery, doubt, birth

Testing/temptation/tempt/entice/cause to sin

James: 1:2: Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance.

1:12: Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him.

1:13-14: When tempted, no one should say, “God is tempting me.” For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; 14but each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed.

Proverbs: 17:3:The crucible for silver and the furnace for gold, but the Lord tests the heart.

27:21: The crucible for silver and the furnace for gold, but man is tested by the praise he receives.

1:10: My son, if sinners entice you, do not give in to them.

16:29: A violent man entices his neighbor and leads him down a path that is not good.

Jesus: Mat. 6:13:And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.’

Mat. 18:6: But if anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a large millstone hung around his neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea.

Mat. 26:41: “Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the body is weak.”

Lk. 22:46: “Why are you sleeping?” he asked them. “Get up and pray so that you will not fall into temptation.”

Death

James 1:15: Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.

5:20: remember this: Whoever turns a sinner from the error of his way will save him from death and cover over a multitude of sins.

Proverbs: Wayward woman leads to death

10:2:  Ill-gotten treasures are of no value, but righteousness delivers from death.

11:4: Wealth is worthless in the day of wrath, but righteousness delivers from death.

11:19:  The truly righteous man attains life, but he who pursues evil goes to his death.

13:14: The teaching of the wise is a fountain of life, turning a man from the snares of death.

14:12: There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death.

14:27: The fear of the Lord is a fountain of life, turning a man from the snares of death.

18:21: The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit.

19:18: Discipline your son, for in that there is hope; do not be a willing party to his death.

21:25: The sluggard’s craving will be the death of him, because his hands refuse to work.

23:14: Punish him with the rod and save his soul from death.

24:11: Rescue those being led away to death; hold back those staggering toward slaughter.

Jesus in John:

5:24: “I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life.

8:51: I tell you the truth, if anyone keeps my word, he will never see death.”

Murder/kill/shed blood

James: 2:11: For he who said, “Do not commit adultery,” also said, “Do not murder.” If you do not commit adultery but do commit murder, you have become a lawbreaker.

4:2b: You kill and covet, but you cannot have what you want.

5:6: You have condemned and murdered innocent men, who were not opposing you.

Proverbs: 1:16: for their feet rush into sin, they are swift to shed blood.

28:17: A man tormented by the guilt of murder will be a fugitive till death;

let no one support him.

29:10: Bloodthirsty men hate a man of integrity and seek to kill the upright.

Jesus: Mk. 7:21: For from within, out of men’s hearts, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery,

Mk. 10:19a: You know the commandments: ‘Do not murder, do not commit adultery,

Sin/sinner

James 1:15: Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.

2:9: But if you show favoritism, you sin and are convicted by the law as lawbreakers.

4:8: Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.

4:17: Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn’t do it, sins.

5:15-16: And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up. If he has sinned, he will be forgiven. Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.

5:20: remember this: Whoever turns a sinner from the error of his way will save him from death and cover over a multitude of sins.

Proverbs: 23X

1:10: My son, if sinners entice you, do not give in to them.

1:16: for their feet rush into sin, they are swift to shed blood.

5:22: The evil deeds of a wicked man ensnare him; the cords of his sin hold him fast.

10:19: When words are many, sin is not absent, but he who holds his tongue is wise.

11:31: If the righteous receive their due on earth, how much more the ungodly and the sinner!

12:13:An evil man is trapped by his sinful talk, but a righteous man escapes trouble.

13:21-22: Misfortune pursues the sinner, but prosperity is the reward of the righteous. A good man leaves an inheritance for his children’s children, but a sinner[s wealth is stored up for the righteous.

14:9: Fools mock at making amends for sin, but goodwill is found among the upright.

14:21: He who despises his neighbor sins, but blessed is he who is kind to the needy.

14:34: Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a disgrace to any people.

16:6: Through love and faithfulness sin is atoned for; through the fear of the Lord  a man avoids evil.

17:19: He who loves a quarrel loves sin; he who builds a high gate invites destruction.

20:9: Who can say, “I have kept my heart pure; I am clean and without sin”?

21:4: Haughty eyes and a proud heart, the lamp of the wicked, are sin!

23:17: Do not let your heart envy sinners, but always be zealous for the fear of the Lord.

24:9: The schemes of folly are sin, and men detest a mocker.

28:13: He who conceals his sins does not prosper, but whoever confesses and renounces them finds mercy.

29:6: An evil man is snared by his own sin, but a righteous one can sing and be glad.

29:16: When the wicked thrive, so does sin, but the righteous will see their downfall.

29:22: An angry man stirs up dissension, and a hot-tempered one commits many sins.

Jesus: Mat. 6:15: But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.

Mat. 13:41: The Son of Man will send out his angels, and they will weed out of his kingdom everything that causes sin and all who do evil.

Mat. 18:15: “If your brother sins against you, go and show him his fault, just between the two of you. If he listens to you, you have won your brother over.

Mat. 23:32: Fill up, then, the measure of the sin of your forefathers!

Mat. 26:28: This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.

Lk. 7:47: Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven—for she loved much. But he who has been forgiven little loves little.”

Lk. 11:4: Forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who sins against us.

Lk. 17:1-3: “Things that cause people to sin are bound to come, but woe to that person through whom they come. 2It would be better for him to be thrown into the sea with a millstone tied around his neck than for him to cause one of these little ones to sin. 3So watch yourselves.

Lk. 17:3-4: If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him. 4If he sins against you seven times in a day, and seven times comes back to you and says, ‘I repent,’ forgive him.”

Lk. 24:47: and repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.

Jn. 8:24: I told you that you would die in your sins; if you do not believe that I am the one I claim to be,a you will indeed die in your sins.”

Jn. 16:8-9: When he comes, he will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment: 9in regard to sin, because men do not believe in me;

Jn. 20:23: If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”

Mat. 9:13: ..for I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”

Lk. 6:32-24: If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even ‘sinners’ love those who love them. 33And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even ‘sinners’ do that. 34And if you lend to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? Even ‘sinners’ lend to ‘sinners,’ expecting to be repaid in full.

Lk. 15:7: I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.

Evil

James 1:13-14: For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; but each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed.

1:21: Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you.

2:4: have you not discriminated among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts?

3:6:  The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole person, sets the whole course of his life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell.

3:8: but no man can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.

3:16: For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice.

4:16: As it is, you boast and brag. All such boasting is evil.

Proverbs: 11:6: The righteousness of the upright delivers them, but the unfaithful are trapped by evil desires.

45X

Jesus: Mat. 15:19: For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander.

25X

Devil/satan

James: 3:15: Such “wisdom” does not come down from heaven but is earthly, unspiritual, of the devil.

4:7: Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

Proverbs: No direct reference

Jesus: Mat. 13:39: and the enemy who sows them is the devil. The harvest is the end of the age, and the harvesters are angels.

Mat. 25:41: “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.

Jn. 6:70: Then Jesus replied, “Have I not chosen you, the Twelve? Yet one of you is a devil!”

Jn. 8:44: You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your fatherʼs desire. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.

Satan: Mat. 4:10: Jesus said to him, “Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only

Mat. 12:26-27: If Satan drives out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then can his kingdom stand? And if I drive out demons by Beelzebub, by whom do your people drive them out? So then, they will be your judges.

Mat. 16:23: Jesus turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men.”

Mk. 3:23: So Jesus called them and spoke to them in parables: “How can Satan drive out Satan?

Mk. 4:15: Some people are like seed along the path, where the word is sown. As soon as they hear it, Satan comes and takes away the word that was sown in them.

Lk. 10:18: He replied, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.

Lk. 13:16: Then should not this woman, a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has kept bound for eighteen long years, be set free on the Sabbath day from what bound her?

Lk. 22:31: “Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift youa as wheat.

World (ungodly/wicked)

James: 4:4: You adulterous people, don’t you know that friendship with the world is hatred toward God? Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God.

Proverbs: 11:31: If the righteous receive their due on earth, how much more the ungodly and the sinner!

5:22: The evil deeds of a wicked man ensnare him; the cords of his sin hold him fast.

Jesus: Jn. 14:17: the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you.

Jn. 15:19: If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you.

17:15: My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one.

100X

Pleasure

James: 4:3: When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.

Proverbs: 10:23a: A fool finds pleasure in evil conduct,

Jesus: Lk. 8:14: The seed that fell among thorns stands for those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by life’s worries, riches and pleasures, and they do not mature.

Desire

James: 1:14: But each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed.

Proverbs: 11:6: The righteousness of the upright delivers them, but the unfaithful are trapped by evil desires.

Jesus: Mk. 4:19: but the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things come in and choke the word, making it unfruitful.

Mat. 5:28: But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart

Adultery

James: 2:11: For he who said, “Do not commit adultery, also said, “Do not murder.” If you do not commit adultery but do commit murder, you have become a lawbreaker.

Proverbs: 6:32: But a man who commits adultery lacks judgment; whoever does so destroys himself.

6:24-29: keeping you from the immoral woman, from the smooth tongue of the wayward wife.

25Do not lust in your heart after her beauty or let her captivate you with her eyes,

26for the prostitute reduces you to a loaf of bread, and the adulteress preys upon your very life.

27Can a man scoop fire into his lap without his clothes being burned? 28Can a man walk on hot coals without his feet being scorched? 29So is he who sleeps with another man’s wife;

no one who touches her will go unpunished.

7:10-27 (10:Then out came a woman to meet him, dressed like a prostitute and with crafty intent. 19-20: My husband is not at home; he has gone on a long journey. 20He took his purse filled with money and will not be home till full moon.” )

Wayward: 20:16/27:13: Take the garment of one who puts up security for a stranger; hold it in pledge if he does it for a wayward woman.

Indescreet: 11:22: Like a gold ring in a pig’s snout is a beautiful woman who shows no discretion.

Jesus: Mt. 5:27-28: “You have heard that it was said, ‘Do not commit adultery.’28But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.

Mat. 5:32: But I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for marital unfaithfulness, causes her to become an adulteress, and anyone who marries the divorced woman commits adultery.

15:19: For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander.

19:9: I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for marital unfaithfulness, and marries another woman commits adultery.”

19:18 “Which ones?” the man inquired. Jesus replied, “ ‘Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not give false testimony,

Doubt

James: 1:6: But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.

Proverbs: ?

Jesus: Mat. 21:21: Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, if you have faith and do not doubt, not only can you do what was done to the fig tree, but also you can say to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and it will be done.

Lk. 24:38: He said to them, “Why are you troubled, and why do doubts rise in your minds?

Jn. 20:27: Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.”

Birth (both good and bad)/produce

James: 1:15: Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.

1:18: He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of all he created.

Proverbs: 30:33: For as churning the milk produces butter, and as twisting the nose produces blood, so stirring up anger produces strife.”

Many verses of actions leading to good or bad consequences.

Jesus: Jn. 3:16: Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit.

3. Virtues: Wisdom, know, faith, perseverance, prayer, pure/purity/purify, righteous/upright/do right, confess/repent, fear of the Lord/live w/o fear of God/(good)fruit/firstfruits

Wisdom:

James: 3:13-18: Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show it by his good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom. But if you harbor bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast about it or deny the truth. Such “wisdom” does not come down from heaven but is earthly, unspiritual, of the devil. For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice. But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. Peacemakers who sow in peace raise a harvest of righteousness.

Proverbs: 4:5-7: Get wisdom, get understanding; do not forget my words or swerve from them.

Do not forsake wisdom, and she will protect you; love her, and she will watch over you. Wisdom is supreme; therefore get wisdom. Though it cost all you have,  get understanding.

59X

Jesus: Mat. 7:24:

Mat. 11:19b:  ’ But wisdom is proved right by her actions.”

Mat. 12:42b: for she came from the ends of the earth to listen to Solomon’s wisdom, and now one greater than Solomon is here.

Mat. 24:45: “Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom the master has put in charge of the servants in his household to give them their food at the proper time?

Mat. 25:1-8: “At that time the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. 2Five of them were foolish and five were wise. 3The foolish ones took their lamps but did not take any oil with them. 4The wise, however, took oil in jars along with their lamps. 5The bridegroom was a long time in coming, and they all became drowsy and fell asleep. 6“At midnight the cry rang out: ‘Hereʼs the bridegroom! Come out to meet him!’ 7“Then all the virgins woke up and trimmed their lamps. 8The foolish ones said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil; our lamps are going out.’

Lk. 7:35: But wisdom is proved right by all her children.”

Lk. 11:31: The Queen of the South will rise at the judgment with the men of this generation and condemn them; for she came from the ends of the earth to listen to Solomonʼs wisdom, and now one greater than Solomon is here.

Lk. 11:49: Because of this, God in his wisdom said, ‘I will send them prophets and apostles, some of whom they will kill and others they will persecute.’

Lk. 21:15: For I will give you words and wisdom that none of your adversaries will be able to resist or contradict.

Know/You know

James: 1:3: because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance.

3:1: Not many of you should presume to be teachers, my brothers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly.

4:4: You adulterous people, don’t you know that friendship with the world is hatred toward God? Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God.

4:14: Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.

4:17: Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn’t do it, sins.

5:11: As you know, we consider blessed those who have persevered. You have heard of Job’s perseverance and have seen what the Lord finally brought about. The Lord is full of compassion and mercy.

Proverbs: (lots of verses 50? with knowledge)

4:19: But the way of the wicked is like deep darkness; they do not know what makes them stumble.

10:32: The lips of the righteous know what is fitting, but the mouth of the wicked only what is perverse.

27:1: Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring forth.

Jesus: (God knows and..)

Mat. 7:11: If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!

Mat. 9:6: But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins….” Then he said to the paralytic, “Get up, take your mat and go home.”

Mat. 11:27: All things have been committed to me by my Father. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.

Mat. 12:7: If you had known what these words mean, ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the innocent.

Mat. 16:3:  and in the morning, ‘Today it will be stormy, for the sky is red and overcast.’ You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, but you cannot interpret the signs of the times.

Mat. 20:22: You don’t know what you are asking,” Jesus said to them. “Can you drink the cup I am going to drink?” “We can,” they answered.

Mat. 20:25: Jesus called them together and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them.

Mat. 22:29: Jesus replied, “You are in error because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God.

Mat. 24:33: Even so, when you see all these things, you know that it is near, right at the door.

Mat. 24:26: No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.

Mat. 24:42: “Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come.

25:13: “Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour.

Patience, persevere, perseverance/stand firm

James: 1:3-4: because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.

1:12: Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him.

5:7-11: Be patient, then, brothers, until the Lord’s coming. See how the farmer waits for the land to yield its valuable crop and how patient he is for the autumn and spring rains.  You too, be patient and stand firm, because the Lordʼs coming is near. Don’t grumble against each other, brothers, or you will be judged. The Judge is standing at the door! Brothers, as an example of patience in the face of suffering, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. As you know, we consider blessed those who have persevered. You have heard of Job’s perseverance and have seen what the Lord finally brought about. The Lord is full of compassion and mercy.

Proverbs: 10:25: When the storm has swept by, the wicked are gone, but the righteous stand firm forever.

12:7: Wicked men are overthrown and are no more, but the house of the righteous stands firm.

Jesus Mat. 10:22: All men will hate you because of me, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved.

Mat. 24:12-13: Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved.

Lk. 21:19: By standing firm you will gain life.

Faith, trust

James 1:3:because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance.

2:5: Listen, my dear brothers: Has not God chosen those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom he promised those who love him?

2:14: What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him?

2:17-20: In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. But someone will say, “You have faith; I have deeds.” Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do. You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder. You foolish man, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless?

2:22-24: You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did. And the scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,” and he was called God’s friend. You see that a person is justified by what he does and not by faith alone.

2:26: As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.

5:15: And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up. If he has sinned, he will be forgiven.

Proverbs: 17X faithful, unfaithful

3:5: Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding;

11:28: Whoever trusts in his riches will fall, but the righteous will thrive like a green leaf.

16:20: Whoever gives heed to instruction prospers, and blessed is he who trusts in the Lord.

22:29: So that your trust may be in the Lord, I teach you today, even you.

28:25-26: A greedy man stirs up dissension, but he who trusts in the Lord will prosper. He who trusts in himself is a fool, but he who walks in wisdom is kept safe.

29:25: Fear of man will prove to be a snare, but whoever trusts in the Lord is kept safe.

Jesus: Jn. 14:1: “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me.

Mat. 6:30b: will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?

Mat. 8:10b: “I tell you the truth, I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith.

Mat. 8:26a: He replied, “You of little faith, why are you so afraid?”

Mt. 9:22: Some men brought to him a paralytic, lying on a mat. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Take heart, son; your sins are forgiven.”

Mat. 9:22: Jesus turned and saw her. “Take heart, daughter,” he said, “your faith has healed you.” And the woman was healed from that moment.

Mat. 9:29-30a: Then he touched their eyes and said, “According to your faith will it be done to you”; 30and their sight was restored.

Mat. 13:58: And he did not do many miracles there because of their lack of faith.

Mat. 15:28: Then Jesus answered, “Woman, you have great faith! Your request is granted.” And her daughter was healed from that very hour.

Mat. 16:8: Aware of their discussion, Jesus asked, “You of little faith, why are you talking among yourselves about having no bread?

Mat. 17:20: He replied, “Because you have so little faith. I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.”

Mat. 20:21: Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, if you have faith and do not doubt, not only can you do what was done to the fig tree, but also you can say to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and it will be done.

Mat. 24:10: At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other,

Mk. 16:14: Later Jesus appeared to the Eleven as they were eating; he rebuked them for their lack of faith and their stubborn refusal to believe those who had seen him after he had risen.

Lk. 17:5: The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!” 6He replied, “If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it will obey you.

Lk. 18:8: I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?”

Lk. 22:32: But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.”

Jn. 14:12: I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.

Prayer

James 5:13-18: Is any one of you in trouble? He should pray. Is anyone happy? Let him sing songs of praise. Is any one of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up. If he has sinned, he will be forgiven. Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.

Proverbs: 15:8: The Lord detests the sacrifice of the wicked, but the prayer of the upright pleases him.

15:29: The Lord is far from the wicked but he hears the prayer of the righteous.

28:9: If anyone turns a deaf ear to the law, even his prayers are detestable.

Jesus: Mat. 5:44: But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,

Mat. 6:5-13

Mat. 21:13: “It is written,” he said to them, “ ‘My house will be called a house of prayer,’e but you are making it a ‘den of robbers.’

Mat. 21:22: If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.”

Mat. 24:20: Pray that your flight will not take place in winter or on the Sabbath.

Mat. 26:36b: Sit here while I go over there and pray.”

Mat. 26:41: “Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the body is weak.”

Mk. 9:29: He replied, “This kind can come out only by prayer.

Mk. 11:24-25: Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. 25And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive him, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins.”

Mk. 12:40: They devour widows’ houses and for a show make lengthy prayers. Such men will be punished most severely.”

Lk. 18:10-11a: Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11The Pharisee stood up and prayed about  himself:

Jn. 17:9: I pray for them. I am not praying for the world, but for those you have given me, for they are yours.

Jn. 17:15: My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one.

Jn. 17:20: My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message,

Pure/purity/purify

James: 1:27: Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.

3:17: But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere.

4:8: Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.

Proverbs: 15:26: The Lord detests the thoughts of the wicked, but those of the pure are pleasing to him.

20:9: Who can say, “I have kept my heart pure; I am clean and without sin”?

20:11: Even a child is known by his actions, by whether his conduct is pure and right.

22:11: He who loves a pure heart and whose speech is gracious will have the king for his friend.

30:12: those who are pure in their own eyes and yet are not cleansed of their filth;

Jesus: Mat. 5:8: Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.

Righteous/upright/do right

James: 2:8: If you really keep the royal law found in Scripture, “Love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing right.

2:23: And the scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,” and he was called God’s friend.

1:20: for manʼs anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires.

2:21: Was not our ancestor Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar?

2:25: In the same way, was not even Rahab the prostitute considered righteous for what she did when she gave lodging to the spies and sent them off in a different direction?

3:18: Peacemakers who sow in peace raise a harvest of righteousness.

5:16: Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.

Proverbs: 8:20: I walk in the way of righteousness, along the paths of justice,

15:9: The Lord detests the way of the wicked but he loves those who pursue righteousness.

100X

Jesus: 5:6: Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,

for they will be filled.

50X

Confess/repent

James: 5:16: Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.

Proverbs: 28:13: He who conceals his sins does not prosper, but whoever confesses and renounces them finds mercy.

Jesus: Mat. 4:17: From that time on Jesus began to preach, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near.”

Mat. 11:20-21: Then Jesus began to denounce the cities in which most of his miracles had been performed, because they did not repent. “Woe to you, Korazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! If the miracles that were performed in you had been performed in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes.

Mat. 12:41: The men of Nineveh will stand up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and now onee greater than Jonah is here.

Mat. 21:32: For John came to you to show you the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes did. And even after you saw this, you did not repent and believe him.

Mk. 1:15: The time has come,” he said. “The kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news!”

Lk. 5:32: I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”

Lk. 13:3-5: I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish. 4Or those eighteen who died when the tower in Siloam fell on them—do you think they were more guilty than all the others living in Jerusalem? 5I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish.”

Lk. 15:7: I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.

Lk. 15:10: In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”

Lk. 16:30: ‘No, father Abraham,’ he said, ‘but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.’

Lk. 17:3: “If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him. 4If he sins against you seven times in a day, and seven times comes back to you and says, ‘I repent,’ forgive him.”

Lk. 24:47: and repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.

Fear of the Lord/live w/o fear of God

James: 2:12-13: Speak and act asthose who are going to be judged by the law that gives freedom, 13because judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful. Mercy triumphs over judgment!

4:4-10: You adulterous people, donʼt you know that friendship with the world is hatred toward God? Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God. 5Or do you think Scripture says without reason that the spirit he caused to live in us envies intensely? 6But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says: “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”7Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. 9Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. 10Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.

5:1-5: Now listen, you rich people, weep and wail because of the misery that is coming upon you. 2Your wealth has rotted, and moths have eaten your clothes. 3Your gold and silver are corroded. Their corrosion will testify against you and eat your flesh like fire. You have hoarded wealth in the last days. 4Look! The wages you failed to pay the workmen who mowed your fields are crying out against you. The cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord Almighty. 5You have lived on earth in luxury and self-indulgence. You have fattened yourselves in the day of slaughter.

Proverbs: 1:7: The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge,

but fools despise wisdom and discipline.

11 more X

Jesus: Lk. 12:5: But I will show you whom you should fear: Fear him who, after the killing of the body, has power to throw you into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him.

(Good) Fruit/firstfruits

James: 3:17: But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere.

1:18: He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of all he created.

Proverbs: 11:30: The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, and he who wins souls is wise.

8:19:My fruit is better than fine gold; what I yield surpasses choice silver.

12:14: From the fruit of his lips a man is filled with good things as surely as the work of his hands rewards him

13:2: From the fruit of his lips a man enjoys good things, but the unfaithful have a craving for violence.

18:21: The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit.

Jesus: Jn. 15:8: This is to my Fatherʼs glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.

Mat. 7:16-20: By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? 17Likewise every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. 18A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. 19Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them.

12:33: Make a tree good and its fruit will be good, or make a tree bad and its fruit will be bad, for a tree is recognized by its fruit.

13:22: The one who received the seed that fell among the thorns is the man who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke it, making it unfruitful.

21:43: “Therefore I tell you that the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people who will produce its fruit.

Jn. 15:2: He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful.

15:4-5: Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. 5“I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.

15:16: You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit—fruit that will last. Then the Father will give you whatever you ask in my name.

4. God/Lord, bless/blessing/blessed, law, Sum of law: Love neighbor/others, God’s/Jesus Word, truth, judge/judgment, save

God, Lord

James: God: 1:1, 1:5, 1:12-1:13, 1:20, 1:27, 2:5, 2:19, 2:23, 3:9, 4:2, 4:4-8

Lord( Father) 1:7:  That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord;

3:9: With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God’s likeness.

4:10: Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.

4:15: Instead, you ought to say, “If it is the Lordʼs will, we will live and do this or that.”

5:4: Look! The wages you failed to pay the workmen who mowed your fields are crying out against you. The cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord Almighty.

5:10-11: Brothers, as an example of patience in the face of suffering, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. As you know, we consider blessed those who have persevered. You have heard of Job’s perseverance and have seen what the Lord finally brought about. The Lord is full of compassion and mercy.

5:14-15: Is any one of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up. If he has sinned, he will be forgiven. (If focus is on a synagogue, God the Father. If a house church, Jesus. Or both could be in his mind.)

Lord (Jesus): 1:1: James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ,  To the twelve tribes scattered among the nations: Greetings.

2:1 My brothers, as believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ, don’t show favoritism.

5:7-8: Be patient, then, brothers, until the Lordʼs coming. See how the farmer waits for the land to yield its valuable crop and how patient he is for the autumn and spring rains. You too, be patient and stand firm, because the Lordʼs coming is near

Proverbs: (95 times in Proverbs)

1:7: The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline.

Bless, blessing, blessed

James: 1:12: Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him.

1:25: But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it—he will be blessed in what he does.

5:11: As you know, we consider blessed those who have persevered. You have heard of Job’s perseverance and have seen what the Lord finally brought about. The Lord is full of compassion and mercy.

Proverbs: 3:13: Blessed is the man who finds wisdom, the man who gains understanding,

3:18: She (Wisdom) is a tree of life to those who embrace her; those who lay hold of her will be blessed.

3:33: The Lord’s curse is on the house of the wicked, but he blesses the home of the righteous.

10:6-7: Blessings crown the head of the righteous, but violence overwhelms the mouth of the wicked, The memory of the righteous will be a blessing, but the name of the wicked will rot.

11:11: Through the blessing of the upright a city is exalted, but by the mouth of the wicked it is destroyed.

14:21: He who despises his neighbor sins, but blessed is he who is kind to the needy.

16:20: Whoever gives heed to instruction prospers, and blessed is he who trusts in the Lord.

20:7: Whoever gives heed to instruction prospers, and blessed is he who trusts in the Lord.

22:9: A generous man will himself be blessed, for he shares his food with the poor.

28:14: Blessed is the man who always fears the Lord, but he who hardens his heart falls into trouble.

28:20: A faithful man will be richly blessed, but one eager to get rich will not go unpunished.

28:18: Where there is no revelation, the people cast off restraint; but blessed is he who keeps the law.

Jesus: Mat. 5:3-11,11:6, 13:16, 16:17, 21:9, 23:39, etc.: Blessed are/is…each time Jesus says this.

Law

James: 1:25: But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it—he will be blessed in what he does.

2:8-9: If you really keep the royal law found in Scripture, “Love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing right. But if you show favoritism, you sin and are convicted by the law as lawbreakers.

2:10-12: For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breakng all of it. For he who said, “Do not commit adultery,” also said, “Do not murder.” If you do not commit adultery but do commit murder, you have become a lawbreaker. Speak and act as those who are going to be judged by the law that gives freedom,

Proverbs: 28:4: Those who forsake the law praise the wicked, but those who keep the law resist them.

28:7: He who keeps the law is a discerning son, but a companion of gluttons disgraces his father.

28:9: If anyone turns a deaf ear to the law, even his prayers are detestable.

29:18: Where there is no revelation, the people cast off restraint; but blessed is he who keeps the law.

31:4-5: “It is not for kings, O Lemuel— not for kings to drink wine, not for rulers to crave beer,

lest they drink and forget what the law decrees, and deprive all the oppressed of their rights.

Jesus: Mat. 5:17-19: “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished. Anyone who breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.

Mat. 7:12: So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.

Mat. 12:5: Or haven’t you read in the Law that on the Sabbath the priests in the temple desecrate the day and yet are innocent?

Mat. 22:37-40: “ ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

Mat. 23:23: Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices—mint, dill and cummin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former

Mark 3:4: Then Jesus asked them, “Which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill?” But they remained silent.

Lk. 6:9: Then Jesus said to them, “I ask you, which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil, to save life or to destroy it?”

Lk. 16:16: “The Law and the Prophets were proclaimed until John. Since that time, the good news of the kingdom of God is being preached, and everyone is forcing his way into it.

Jn. 17:19: Has not Moses given you the law? Yet not one of you keeps the law. Why are you trying to kill me?”

Jn. 7:23: Now if a child can be circumcised on the Sabbath so that the law of Moses may not be broken, why are you angry with me for healing the whole man on the Sabbath?

Jn. 8:17-18: In your own Law it is written that the testimony of two men is valid. I am one who testifies for myself; my other witness is the Father, who sent me.”

Jn. 10:34-35: “Is it not written in your Law, ‘I have said you are gods’? If he called them ‘gods,’ to whom the word of God came—and the Scripture cannot be broken—

15:25: But this is to fulfill what is written in their Law: ‘They hated me without reason.’

(God’s) Word (same as law?)

James 1:18-24: He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of all he created. My dear brothers, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, for man’s anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires. Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you. Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it—he will be blessed in what he does.

Proverbs (my words and…)

30:5-6: Every word of God is flawless; he is a shield to those who take refuge in him. Do not add to his words, or he will rebuke you and prove you a liar.

Jesus: (My words and…) He also uses Scripture)

Mat. 4:4: Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.”

Mt. 13:20: The one who received the seed that fell on rocky places is the man who hears the word and at once receives it with joy.

Mat. 15:6: he is not to ‘honor his father’ with it. Thus you nullify the word of God for the sake of your tradition.

Lk. 8:11-15: “This is the meaning of the parable: The seed is the word of God. Those along the path are the ones who hear, and then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, so that they may not believe and be saved. Those on the rock are the ones who receive the word with joy when they hear it, but they have no root. They believe for a while, but in the time of testing they fall away. The seed that fell among thorns stands for those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by lifeʼs worries, riches and pleasures, and they do not mature. But the seed on good soil stands for those with a noble and good heart, who hear the word, retain it, and by persevering produce a crop.

Lk. 8:21: He replied, “My mother and brothers are those who hear God’s word and put it into practice.”

Lk. 11:28: He replied, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it.

Jn. 5:37-38: And the Father who sent me has himself testified concerning me. You have never heard his voice nor seen his form, nor does his word dwell in you, for you do not believe the one he sent.

Jn. 14:24: He who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me.

Jn. 17:6: “I have revealed you to those whom you gave me out of the world. They were yours; you gave them to me and they have obeyed your word.

Jn. 17:8: For I gave them the words you gave me and they accepted them. They knew with certainty that I came from you, and they believed that you sent me.

17:14: I have given them your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world.

17:17: Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth.

Judgement (God’s)

James: 2:12-13: Speak and act as those who are going to be judged by the law that gives freedom, because judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful. Mercy triumphs over judgment!

3:1: Not many of you should presume to be teachers, my brothers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly.

4:12: There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the one who is able to save and destroy. But you—who are you to judge your neighbor?

5:9: Donʼt grumble against each other, brothers, or you will be judged. The Judge is standing at the door!

Proverbs: King should judge fairly (3X), Judgment (=discernment) 15X

Jesus: Mat 7:1-2: Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.

Jn. 5:22: Moreover, the Father judges no one, but has entrusted all judgment to the Son,

Jn. 5:30:  By myself I can do nothing; I judge only as I hear, and my judgment is just, for I seek not to please myself but him who sent me.

Jn. 8:15-16: You judge by human standards; I pass judgment on no one. But if I do judge, my decisions are right, because I am not alone. I stand with the Father, who sent me.

Jn. 12:47-8: As for the person who hears my words but does not keep them, I do not judge him. For I did not come to judge the world, but to save it. There is a judge for the one who rejects me and does not accept my words; that very word which I spoke will condemn him at the last day.

Save

James: 1:21: Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you.

Proverbs: 2:12: Wisdom will save you from the ways of wicked men, from men whose words are perverse,

2:16: (Wisdom) It will save you also from the adulteress, from the wayward wife with her seductive words,

14:25: A truthful witness saves lives, but a false witness is deceitful.

23:14: Punish him with the rod and save his soul from death.

Jesus: Mt. 10:22: All men will hate you because of me, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved.

Lk. 9:10: For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost.”

Jn. 12:47b: For I did not come to judge the world, but to save it.

5. Good counsel about riches, the poor, tomorrow, listen, life, Swearing/vows, our spirit

Riches:

James: 1:10-11: But the one who is rich should take pride in his low position, because he will pass away like a wild flower. For the sun rises with scorching heat and withers the plant; its blossom falls and its beauty is destroyed. In the same way, the rich man will fade away even while he goes about his business.

2:5-7: Listen, my dear brothers: Has not God chosen those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom he promised those who love him? But you have insulted the poor. Is it not the rich who are exploiting you? Are they not the ones who are dragging you into court? Are they not the ones who are slandering the noble name of him to whom you belong?

5:1-6: Now listen, you rich people, weep and wail because of the misery that is coming upon you. Your wealth has rotted, and moths have eaten your clothes. Your gold and silver are corroded. Their corrosion will testify against you and eat your flesh like fire. You have hoarded wealth in the last days. Look! The wages you failed to pay the workmen who mowed your fields are crying out against you. The cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord Almighty. You have lived on earth in luxury and self-indulgence. You have fattened yourselves in the day of slaughter. You have condemned and murdered innocent men, who were not opposing you.

Proverbs: 11:28: Whoever trusts in his riches will fall, but the righteous will thrive like a green leaf.

18:23 A poor man pleads for mercy, but a rich man answers harshly.

22:1: A good name is more desirable than great riches; to be esteemed is better than silver or gold.

23:4: Do not wear yourself out to get rich; have the wisdom to show restraint.

23:5: Cast but a glance at riches, and they are gone, for they will surely sprout wings and fly off to the sky like an eagle.

27:24: riches do not endure forever, and a crown is not secure for all generations.

28:6: Better a poor man whose walk is blameless than a rich man whose ways are perverse. 28:11: A rich man may be wise in his own eyes, but a poor man who has discernment sees through him.

28:20: A faithful man will be richly blessed, but one eager to get rich will not go unpunished. 30:8: Keep falsehood and lies far from me; give me neither poverty nor riches, but give me only my daily bread.

Jesus: Mat. 6:19-21: Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

Mat. 19:23-4: Then Jesus said to his disciples, “I tell you the truth, it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.”

Lk. 6:24: But woe to you who are rich, for you have already received your comfort. Woe to you who are well fed now, for you will go hungry.

Lk. 8:14: The seed that fell among thorns stands for those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by lifeʼs worries, riches and pleasures, and they do not mature.

Lk. 12:21: “This is how it will be with anyone who stores up things for himself but is not rich toward God.” (+this parable of rich fool)

16:22 (parable of rich man and Lazarus) The rich man also died and was buried. In hell, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side.

The Poor

James: 2:5-6a: Listen, my dear brothers: Has not God chosen those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom he promised those who love him? 6But you have insulted the poor.

2:2-6

Proverbs: 14:31: He who oppresses the poor shows contempt for their Maker,

but whoever is kind to the needy honors God.

30+X

Jesus: Lk. 14:L13: But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, 14and you will be blessed. Although they cannot repay you, you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.”

20+X

Tomorrow

James 4:13-15: Now listen, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.” Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Instead, you ought to say, “If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.”

Proverbs 27:1 Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring forth.

Jesus: Mat. 6:34: Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

Listen (as a command and statement)

James: 1:19: My dear brothers, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry.

1:22-23: Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror.

2:5: Listen, my dear brothers: Has not God chosen those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom he promised those who love him?

4:13: Now listen, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.”

5:1: Now listen, you rich people, weep and wail because of the misery that is coming upon you.

Proverbs: 1:5: let the wise listen and add to their learning, and let the discerning get guidance—

1:8: Listen, my son, to your fatherʼs instruction and do not forsake your motherʼs teaching.

4:1: Listen, my sons, to a fatherʼs instruction; pay attention and gain understanding.

4:10: Listen, my son, accept what I say, and the years of your life will be many.

4:20: My son, pay attention to what I say; listen closely to my words.

5:1: My son, pay attention to my wisdom, listen well to my words of insight, + others to son

8:6: Listen, for I have worthy things to say; I open my lips to speak what is right.

8:34: Blessed is the man who listens to me, watching daily at my doors, waiting at my doorway.

12:15: The way of a fool seems right to him, but a wise man listens to advice.

13:1: A wise son heeds his fatherʼs instruction, but a mocker does not listen to rebuke.

15:31: He who listens to a life-giving rebuke will be at home among the wise.

19:20: Listen to advice and accept instruction, and in the end you will be wise.

22:17: Pay attention and listen to the sayings of the wise; apply your heart to what I teach,

Jesus: Mat. 13:18: “Listen then to what the parable of the sower means:

Mat. 15:10: Jesus called the crowd to him and said, “Listen and understand.

Lk. 10:16: “He who listens to you listens to me; he who rejects you rejects me; but he who rejects me rejects him who sent me.”

Lk. 18:6: And the Lord said, “Listen to what the unjust judge says.

Jn. 6:45: It is written in the Prophets: ‘They will all be taught by God.’ Everyone who listens to the Father and learns from him comes to me.

Jn. 10:3: The watchman opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.

Jn. 10:8: All who ever came before me were thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them.

Jn. 10:16: I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also. They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd.

Jn. 10:27: My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.

Jn. 18:37b: Everyone on the side of truth listens to me.”

Life

James: 1:12: Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him.

1:20: for man’s anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires.

3:6: The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole person, sets the whole course of his life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell.

3:13: Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show it by his good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom.

4:14: Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.

Proverbs: 3:21-22: My son, preserve sound judgment and discernment, do not let them out of your sight; 22they will be life for you, an ornament to grace your neck.

49X

Jesus: Jn. 6:63: The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you are spirit and they are life.

100X

Swearing/vows

James: 5:2: Above all, my brothers, do not swear—not by heaven or by earth or by anything else. Let your “Yes” be yes, and your “No,” no, or you will be condemned.

Proverbs: 20:25: It is a trap for a man to dedicate something rashly

and only later to consider his vows.

Jesus: Mat. 5:34-37: But I tell you, Do not swear at all: either by heaven, for it is God’s throne; 35or by the earth, for it is his footstool; or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the Great King. 36And do not swear by your head, for you cannot make even one hair white or black. 37Simply let your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No,’ ‘No’; anything beyond this comes from the evil one

Our spirit

James: 2:26: As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.

4:5: Or do you think Scripture says without reason that the spirit he caused to live in us envies intensely?

Proverbs: 20:7 The lamp of the Lord searches the spirit of a man; it searches out his inmost being.

Jesus: Mt. 26:41: Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the body is weak.”

Lk. 23:46: Jesus called out with a loud voice, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.” When he had said this, he breathed his last.

Jn. 3:6: Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit.

4:23-24: Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. 24God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth.”

6. Vocatives:

James: 2:5: Listen, my dear brothers: Has not God chosen those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom he promised those who love him?

2:20: You foolish man, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless?,

4:4: You adulterous people

4:8: Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.

4:13: Now listen, you who say…

4:14: What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.

5:1: Now listen, you rich people, weep and wail because of the misery that is coming upon you.

Proverbs: My son(s), others? 1:22, 8:5 you simple ones, 8:4 To you, O men,

Jesus: Mat. (3.7; 12.34; 23.33) Brood of vipers

Mat. 7:5 Hypocrite!,  15.7 and 22.18 in plural 23:13-29: (23.13-29), Jesus addresses his opponents several times as “scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!”  “hypocrites” in Luke 12.56 and 13.15,

Mat 9:2 My child, 9:22 Daughter

Mat. 15:28 Woman. Also to mother Jn. 2.4 and to Mary Magdalene in John 19.26 and 20.15

16:23 Get behind me, Satan

Mat. “people of little faith” occur (6.30; 8.26; 14.31; 16.8). Not exactly a vocative

“blind guides” in 23.16 and 24), (“blind fools” in 23.17), and (“blind men” in 23.19)

Mat.  “faithless generation” in 17.17

Mat. 26:50 My friend (to Judas) In parables has negative connotation (Mat. 20.13; 22.12)

7. Realm of nature:

Wind (instability)

James: 1:6: But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.

Proverbs: 25:14: Like clouds and wind without rain is a man who boasts of gifts he does not give.

Jesus: 11:7: What did you go out into the desert to see? A reed swayed by the wind?

Withering grass and fading flowers

James: 1:10-11: But the one who is rich should take pride in his low position, because he will pass away like a wild flower. 11For the sun rises with scorching heat and withers the plant; its blossom falls and its beauty is destroyed. In the same way, the rich man will fade away even while he goes about his business.

Proverbs: 27:25: When the hay is removed and new growth appears and the grass from the hills is gathered in,

Jesus: Mat. 6:30: If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?

Fire

James: 3:5-6: Likewise the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark. The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole person, sets the whole course of his life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell.

5:3: Your gold and silver are corroded. Their corrosion will testify against you and eat your flesh like fire. You have hoarded wealth in the last days.

Proverbs: 6:27: Can a man scoop fire into his lap without his clothes being burned?

16:27: A scoundrel plots evil, and his speech (tongue) is like a scorching fire.

30:16b: and fire, which never says, ‘Enough!’

Jesus: Mat. 5:22: But I tell you that anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to his brother, ‘Raca’ is answerable to the Sanhedrin. But anyone who says, ‘You fool!’ will be in danger of the fire of hell.

13:40: As the weeds are pulled up and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of the age.

18:8-9: If your hand or your foot causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life maimed or crippled than to have two hands or two feet and be thrown into eternal fire. And if your eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into the fire of hell.

Mat. 25:41: Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.’

Mk. 9:48: (hell) where “ ‘their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched.’

Lk. 12:49: “I have come to bring fire on the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled!

Lk. 17:29: But the day Lot left Sodom, fire and sulfur rained down from heaven and destroyed them all.

Jn. 15:6: If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned.

Water

James: 3:11-12: Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring? 12My brothers, can a fig tree bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water.

Proverbs: 18:4: The words of a man’s mouth are deep waters, but the fountain of wisdom is a bubbling brook.

14X

Jesus: Jn. 7:38: Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him.”

35+X

Figs and olives

James: 3:12: 12My brothers, can a fig tree bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water.

Proverbs: 27:18: He who tends a fig tree will eat its fruit, and he who looks after his master will be honored.

Jesus: Mat. 17:16: By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles?

9X

Sow/harvest

James: 3:18: Peacemakers who sow in peace raise a harvest of righteousness

Proverbs: 11:18: The wicked man earns deceptive wages, but he who sows righteousness reaps a sure reward.

22:8: He who sows wickedness reaps trouble, and the rod of his fury will be destroyed.

Jesus: 13:37: He answered, “The one who sowed the good seed is the Son of Man. 38The field is the world, and the good seed stands for the sons of the kingdom.

17 (not including PP)

Rain

James: 5:8: Be patient, then, brothers, until the Lord’s coming. See how the farmer waits for the land to yield its valuable crop and how patient he is for the autumn and spring rains.

5:17-18

Proverbs: 16:15: When a king’s face brightens, it means life; his favor is like a rain cloud in spring.

16:15, 25:14, 25:23, 26:1, 25:15, 28:3

Jesus: Mat. 5:45: that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.

Mt. 7:25, 7:27, Lk. 12:54

Heaven/sky/God’s realm

James: 5:18: Again he prayed, and the heavens gave rain, and the earth produced its crops.

3:17: But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere.

1:17, 3:15, 5:12

Proverbs: 3:9: By wisdom the Lord laid the earth’s foundations, by understanding he set the heavens in place;

8:27: I was there when he set the heavens in place, when he marked out the horizon on the face of the deep,

30:4a: Who has gone up to heaven and come down?

25:3 (Earth: 3:19, 8:16, 8:26, 8:29, 11:31, 17:24, 25:3, 26:23, 30:4, 30:14, 30:21, 30:24)

Jesus: Mk. 14:62: “I am,” said Jesus. “And you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven.”

5:16: In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.

11:25a: At that time Jesus said, “I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth,

152X

Sun

James: 1:11: For the sun rises with scorching heat and withers the plant; its blossom falls and its beauty is destroyed. In the same way, the rich man will fade away even while he goes about his business.

Proverbs:

Jesus: Mat. 13:6: But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root.

Mat. 5:45, 13:43, 24:29

Sex

Paul: Has 13 lists which include three or more sins, and in 12 of the 13, he lists sexual sins. In the only one he doesn’t, he mentions sexual sins before and after the list of relational sins. Proverbs: Deals extensively with sexual sins, especially in chapters 6 and 7.

Jesus: He interacts a lot with prostitutes and uses several different words about sex as sins that come from the heart.

James: Does not mention this sin at all in his letter.

Keith Green wrote a pamphlet called “What so great about the Gospel,” saying that until people realize how sinful they are, they will not see their need of Jesus. Maybe that is part of what James is doing. We need to see how far we have gotten from God and His law. Once we do that (and this is what he shows in James), then we will realize our great need for Jesus.

Willmington, Harold L., “What You Need to Know About the Book of James” (2010). . 63. https://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/will_know/63

The terms religion and religious appear only five times in the entire Bible. Of these

instances, three are found in James’ epistle:

• James 1:26 (twice)

• James 1:27 The usage of religion in 1:27 is the only reference in Scripture where it is used in a

positive way.James, a transitional primer echoing the words of Jesus and Proverbs to Jewish people

Introduction:

I have been thinking about the book of James for a long time. Specifically I attended a translation workshop on the book, helped Mixtec speakers translate it into Tezoatlán Mixtec and Ayutla Mixtec of Mexico and have checked the book as a consultant in several other Mexican languages. All the preparation, exegesis, study, translating, checking, etc. led to having a number of questions about the book and its purpose. The most basic issue, and a key to resolving many of the other questions and translating the book accurately, is trying to determine who James’ intended audience is.

Some of the answers to this question of the target audience, and the ways it has affected how I understand James’ purpose for writing this book are significantly different than many commentaries I studied and sermons I have heard. I will share some of my unique conclusions. If in the end you do not agree with my conclusions, that is of course fine, I just ask that you consider the book from this unique perspective.

James, probably brother of Jesus, his very jewish list in Acts 15

Who is James writing to?

The key to understanding the book of James is determining who is his audience? Many seem to interpret James as if he were writing like Paul, focusing on Gentiles, specifically Christian gentiles. However the thesis of this paper is that his principle audience is Jews, as he states from the very beginning in 1:1: “James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes scattered among the nations.” Literally he says he is speaking to Jewish people.

Some have taken this phrase as his way of speaking of the “new” Israel, with Christians as the people God has now chosen as His special people. Adding to this interpretation, they say, is that at James’ time, there were not twelve tribes of Israel. Ten had been carried away to Assyria around 720 BC, and only two confirmed tribes are left. However, the fact that James adds, “scattered among the nations” could cover even some people from the “lost” tribes, some of which, though living far away, may still retain some of their Jewishness, and who are still heirs in a special way of the promise God made to Abraham.

Many of the issues James brings up in this book deal directly with the problems that the Jewish people were experiencing as they lived in a Greco-Roman culture. More and more Jewish people, especially those living far away from the religious center of Jerusalem, were moving farther away from the law and the basic moral tenets of being Jewish and were conforming to the world. A prime example of a group of people doing this, even though they were living in the heart of Judea, were the Sadducees, more of a political group than religious who were conforming more to the Greco-Roman culture than being faithful to the law and teaching of Moses.

Much of Paul’s teaching is to instruct new Christians in the faith and to keep them from being led away by false teachings and temptations, but the fact is that significant amounts of Jews were moving away from the law, especially the moral law, and living like the pagans. The difference between the teachings of James and Paul will be discussed in more detail later, but suffice to say Paul is mainly speaking to Gentiles while James’ message is directed to his fellow Jewish people, focusing his letter on the issues facing them as Jews

James can be viewed as a transition primer, or a bridge from being a “good” Jew to faith in Jesus. He deals with the most basic parts of faith in God, obeying God and living as God taught. James is taking on the misguided idea that just because they are Jews, they are God’s people and saved, without regard to how they live. Like Jesus said in John: “Don’t think that since you are descendants of Abraham, that you will escape.” He wants the listeners to live like God wants, like their ancestors had taught them, without overly focusing on Jesus. Yet!

He starts with setting the firm foundation: follow the two greatest commandments, just as Jesus taught them: “To love God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength, and to love our neighbor as ourselves.” It would be nice to see James, part 2, where one might expect that he would get to the main point, writing more directly so that they will realize that Jesus is the fulfillment of all that is in the Old Testament, and guide them to give their lives to Him. Then they would understand, as Hebrews explains, and as Paul shows with many OT prophesies, that Jesus is the only way to become right with God.

In fact, if would be more logical if James came before Hebrews in the New Testament. James prepares them to have a closer relationship with God, to obey Him and to love Him and others, then Hebrews goes “straight to the chase” about how Jesus is the whole point of the Old Testament. James essentially wants them to be like the Bereans, to search the Scriptures and find that Jesus is the truth, the fulfillment of the Old Testament.

What are the causes of the problems James addresses?

We can theorize of what influences are affecting the people James is speaking to. If they are living where there are synagogues and significant influences of legalism and the type of issues that Jesus faced with the Pharisee and Sadducees, then the people may be going “through the motions” of obeying the law and traditions outwardly, but not living for God in their daily lives, their hearts being far from him. The more likely scenario would be that these Jewish people are living among the Gentiles and are drifting away and being corrupted by the Gentiles just as had happened to their ancestors. Could they be falling into idol worship and many of the sins that the Gentiles revel in?

In contrast to Paul is speaking to Gentiles who grew up doing these types of sins, and who used to see nothing wrong in doing them. James is speaking to people who theoretically know how God wants them to live, whose law, assuming most know more or less what it says, prohibit all these sins. But quite possibly because of Gentile influence and their own sinful natures they are dabbling in these pagan sins. The Jews are mostly aware that they are breaking God’s laws when they sin like this, while the Gentiles think it is all normal to live such a life.

As a result, James purpose in writing the book is to lead them back to even the most basic teachings of how God wants them to live and to relate to Him. Every single verse in James is directly related to his purpose. With the overall goal of eventually bridging this to faith in Jesus.

“If the several passages referring to Christ were eliminated, the whole epistle would be as proper in the canon of the Old Testament as it is in the New Testament. In fact, the epistle could be described as an interpretation of the Old Testament law and the Sermon on the Mount in the light of the Gospel of Christ.” (Unger’s Bible Handbook, p. 783)

Brothers

Related to this question of who James is directing his letter to is the concept of “brothers”, a word he uses at least fifteen times in this short book. (1:2a: “Consider it pure joy, my brothers,”) As a translation consultant, I check what are known as back translations, where someone from a minority language translates the text of their translation of a Scripture book “back” into Spanish. For example, a translation in Mixtec may say, “Kúꞌu̱ nda̱ꞌo ini Ndios saꞌa̱ ña̱yuu ndéi ña̱yuú yóꞌo”, and the back translation would be: “God loves very much the people of this world.” I have seen a number of back translation of “brothers” which say, “brothers and sisters who believe in Jesus.” Now this would be okay if James was a letter written by Paul to Gentile Christians, but, is it okay for the book of James which I posit was written to Jewish people, many of whom where not Christians, or at the very least, immature Christians with extremely limited knowledge of Jesus?

It was very common for letters written from a Jewish writer to other Jews to use the term “brothers.” In the New Testament, when one of the apostles is speaking to a group of fellow Jews, it is common to use brothers. In Acts, Peter uses this kind of relational vocative a number of times, for example: Acts 2:14: “Fellow Jews and all of you who live in Jerusalem”, 2:22: “Men of Isrel”, 2:29: “Brothers, I can tell you confidently that the patriarch David died and was buried”, in 3:12 “People of Israel….” 3:17: “Now, brothers, I know that you acted in ignorance, as did your leaders.” 4:8: “Rulers and elders of the people!”

While it is true that brothers is also used in Acts to refer as “Christian” brothers, fellow believers, in the context of James, it seems more appropriate to assume that he is writing mainly to fellow Jews, his people, his brothers (and sisters). James, in Acts 15:13 addresses the Christian Jewish assembly in the following way: “Brothers, listen to me.”

Paul is an interesting case in Acts, for many times he knows that he has a mixed audience, speaking to both Jews and Gentiles. In 14:16, in the synagogue, he starts out saying: “Men of Israel and you Gentiles who worship God, listen to me!” Then in vs. 26: “Brothers, children of Abraham, and you God-fearing Gentiles,”. Then as he comes to his “climax” he combines them all by saying, “Therefore, my brothers,”. In Acts 22:1, as he is about to share his testimony in Jerusalem to mainly Jews, he starts out saying: “Brothers and fathers, listen now to my defense.” And in 23:1, defending himself before the Jewish council: “My brothers, I have fulfilled my duty to God in all good conscience to this day.” Finally in 28:17: Three days later he called together the leaders of the Jews. When they had assembled, Paul said to them: “My brothers,”.

(Proverbs is addressed from 10 on, My son.)

Paul compared to James

Paul speaks mainly to the Gentiles in the majority of his letters, with a focus on teaching the basic truths about Jesus and confronting false teachings, many which come from the Judiazers, trying to build up the church to maturity. Romans is usually the book many point to where Paul seems to have a mixed audience in mind, trying to explain what God did through Jesus to both Jews and Gentiles, with some sections an obvious message to the Jews, and others seeminly directed toward the Gentiles.

In considering how the audience and themes James is focusing on is very different than the issues Paul was addressing, it is valuable to discuss Paul’s message to the Gentiles, since James, as has been noted, is not focusing on the Gentiles, but the Jews. Paul has a two part program when speaking to the Gentiles. First and foremost is to present Jesus as the only way to God, God’s way to become right with Him, the perfect sacrifice for sin who died in our place. While we were yet sinners He died for us. He reconciles us to God, He is our righteousness, the fulfillment of all the OT prophecies. He is the foundation, the most basic part of the message. The only faith that leads us to God and eternal life is in Jesus. Trust in Him!

However, Paul is dealing mostly with Gentiles whose whole life have been the complete opposite of doing God’s will, a lifestyle of abandonment to sin and mostly ignorance or disdain for what God commands, coming out of such a pagan background. Paul knows they need a transformation of the heart and mind, not only to put their trust and faith in Jesus but also the power to live a life pleasing to God. He knows and teaches that this is only possible through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. Because of the radical change needed from their old life to their new life, they also are in desperate need of solid teaching on how to live. Throughout Paul’s letters he has at least twelve lists of three or more sins that in his experience with the Gentile people he has ministered to need the most correction. Every such list except for one includes at least three sexual sins (James does not deal directly with sex), and they all also include many relational sins, how to get along, especially when you have new immature congregations that include both Jews and Gentiles, a significant clash of cultures and backgrounds.

This all is complicated by the Judiaizers, who, also knowing how “pagan” the Gentiles are, thinking that trusting in Jesus is not enough, are trying to change their “religion”, from pagan to Jewish proselytes, which include a lot of outward rules and laws like circumcision, food regulations, celebrating the Jewish festivals, etc. They are basically treating Jesus as an add-on to making the Gentiles into Jews. Paul rejects this, of course, proclaiming that Jesus is the one and only way to God, and instead of trying to change their lives by changing their religion, he sets out intensely teaching them, “Now that we have faith in Jesus, how then shall we live via the power of the Holy Spirit?” Thus the 12+ lists of the predominate sins he sees them dealing with as he goes from place to place and new church to new church.

James is coming at this from a different perspective. The main people he is writing to, Jews, are the heirs of God’s promises. They have the background of God’s laws and for the most part know how He wants them to live. However, because of some of the factors mentioned earlier, they have drifted away from His perfect law and instructions, be it because of the flesh or Gentile, worldly influence. So he is asking the people to come back to God, to rebuild that foundation that their people have had since Abraham, and as they do this, they will see the need of Jesus. Not Jesus as an add-on to the law, but as the fulfillment of the law, then One the law has been pointing to the whole time. They of course will also need the Holy Spirit to make them new creatures like everyone else, but James writes as though they do have an excellent foundation from which to start from, and if they understand it correctly, it will help lead them to Jesus, both for salvation, and also for a transformed life.

Another interesting point is that James, though he mentions the law, does not mention any of the ceremonial laws, like circumcision, food laws, festivals, sacrifices, etc. Paul mentions all these things to the Gentiles, but with the point being that they do not have to perform all these because it is not necessary for them to convert o Judaism, but to put their faith in Jesus, and Paul’s instructions and lists help them to know how to live a life pleasing to God. One might think that James, if he is speaking to Jews, might mention them, but his focus in entirely on relationships, their relationship with God (love God), and with other (love your neighbor). It are these moral aspects of the law that James focuses on.

James focuses on their Jewishness like Jesus did

To help understand the form in which James presents his advice and teaching in this book, and to reinforce the idea that it is directed primarily to Jews, consider how Jesus taught his Jewish audience, what things he focused on and said, several which have been already mentioned. Consider especially how Jesus spoke to the Pharisees, people who were sometimes proud, hypocritical and did not always show love to others, issues James is dealing with in this book. Or how John the Baptist spoke to his Jewish audience, or even Peter in Acts, talking to the Jewish people. In James, while some or even many are Christians, he is not focusing on this, he is focusing on their Jewishness, just a Jesus did with the people He spoke to. James is rebuking the people for actions and attitudes which are very similar to the ones Jesus was concerned with.

The following passages represent a few instances where Jesus rebuked the Jewish people in a similar way in which James does:

Hypocrisy: Say you believe in God but do not follow His commands

Mat. 23:23: “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices—mint, dill and cummin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness.” (Examples in James and/or Proverbs)

Mark 7:6-8: He replied, “Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you hypocrites; as it is written: “ ‘These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. They worship me in vain; their teachings are but rules taught by men.’ You have let go of the commands of God and are holding on to the traditions of men.

James 1:22-27, 2:15-17, 3:9-10, 3:14-16, 4:1-6, 4:8, 4:11, 5:1-6

Showing preference

Mat. 23:6: “they love the place of honor at banquets and the most important seats in the synaogues”;

Luke 14:8-10: “When someone invites you to a wedding feast, do not take the place of honor, for a person more distinguished than you may have been invited. If so, the host who invited both of you will come and say to you, ‘Give this man your seat.’ Then, humiliated, you will have to take the least important place. But when you are invited, take the lowest place, so that when your host comes, he will say to you, ‘Friend, move up to a better place.’ Then you will be honored in the presence of all your fellow guests.”

Luke 14:12-14: “When you put on a luncheon or a banquet,” he said, “don’t invite your friends, brothers, relatives, and rich neighbors. For they will invite you back, and that will be your only reward.Instead, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind.Then at the resurrection of the righteous, God will reward you for inviting those who could not repay you.”

James 2:1-9, 5:1-6

The concept of faith in James, Paul and Jesus’ teachings

Here is a good place to discuss maybe the most controversial part of James.

2:14-24: What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to him, “Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. But someone will say, “You have faith; I have deeds.” Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do. You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder. You foolish man, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless? Was not our ancestor Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did. And the scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,” and he was called God’s friend. You see that a person is justified by what he does and not by faith alone.

In the same way, was not even Rahab the prostitute considered righteous for what she did when she gave lodging to the spies and sent them off in a different direction? As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.

The problem this passage has caused is based on the misguided idea that James talks about faith in the same way Paul talks about faith in his letters. The previous discussion about Jews and their issues (not Christians per se) being the focus of James’ letter and not Gentile Christians, who are Paul’s main target audience, is why it is so important to understand the great difference between the two authors in regards to audience and goals of their letters. If we suppose that James uses his voc-abulary the same as Paul does, then we do his book a great disservice.

The faith that James talks about here is not saving faith, it is a faith that in some ways is closer to belief, as he uses the example of the devil “believing in God” but not serving Him. Jesus Himself said similar things to the Jews when He taught, about how they were not really descendants of Abraham because they did not really believe in God nor follow His commands. In fact, he said the father of the Pharisees was the devil. He said things like them tithing but lacking righteousness, of being hypocrites for so many man-made laws that went against the spirit of what Moses taught. They showed no compassion for the poor, the downtrodden, the “sinners.” They travel across the world to make a convert and this person end of much farther from God than they were to start with. He pointed out the big difference between outwardly keeping the law and having a heart that was far from God. This is exactly what James is doing here. Legalistically keeping the law while having a heart far from God, a heart that does not follow the two commands that Jesus focused on, loving God and loving others, is worthless.

The words James are echoing here are not those of Paul and saving faith in Jesus, but of Jesus Himself, of how true love, faith, trust in God will lead us to serve Him and love others. It will affect our actions. We will not just give the law of Moses lip-service, we will obey it as God directs. The faith here is directed to God, not trying to get them to have faith in Jesus (yet!). Have faith in God! Trust Him! Love Him! Act like you are His people! Move His law from your head and lips to your heart and actions! To obey is better than sacrifice!

All this, as already mentioned, is foundational, it is transitional, to move them closer to God, with the assumption being that in his next letter, put all the focus on Jesus! Martin Luther had a problem with this letter apparently because he was reading it as if Paul was writing. He may have thought differently if he had read it as if Jesus were the One talking, Jesus revealing to the people the heart of God and, in many ways, like John the Baptist, teaching to prepare them for the ultimate truth and power of salvation, which was what He was soon accomplish via the cross and the resurrection. When we read James, let us not read it like we are reading Paul writing to Gentile Christians but read it like Jesus talking to fellow Jews, preparing them to have faith in Him.

Religion (thrēskeia) religion/piety

The terms religion and religious appear only five times in the entire Bible. Of these

instances, three are found in James’ epistle: James 1:26 (2X), James 1:27 The usage of religion in 1:27 is the only reference in Scripture where it is used in a positive way.

Paul does not talk this way. He uses terms like in Christ, the Way (piety), etc. (Acts 26:5 -our Jewish religion and 1 Tim 5:4 piety?)

Prayer in the Jewish synagogue

Assuming this letter is addressed primarily to Jews and their issues and not directed specifically to Christians, each time James mentions meeting together and about what happens in meetings, he is most likely referring to the Jewish synagogue and not the house churches Paul spoke in and to so much, though of course Paul also spent a lot of time sharing in synagogues. In fact, since many included Jews who formerly had spent their time since childhood there in worship, reading Scripture, prayer, etc., these same patterns were adopted in their Christian form in the house churches. We of course know that in Jesus’ time there was a problem in the synagogues of certain proud people taking the best seats and humiliating those they considered less religious. We see this same favoritism and pride happening in the meetings in the book of James, and he firmly rebukes them for this.

Before adopting the word “synagogue” (place of gathering), these “houses” were known as the “place of prayer.” This began around 250 B.C. but in the first century, “place of gathering” began to replace “place of prayer”, but both were in use during the apostolic age.

This brings us to a passage in James where applying this knowledge is basic to understanding the context. James 5:13-16: Is any one of you in trouble? He should pray. Is anyone happy? Let him sing songs of praise. Is any one of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up. If he has sinned, he will be forgiven. Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.

While everything mentioned is this passage happened in Christian house churches, it also all happened in synagogues. Prayer, singing songs, calling the elders, confessing sin, praying for others. How does James continue after talking about praying sick for people during these meetings? He gives us the example of a Jewish prophet. James 5:17-18: Elijah was a man just like us. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years. Again he prayed, and the heavens gave rain, and the earth produced its crops. Many other passages in the Old Testament tell of other similar prayers of Elijah, Elisha, Isaiah prayed for king Hezekiah and he was healed, and so many more. So while this passage in James can apply to house churches, it is the thesis of this paper that this scene is taken from a synagogue.

James is very different than other New Testament books

To show even more some of the differences between James, Paul and other (Gentile-directed) letters in the New Testament, below is a chart of some key words used in a number of NT books of similar size, specifically the key terms Jesus, Christ and Gospel. The number count is based on the occurrences in the more literal King James version:

Book (KJV)	Jesus	Christ	Gospel
Galatians	19	44	14
Ephesians	21	53	4
Philippians	22	42	9
Colossians	8	29	2
1 Thes	18	16	6
1 Tim	15	17	1
1 Peter	11	27	4
James	2	2	0

As noted in the chart, the Jesus and Christ are only found twice in the book of James, and both times together. 1:1: “James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes scattered among the nations.” And 2:1: “My brothers, as believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ, don’t show favoritism.”

Note that many other words Paul regularly uses are not in this book. At least three of the non-Pauline books also focus their message in on the Jews. Hebrews speaks directly to Jews, but more directly than James, explaining, like Paul, that Jesus is the fulfillment of all the Jewish laws and prophecies. The primary audience of Hebrews is obviously Jewish Christians who are suffering. 1 and 2 Peter are similar, speaking encouragement to Jewish Christians who are suffering.

References from the Old Testament

Like Paul, James also uses references from the Old Testament in his teaching and correction. James, in Acts 15 and writing the letters to the Gentiles, states that: “For these laws of Moses have been preached in Jewish synagogues in every city on every Sabbath for many generations.” The idea being that at least some of the Gentiles who are converts and God-fearers (i.e. Cornelius) know a fair amount of the Old Testament and so it can be used to teach certain truths about God to them as well as to Jews. I have mentioned all the similarities to Proverbs. James also lists a number of Old Testament heroes:

Abraham: 2:21-23: “Was not our ancestor Abraham considred righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? 22You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did. 23And the scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,” and he was called God’s friend.”

Job: 5:11: “You have heard of Job’s perseverance and have seen what the Lord finally brought about. The Lord is full of compassion and mercy.”

Elijah: 5:17-18: “Elijah was a man just like us. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years. Again he prayed, and the heavens gave rain, and the earth produced its crops.”

Rahab: 2:25: “Rahab the prostitute is another example. She was shown to be right with God by her actions when she hid those messengers and sent them safely away by a different road.”

Comparing James, Proverbs and Jesus

Another indication that James is writing with Jewish people in mind is his constant use of terms and ideas from the book of Proverbs. In fact, some have called James the Proverbs of the New Testament. A significant number of the issues the writer of Proverbs addresses are the same issues James addresses. “James is like the book of Proverbs because of its pithy, practical, and pointed counsel regarding the importance of harmonizing one’s walk with one’s talk! Though James is a letter, with its many wise sayings its tone is similar to that of Proverbs.” (f)

James also overlaps consistently with the words of Jesus, from using many of the same ideas to using the exact same wording! This is not surprising, since as we have seen, both Jesus and James are dealing with similar issues facing Jewish people and their relationship with God and with one another.

Themes in James, Proverbs, Jesus’ teaching

1. Relational themes: Tongue, word/speech/say/speak, quarrels/fights/grumble/slander, anger, favoritism/discrimination/oppress/contempt vs. poor, humble/humility, pride/proud, boast/exalt, judge(one another), deceive, envy, curse, peacemakers/seek peace, love, mercy, neighbor, workers

2. Difficult or negative themes: Testing/temptation/tempt/entice/cause to sin, death, murder/kill/shed blood, sin/sinner, evil, devil/satan, world/ungodly/wicked, pleasure, desire, adultry doubt, birth

3. Virtues: Wisdom, know/you know, patience/perseverance/stand firm, faith/trust, prayer, pure/purity/purify, righteous/upright/do right, confess/repent, fear of the Lord/live in fear of God, (Good) fruit, firstfruits

4. God/Lord/Father, bless/blessing/blessed, law, Sum of law: love others, God’s/Jesus’ Word, truth, judge/judgment, save

5. Good counsel: riches, the Poor, tomorrow, listen, life, swearing/vows, our spirit

6. Vocatives

7. Realm of nature: Wind, withering grass/fading flowers, fire, water, figs/olives, sow/ harvest, rain, heaven/sky/God’s realm, sun

1. Relational themes: Tongue, word/speech/say/speak, quarrels/fights/grumble/slander, anger, favoritism/discrimination, humble/humility, pride/proud, boast/exalt, judge(one another), envy, curse, peacemakers, love, mercy, neighbors, workers

Tongue (glōssa)

James: 1:26: If anyone considers himself religious and yet does not keep a tight rein on his tongue, he deceives himself and his religion is worthless.

3:1-12

Proverbs: 6:16: There are six things the Lord hates, seven that are detestable to him: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood,

10:19-20: When words are many, sin is not absent, but he who holds his tongue is wise.

The tongue of the righteous is choice silver, but the heart of the wicked is of little value.

13:3 says, “Those who control their tongue will have a long life; opening your mouth can ruin everything.”

15:2: “The tongue of the wise makes knowledge appealing, but the mouth of a fool belches out foolishness.”

15:4: “Gentle words are a tree of life; a deceitful tongue crushes the spirit.”

17:20: A man of perverse heart does not prosper; he whose tongue is deceitful falls into trouble.

18:21: “The tongue can bring death or life; those who love to talk will reap the consequences.”

18:28: Even a fool is thought wise if he keeps silent, and discerning if he holds his tongue.

21:6: A fortune made by a lying tongue is a fleeting vapor and a deadly snare

21:23: “Watch your tongue and keep your mouth shut, and you will stay out of trouble.”

25:15: Through patience a ruler can be persuaded, and a gentle tongue can break a bone.

25:23: “As surely as a north wind brings rain, so a gossiping tongue causes anger!”

26:28: A lying tongue hates those it hurts, and a flattering mouth works ruin.

28:23: He who rebukes a man will in the end gain more favor than he who has a flattering tongue.

31:26: She speaks with wisdom, and faithful instruction is on her tongue.

Jesus: No use of the literal word tongue, but lots of speech acts like in next section:

Word/speech/say/speak (James used “word” as the message, which is discussed in point 4)

James: 1:13: When tempted, no one should say, “God is tempting me.” For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone;

2:3: If you show special attention to the man wearing fine clothes and say, “Here’s a good seat for you,” but say to the poor man, “You stand there” or “Sit on the floor by my feet,”

2:16: If one of you says to him, “Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it?

2:18: But someone will say, “You have faith; I have deeds.”

Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do.

3:2: We all stumble in many ways. If anyone is never at fault in what he says, he is a perfect man, able to keep his whole body in check.

4:13: Now listen, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.”

4:15: Instead, you ought to say, “If it is the Lordʼs will, we will live and do this or that.”

(Scripture says: 2:23, 4:5-6)

Proverbs: 8:8: All the words of my mouth are just; none of them is crooked or perverse.

8:7: My mouth speaks what is true, for my lips detest wickedness.

22:1 He who loves a pure heart and whose speech is gracious will have the king for his friend.

word=30+X

Jesus: Mat. 6:7: And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words.

Mat. 5:22: Again, anyone who says to his brother, ‘Raca’ is answerable to the Sanhedrin. But anyone who says, ‘You fool!’ will be in danger of the fire of hell.

Mat. 6:31: So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’

Mat. 7:4: How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye?

Mat. 7:21-23: Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’ 23Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’

Mat. 12:33-37 (36-37: But I tell you that men will have to give account on the day of judgment for every careless word they have spoken. 37For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned.”)

Mat. 15:8: “ ‘These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.

Mat. 17:20-22: He replied, “Because you have so little faith. I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.”

Lk 6:45 The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For out of the overflow of his heart his mouth speaks.

Lk. 12:10 And everyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but anyone who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven.

Quarrels/fights/grumble/slander

James: 2:7: Are they not the ones (rich) who are slandering the noble name of him to whom you belong?

4:1-2: “What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you? 2You want something but don’t get it. You kill and covet, but you cannot have what you want. You quarrel and fight. You do not have, because you do not ask God.”

4:11 “Brothers, do not slander one another. Anyone who speaks against his brother or judges him speaks against the law and judges it.”

5:9: Don’t grumble against each other, brothers, or you will be judged.

Proverbs: 13:10: Pride only breeds quarrels, but wisdom is found in those who take advice.

15:18: A hot-tempered man stirs up dissension, but a patient man calms a quarrel.

17:14: Starting a quarrel is like breaching a dam; so drop the matter before a dispute breaks out.

17:19: He who loves a quarrel loves sin; he who builds a high gate invites destruction.

20:3: t is to a man’s honor to avoid strife, but every fool is quick to quarrel.

22:10: Drive out the mocker, and out goes strife; quarrels and insults are ended.

26:20: Drive out the mocker, and out goes strife; quarrels and insults are ended.

S: 10:18: He who conceals his hatred has lying lips, and whoever spreads slander is a fool.

30:10: “Do not slander a servant to his master, or he will curse you, and you will pay for it.

Jesus: Mat. 15:19: For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander.

Mk. 7:22: greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly.

Anger

James: 1:19-20: My dear brothers, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, for man’s anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires.

Proverbs: (15X) 5:17, 14:4, 15:1, 20:2, 20:16, 21:14, 22:3, 22:24, 27:4, 27:12, 27:13, 29:8, 29:11, 30:33

Jesus: Mat. 5:22: But I tell you that anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment.

Mk. 7:22: greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly.

Favoritism/discrimination/oppress/contempt vs. the poor

James:

2:1-4: My brothers, as believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ, don’t show favoritism. Suppose a man comes into your meeting wearing a gold ring and fine clothes, and a poor man in shabby clothes also comes in. If you show special attention to the man wearing fine clothes and say, “Here’s a good seat for you,” but say to the poor man, “You stand there” or “Sit on the floor by my feet,” have you not discriminated among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts?

2:9: : ““Love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing right. But if you show favoritism, you sin and are convicted by the law as lawbreakers.”

5:4-6: Look! The wages you failed to pay the workmen who mowed your fields are crying out against you. The cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord Almighty. 5You have lived on earth in luxury and self-indulgence. You have fattened yourselves in the day of slaughter. 6You have condemned and murdered innocent men, who were not opposing you.

Proverbs: 14:31: He who oppresses the poor shows contempt for their Maker, but whoever is kind to the needy honors God.

17:5: He who mocks the poor shows contempt for their Maker; whoever gloats over disaster will not go unpunished.

22:16: He who oppresses the poor to increase his wealth and he who gives gifts to the rich—both come to poverty.

28:3: A ruler who oppresses the poor is like a driving rain that leaves no crops.

29:13: The poor man and the oppressor have this in common: The Lord gives sight to the eyes of both.

Jesus: Lk. 14:8-10: When someone invites you to a wedding feast, do not take the place of honor, for a person more distinguished than you may have been invited. If so, the host who invited both of you will come and say to you, ‘Give this man your seat.’ Then, humiliated, you will have to take the least important place. But when you are invited, take the lowest place, so that when your host comes, he will say to you, ‘Friend, move up to a better place.’ Then you will be honored in the presence of all your fellow guests.

Lk.14:12-14: (13:But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, 14and you will be blessed. )

Humble/humility (usually contrasted with pride)

James 4:6: But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says: “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”

4:10: Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.

Proverbs 3:34: He mocks proud mockers but gives grace to the humble.

6:3b: Go and humble yourself; press your plea with your neighbor!

11:12: When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with humility comes wisdom.

15:33: The fear of the Lord teaches a man wisdom, and humility comes before honor.

18:12: Before his downfall a man’s heart is proud, but humility comes before honor.

22:4: Humility and the fear of the Lord bring wealth and honor and life.

Jesus: Mat. 11:29: Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.

Mat. 18:4: Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.

Mat. 23:12: For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.

Pride/proud

James: 4:6: But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says: “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.

1:9-10: The brother in humble circumstances ought to take pride in his high position. 10But the one who is rich should take pride in his low position, because he will pass away like a wild flower.

Proverbs: 8:13: To fear the Lord is to hate evil; I hate pride and arrogance, evil behavior and perverse speech.

3:34: He mocks proud mockers but gives grace to the humble

11:2: When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with humility comes wisdom.

18:12: Before his downfall a manʼs heart is proud, but humility comes before honor.

21:24: The proud and arrogant man—“Mocker” is his name; he behaves with overweening pride.

29:23: A man’s pride brings him low, but a man of lowly spirit gains honor.

Jesus: see exalt below.

Boast/exalt

James 3:5: Likewise the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark.

3:14: But if you harbor bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast about it or deny the truth.

4:16: As it is, you boast and brag. All such boasting is evil.

Proverbs 25:14:  Like clouds and wind without rain is a man who boasts of gifts he does not give.

27:1: Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring forth.

25:26: Do not exalt yourself in the kingʼs presence, and do not claim a place among great men;

30:22: “If you have played the fool and exalted yourself, or if you have planned evil, clap your hand over your mouth!

Jesus: Mat. 23:12: For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted. (X3)

Judge (one another)

James: 2:4: have you not discriminated among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts?

4:11-12: Brothers, do not slander one another. Anyone who speaks against his brother or judges him speaks against the law and judges it. When you judge the law, you are not keeping it, but sitting in judgment on it. There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the one who is able to save and destroy. But you—who are you to judge your neighbor?

Proverbs 31:9: Speak up and judge fairly; defend the rights of the poor and needy.”

Jesus: Mat. 7:1-5: Do not judge, or you too will be judged. 2For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.

Lk. 6:37: Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven.

Jn. 8:15: You judge by human standards; I pass judgment on no one.

Deceive

James: 1:22: Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.

1:16, 1:26

Proverbs: 24:28: Do not testify against your neighbor without cause,

or use your lips to deceive.

14:15, 26:19

Jesus: Mat. 24:4-5: Jesus answered: “Watch out that no one deceives you. 5For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will deceive many.

24:11: and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people.

24:24: For false Christs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and miracles to deceive even the elect—if that were possible.

Envy

James: 3:14: But if you harbor bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast about it or deny the truth.

3:16: For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice.

Proverbs: 3:31: Do not envy a violent man or choose any of his ways,

14:30: A heart at peace gives life to the body, but envy rots the bones.

23:17a: Do not let your heart envy sinners,

24:1: Do not envy wicked men, do not desire their company;

Jesus: Mk. 7:22: greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly.

Curse

James: 3:9: With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in Godʼs likeness.

Proverbs: 20:20: If a man curses his father or mother, his lamp will be snuffed out in pitch darkness.

3:33: The Lordʼs curse is on the house of the wicked, but he blesses the home of the righteous.

11:26: People curse the man who hoards grain, but blessing crowns him who is willing to sell.

28:27: He who gives to the poor will lack nothing, but he who closes his eyes to them receives many curses.

30:11:“There are those who curse their fathers and do not bless their mothers

Jesus: Lk. 6:8: bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.

(Mat. 5:44): But I tell you: Love your enemies (bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you) and pray for those who persecute you,

Mat. 15:4: For God said, ‘Honor your father and mother’ and ‘Anyone who curses his father or mother must be put to death.

Mat. 25:41: Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.

Peacemakers/seek peace

James 3:18: But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. Peacemakers who sow in peace raise a harvest of righteousness. (3:17 peace-loving)

Proverbs 12:20: There is deceit in the hearts of those who plot evil, but joy for those who promote peace.

Jesus: Mat. 5:8: Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God.

Love

James 1:12: Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him.

2:5: Listen, my dear brothers: Has not God chosen those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom he promised those who love him?

2:8: If you really keep the royal law found in Scripture, “Love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing right.

Proverbs: 3:12: because the Lord disciplines those he loves, as a father the son he delights in.

8:17: I love those who love me, and those who seek me find me.

8:21: bestowing wealth on those who love me and making their treasuries full.

10:12: Hatred stirs up dissension, but love covers over all wrongs.

14:22: But those who plan what is good find love and faithfulness.

15:9: The Lord detests the way of the wicked but he loves those who pursue righteousness.

16:6: Through love and faithfulness sin is atoned for; through the fear of the Lord a man avoids evil.

21:21: He who pursues righteousness and love finds life, prosperity and honor.

Jesus (love enemies, Father loves the Son, Son loves Father plus…)

Mat. 12:18: Here is my servant whom I have chosen, the one I love, in whom I delight;

Mat. 12:37-40: Jesus replied: “ ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

Mat. 24:12: Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold,

Lk. 11:42: Woe to you Pharisees, because you give God a tenth of your mint, rue and all other kinds of garden herbs, but you neglect justice and the love of God. You should have practiced the latter without leaving the former undone.

Jn. 13:34: A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”

Jn. 14:15: If you love me, you will obey what I command.

14:21: Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him.”

Jn. 14:23-24: Jesus replied, “If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.  He who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me.

Jn. 15:9-10: As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father’s commands and remain in his love.

Jn. 15:12-13: My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.

Jn. 15:17: This is my command: Love each other.

Jn. 16:27: No, the Father himself loves you because you have loved me and have believed that I came from God.

Mercy

James 2:13: because judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful. Mercy triumphs over judgment!

3:17: But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere.

5:11: As you know, we consider blessed those who have persevered. You have heard of Job’s perseverance and have seen what the Lord finally brought about. The Lord is full of compassion and mercy.

Proverbs 18:23:  A poor man pleads for mercy, but a rich man answers harshly.

21:10: The wicked man craves evil; his neighbor gets no mercy from him.

28:13: He who conceals his sins does not prosper, but whoever confesses and renounces them finds mercy.

Jesus: Mat. 5:7: Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.

Mat. 9:13: But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”

Mat. 12:7: If you had known what these words mean, ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the innocent.

Mat. 23:23: “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices—mint, dill and cummin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former.

Mk. 5:19: Jesus did not let him, but said, “Go home to your family and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you.”

Neighbor

James: 2:8: If you really keep the royal law found in Scripture, “Love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing right.

4:12b: But you—who are you to judge your neighbor?

Proverbs: 3:29: Do not plot harm against your neighbor, who lives trustfully near you.

Jesus: 19:19: honor your father and mother,’ and ‘love your neighbor as yourself.’

Workers (deserve their wages)

James: 5:4: Look! The wages you failed to pay the workmen who mowed your fields are crying out against you. The cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord Almighty.

Proverbs: 12:14: From the fruit of his lips a man is filled with good things as surely as the work of his hands rewards him.

(31:9: Speak up and judge fairly; defend the rights of the poor and needy.”)

Jesus: Lk. 10:7: Stay in that house, eating and drinking whatever they give you, for the worker deserves his wages. Do not move around from house to house.

2. Testing/temptation/tempt/entice/cause to sin, death, murder/kill,shed blood, sin/sinner, evil, devil/satan, world, pleasure, desire , adultery, doubt, birth

Testing/temptation/tempt/entice/cause to sin

James: 1:2: Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance.

1:12: Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him.

1:13-14: When tempted, no one should say, “God is tempting me.” For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; 14but each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed.

Proverbs: 17:3:The crucible for silver and the furnace for gold, but the Lord tests the heart.

27:21: The crucible for silver and the furnace for gold, but man is tested by the praise he receives.

1:10: My son, if sinners entice you, do not give in to them.

16:29: A violent man entices his neighbor and leads him down a path that is not good.

Jesus: Mat. 6:13:And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.’

Mat. 18:6: But if anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a large millstone hung around his neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea.

Mat. 26:41: “Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the body is weak.”

Lk. 22:46: “Why are you sleeping?” he asked them. “Get up and pray so that you will not fall into temptation.”

Death

James 1:15: Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.

5:20: remember this: Whoever turns a sinner from the error of his way will save him from death and cover over a multitude of sins.

Proverbs: Wayward woman leads to death

10:2:  Ill-gotten treasures are of no value, but righteousness delivers from death.

11:4: Wealth is worthless in the day of wrath, but righteousness delivers from death.

11:19:  The truly righteous man attains life, but he who pursues evil goes to his death.

13:14: The teaching of the wise is a fountain of life, turning a man from the snares of death.

14:12: There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death.

14:27: The fear of the Lord is a fountain of life, turning a man from the snares of death.

18:21: The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit.

19:18: Discipline your son, for in that there is hope; do not be a willing party to his death.

21:25: The sluggard’s craving will be the death of him, because his hands refuse to work.

23:14: Punish him with the rod and save his soul from death.

24:11: Rescue those being led away to death; hold back those staggering toward slaughter.

Jesus in John:

5:24: “I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life.

8:51: I tell you the truth, if anyone keeps my word, he will never see death.”

Murder/kill/shed blood

James: 2:11: For he who said, “Do not commit adultery,” also said, “Do not murder.” If you do not commit adultery but do commit murder, you have become a lawbreaker.

4:2b: You kill and covet, but you cannot have what you want.

5:6: You have condemned and murdered innocent men, who were not opposing you.

Proverbs: 1:16: for their feet rush into sin, they are swift to shed blood.

28:17: A man tormented by the guilt of murder will be a fugitive till death;

let no one support him.

29:10: Bloodthirsty men hate a man of integrity and seek to kill the upright.

Jesus: Mk. 7:21: For from within, out of men’s hearts, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery,

Mk. 10:19a: You know the commandments: ‘Do not murder, do not commit adultery,

Sin/sinner

James 1:15: Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.

2:9: But if you show favoritism, you sin and are convicted by the law as lawbreakers.

4:8: Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.

4:17: Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn’t do it, sins.

5:15-16: And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up. If he has sinned, he will be forgiven. Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.

5:20: remember this: Whoever turns a sinner from the error of his way will save him from death and cover over a multitude of sins.

Proverbs: 23X

1:10: My son, if sinners entice you, do not give in to them.

1:16: for their feet rush into sin, they are swift to shed blood.

5:22: The evil deeds of a wicked man ensnare him; the cords of his sin hold him fast.

10:19: When words are many, sin is not absent, but he who holds his tongue is wise.

11:31: If the righteous receive their due on earth, how much more the ungodly and the sinner!

12:13:An evil man is trapped by his sinful talk, but a righteous man escapes trouble.

13:21-22: Misfortune pursues the sinner, but prosperity is the reward of the righteous. A good man leaves an inheritance for his children’s children, but a sinner[s wealth is stored up for the righteous.

14:9: Fools mock at making amends for sin, but goodwill is found among the upright.

14:21: He who despises his neighbor sins, but blessed is he who is kind to the needy.

14:34: Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a disgrace to any people.

16:6: Through love and faithfulness sin is atoned for; through the fear of the Lord  a man avoids evil.

17:19: He who loves a quarrel loves sin; he who builds a high gate invites destruction.

20:9: Who can say, “I have kept my heart pure; I am clean and without sin”?

21:4: Haughty eyes and a proud heart, the lamp of the wicked, are sin!

23:17: Do not let your heart envy sinners, but always be zealous for the fear of the Lord.

24:9: The schemes of folly are sin, and men detest a mocker.

28:13: He who conceals his sins does not prosper, but whoever confesses and renounces them finds mercy.

29:6: An evil man is snared by his own sin, but a righteous one can sing and be glad.

29:16: When the wicked thrive, so does sin, but the righteous will see their downfall.

29:22: An angry man stirs up dissension, and a hot-tempered one commits many sins.

Jesus: Mat. 6:15: But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.

Mat. 13:41: The Son of Man will send out his angels, and they will weed out of his kingdom everything that causes sin and all who do evil.

Mat. 18:15: “If your brother sins against you, go and show him his fault, just between the two of you. If he listens to you, you have won your brother over.

Mat. 23:32: Fill up, then, the measure of the sin of your forefathers!

Mat. 26:28: This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.

Lk. 7:47: Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven—for she loved much. But he who has been forgiven little loves little.”

Lk. 11:4: Forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who sins against us.

Lk. 17:1-3: “Things that cause people to sin are bound to come, but woe to that person through whom they come. 2It would be better for him to be thrown into the sea with a millstone tied around his neck than for him to cause one of these little ones to sin. 3So watch yourselves.

Lk. 17:3-4: If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him. 4If he sins against you seven times in a day, and seven times comes back to you and says, ‘I repent,’ forgive him.”

Lk. 24:47: and repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.

Jn. 8:24: I told you that you would die in your sins; if you do not believe that I am the one I claim to be,a you will indeed die in your sins.”

Jn. 16:8-9: When he comes, he will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment: 9in regard to sin, because men do not believe in me;

Jn. 20:23: If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”

Mat. 9:13: ..for I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”

Lk. 6:32-24: If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even ‘sinners’ love those who love them. 33And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even ‘sinners’ do that. 34And if you lend to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? Even ‘sinners’ lend to ‘sinners,’ expecting to be repaid in full.

Lk. 15:7: I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.

Evil

James 1:13-14: For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; but each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed.

1:21: Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you.

2:4: have you not discriminated among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts?

3:6:  The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole person, sets the whole course of his life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell.

3:8: but no man can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.

3:16: For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice.

4:16: As it is, you boast and brag. All such boasting is evil.

Proverbs: 11:6: The righteousness of the upright delivers them, but the unfaithful are trapped by evil desires.

45X

Jesus: Mat. 15:19: For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander.

25X

Devil/satan

James: 3:15: Such “wisdom” does not come down from heaven but is earthly, unspiritual, of the devil.

4:7: Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

Proverbs: No direct reference

Jesus: Mat. 13:39: and the enemy who sows them is the devil. The harvest is the end of the age, and the harvesters are angels.

Mat. 25:41: “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.

Jn. 6:70: Then Jesus replied, “Have I not chosen you, the Twelve? Yet one of you is a devil!”

Jn. 8:44: You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your fatherʼs desire. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.

Satan: Mat. 4:10: Jesus said to him, “Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only

Mat. 12:26-27: If Satan drives out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then can his kingdom stand? And if I drive out demons by Beelzebub, by whom do your people drive them out? So then, they will be your judges.

Mat. 16:23: Jesus turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men.”

Mk. 3:23: So Jesus called them and spoke to them in parables: “How can Satan drive out Satan?

Mk. 4:15: Some people are like seed along the path, where the word is sown. As soon as they hear it, Satan comes and takes away the word that was sown in them.

Lk. 10:18: He replied, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.

Lk. 13:16: Then should not this woman, a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has kept bound for eighteen long years, be set free on the Sabbath day from what bound her?

Lk. 22:31: “Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift youa as wheat.

World (ungodly/wicked)

James: 4:4: You adulterous people, don’t you know that friendship with the world is hatred toward God? Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God.

Proverbs: 11:31: If the righteous receive their due on earth, how much more the ungodly and the sinner!

5:22: The evil deeds of a wicked man ensnare him; the cords of his sin hold him fast.

Jesus: Jn. 14:17: the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you.

Jn. 15:19: If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you.

17:15: My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one.

100X

Pleasure

James: 4:3: When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.

Proverbs: 10:23a: A fool finds pleasure in evil conduct,

Jesus: Lk. 8:14: The seed that fell among thorns stands for those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by life’s worries, riches and pleasures, and they do not mature.

Desire

James: 1:14: But each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed.

Proverbs: 11:6: The righteousness of the upright delivers them, but the unfaithful are trapped by evil desires.

Jesus: Mk. 4:19: but the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things come in and choke the word, making it unfruitful.

Mat. 5:28: But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart

Adultery

James: 2:11: For he who said, “Do not commit adultery, also said, “Do not murder.” If you do not commit adultery but do commit murder, you have become a lawbreaker.

Proverbs: 6:32: But a man who commits adultery lacks judgment; whoever does so destroys himself.

6:24-29: keeping you from the immoral woman, from the smooth tongue of the wayward wife.

25Do not lust in your heart after her beauty or let her captivate you with her eyes,

26for the prostitute reduces you to a loaf of bread, and the adulteress preys upon your very life.

27Can a man scoop fire into his lap without his clothes being burned? 28Can a man walk on hot coals without his feet being scorched? 29So is he who sleeps with another man’s wife;

no one who touches her will go unpunished.

7:10-27 (10:Then out came a woman to meet him, dressed like a prostitute and with crafty intent. 19-20: My husband is not at home; he has gone on a long journey. 20He took his purse filled with money and will not be home till full moon.” )

Wayward: 20:16/27:13: Take the garment of one who puts up security for a stranger; hold it in pledge if he does it for a wayward woman.

Indescreet: 11:22: Like a gold ring in a pig’s snout is a beautiful woman who shows no discretion.

Jesus: Mt. 5:27-28: “You have heard that it was said, ‘Do not commit adultery.’28But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.

Mat. 5:32: But I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for marital unfaithfulness, causes her to become an adulteress, and anyone who marries the divorced woman commits adultery.

15:19: For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander.

19:9: I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for marital unfaithfulness, and marries another woman commits adultery.”

19:18 “Which ones?” the man inquired. Jesus replied, “ ‘Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not give false testimony,

Doubt

James: 1:6: But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.

Proverbs: ?

Jesus: Mat. 21:21: Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, if you have faith and do not doubt, not only can you do what was done to the fig tree, but also you can say to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and it will be done.

Lk. 24:38: He said to them, “Why are you troubled, and why do doubts rise in your minds?

Jn. 20:27: Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.”

Birth (both good and bad)/produce

James: 1:15: Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.

1:18: He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of all he created.

Proverbs: 30:33: For as churning the milk produces butter, and as twisting the nose produces blood, so stirring up anger produces strife.”

Many verses of actions leading to good or bad consequences.

Jesus: Jn. 3:16: Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit.

3. Virtues: Wisdom, know, faith, perseverance, prayer, pure/purity/purify, righteous/upright/do right, confess/repent, fear of the Lord/live w/o fear of God/(good)fruit/firstfruits

Wisdom:

James: 3:13-18: Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show it by his good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom. But if you harbor bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast about it or deny the truth. Such “wisdom” does not come down from heaven but is earthly, unspiritual, of the devil. For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice. But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. Peacemakers who sow in peace raise a harvest of righteousness.

Proverbs: 4:5-7: Get wisdom, get understanding; do not forget my words or swerve from them.

Do not forsake wisdom, and she will protect you; love her, and she will watch over you. Wisdom is supreme; therefore get wisdom. Though it cost all you have,  get understanding.

59X

Jesus: Mat. 7:24:

Mat. 11:19b:  ’ But wisdom is proved right by her actions.”

Mat. 12:42b: for she came from the ends of the earth to listen to Solomon’s wisdom, and now one greater than Solomon is here.

Mat. 24:45: “Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom the master has put in charge of the servants in his household to give them their food at the proper time?

Mat. 25:1-8: “At that time the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. 2Five of them were foolish and five were wise. 3The foolish ones took their lamps but did not take any oil with them. 4The wise, however, took oil in jars along with their lamps. 5The bridegroom was a long time in coming, and they all became drowsy and fell asleep. 6“At midnight the cry rang out: ‘Hereʼs the bridegroom! Come out to meet him!’ 7“Then all the virgins woke up and trimmed their lamps. 8The foolish ones said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil; our lamps are going out.’

Lk. 7:35: But wisdom is proved right by all her children.”

Lk. 11:31: The Queen of the South will rise at the judgment with the men of this generation and condemn them; for she came from the ends of the earth to listen to Solomonʼs wisdom, and now one greater than Solomon is here.

Lk. 11:49: Because of this, God in his wisdom said, ‘I will send them prophets and apostles, some of whom they will kill and others they will persecute.’

Lk. 21:15: For I will give you words and wisdom that none of your adversaries will be able to resist or contradict.

Know/You know

James: 1:3: because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance.

3:1: Not many of you should presume to be teachers, my brothers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly.

4:4: You adulterous people, don’t you know that friendship with the world is hatred toward God? Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God.

4:14: Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.

4:17: Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn’t do it, sins.

5:11: As you know, we consider blessed those who have persevered. You have heard of Job’s perseverance and have seen what the Lord finally brought about. The Lord is full of compassion and mercy.

Proverbs: (lots of verses 50? with knowledge)

4:19: But the way of the wicked is like deep darkness; they do not know what makes them stumble.

10:32: The lips of the righteous know what is fitting, but the mouth of the wicked only what is perverse.

27:1: Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring forth.

Jesus: (God knows and..)

Mat. 7:11: If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!

Mat. 9:6: But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins….” Then he said to the paralytic, “Get up, take your mat and go home.”

Mat. 11:27: All things have been committed to me by my Father. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.

Mat. 12:7: If you had known what these words mean, ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the innocent.

Mat. 16:3:  and in the morning, ‘Today it will be stormy, for the sky is red and overcast.’ You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, but you cannot interpret the signs of the times.

Mat. 20:22: You don’t know what you are asking,” Jesus said to them. “Can you drink the cup I am going to drink?” “We can,” they answered.

Mat. 20:25: Jesus called them together and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them.

Mat. 22:29: Jesus replied, “You are in error because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God.

Mat. 24:33: Even so, when you see all these things, you know that it is near, right at the door.

Mat. 24:26: No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.

Mat. 24:42: “Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come.

25:13: “Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour.

Patience, persevere, perseverance/stand firm

James: 1:3-4: because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.

1:12: Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him.

5:7-11: Be patient, then, brothers, until the Lord’s coming. See how the farmer waits for the land to yield its valuable crop and how patient he is for the autumn and spring rains.  You too, be patient and stand firm, because the Lordʼs coming is near. Don’t grumble against each other, brothers, or you will be judged. The Judge is standing at the door! Brothers, as an example of patience in the face of suffering, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. As you know, we consider blessed those who have persevered. You have heard of Job’s perseverance and have seen what the Lord finally brought about. The Lord is full of compassion and mercy.

Proverbs: 10:25: When the storm has swept by, the wicked are gone, but the righteous stand firm forever.

12:7: Wicked men are overthrown and are no more, but the house of the righteous stands firm.

Jesus Mat. 10:22: All men will hate you because of me, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved.

Mat. 24:12-13: Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved.

Lk. 21:19: By standing firm you will gain life.

Faith, trust

James 1:3:because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance.

2:5: Listen, my dear brothers: Has not God chosen those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom he promised those who love him?

2:14: What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him?

2:17-20: In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. But someone will say, “You have faith; I have deeds.” Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do. You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder. You foolish man, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless?

2:22-24: You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did. And the scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,” and he was called God’s friend. You see that a person is justified by what he does and not by faith alone.

2:26: As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.

5:15: And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up. If he has sinned, he will be forgiven.

Proverbs: 17X faithful, unfaithful

3:5: Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding;

11:28: Whoever trusts in his riches will fall, but the righteous will thrive like a green leaf.

16:20: Whoever gives heed to instruction prospers, and blessed is he who trusts in the Lord.

22:29: So that your trust may be in the Lord, I teach you today, even you.

28:25-26: A greedy man stirs up dissension, but he who trusts in the Lord will prosper. He who trusts in himself is a fool, but he who walks in wisdom is kept safe.

29:25: Fear of man will prove to be a snare, but whoever trusts in the Lord is kept safe.

Jesus: Jn. 14:1: “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me.

Mat. 6:30b: will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?

Mat. 8:10b: “I tell you the truth, I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith.

Mat. 8:26a: He replied, “You of little faith, why are you so afraid?”

Mt. 9:22: Some men brought to him a paralytic, lying on a mat. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Take heart, son; your sins are forgiven.”

Mat. 9:22: Jesus turned and saw her. “Take heart, daughter,” he said, “your faith has healed you.” And the woman was healed from that moment.

Mat. 9:29-30a: Then he touched their eyes and said, “According to your faith will it be done to you”; 30and their sight was restored.

Mat. 13:58: And he did not do many miracles there because of their lack of faith.

Mat. 15:28: Then Jesus answered, “Woman, you have great faith! Your request is granted.” And her daughter was healed from that very hour.

Mat. 16:8: Aware of their discussion, Jesus asked, “You of little faith, why are you talking among yourselves about having no bread?

Mat. 17:20: He replied, “Because you have so little faith. I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.”

Mat. 20:21: Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, if you have faith and do not doubt, not only can you do what was done to the fig tree, but also you can say to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and it will be done.

Mat. 24:10: At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other,

Mk. 16:14: Later Jesus appeared to the Eleven as they were eating; he rebuked them for their lack of faith and their stubborn refusal to believe those who had seen him after he had risen.

Lk. 17:5: The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!” 6He replied, “If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it will obey you.

Lk. 18:8: I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?”

Lk. 22:32: But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.”

Jn. 14:12: I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.

Prayer

James 5:13-18: Is any one of you in trouble? He should pray. Is anyone happy? Let him sing songs of praise. Is any one of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up. If he has sinned, he will be forgiven. Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.

Proverbs: 15:8: The Lord detests the sacrifice of the wicked, but the prayer of the upright pleases him.

15:29: The Lord is far from the wicked but he hears the prayer of the righteous.

28:9: If anyone turns a deaf ear to the law, even his prayers are detestable.

Jesus: Mat. 5:44: But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,

Mat. 6:5-13

Mat. 21:13: “It is written,” he said to them, “ ‘My house will be called a house of prayer,’e but you are making it a ‘den of robbers.’

Mat. 21:22: If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.”

Mat. 24:20: Pray that your flight will not take place in winter or on the Sabbath.

Mat. 26:36b: Sit here while I go over there and pray.”

Mat. 26:41: “Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the body is weak.”

Mk. 9:29: He replied, “This kind can come out only by prayer.

Mk. 11:24-25: Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. 25And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive him, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins.”

Mk. 12:40: They devour widows’ houses and for a show make lengthy prayers. Such men will be punished most severely.”

Lk. 18:10-11a: Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11The Pharisee stood up and prayed about  himself:

Jn. 17:9: I pray for them. I am not praying for the world, but for those you have given me, for they are yours.

Jn. 17:15: My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one.

Jn. 17:20: My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message,

Pure/purity/purify

James: 1:27: Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.

3:17: But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere.

4:8: Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.

Proverbs: 15:26: The Lord detests the thoughts of the wicked, but those of the pure are pleasing to him.

20:9: Who can say, “I have kept my heart pure; I am clean and without sin”?

20:11: Even a child is known by his actions, by whether his conduct is pure and right.

22:11: He who loves a pure heart and whose speech is gracious will have the king for his friend.

30:12: those who are pure in their own eyes and yet are not cleansed of their filth;

Jesus: Mat. 5:8: Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.

Righteous/upright/do right

James: 2:8: If you really keep the royal law found in Scripture, “Love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing right.

2:23: And the scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,” and he was called God’s friend.

1:20: for manʼs anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires.

2:21: Was not our ancestor Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar?

2:25: In the same way, was not even Rahab the prostitute considered righteous for what she did when she gave lodging to the spies and sent them off in a different direction?

3:18: Peacemakers who sow in peace raise a harvest of righteousness.

5:16: Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.

Proverbs: 8:20: I walk in the way of righteousness, along the paths of justice,

15:9: The Lord detests the way of the wicked but he loves those who pursue righteousness.

100X

Jesus: 5:6: Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,

for they will be filled.

50X

Confess/repent

James: 5:16: Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.

Proverbs: 28:13: He who conceals his sins does not prosper, but whoever confesses and renounces them finds mercy.

Jesus: Mat. 4:17: From that time on Jesus began to preach, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near.”

Mat. 11:20-21: Then Jesus began to denounce the cities in which most of his miracles had been performed, because they did not repent. “Woe to you, Korazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! If the miracles that were performed in you had been performed in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes.

Mat. 12:41: The men of Nineveh will stand up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and now onee greater than Jonah is here.

Mat. 21:32: For John came to you to show you the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes did. And even after you saw this, you did not repent and believe him.

Mk. 1:15: The time has come,” he said. “The kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news!”

Lk. 5:32: I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”

Lk. 13:3-5: I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish. 4Or those eighteen who died when the tower in Siloam fell on them—do you think they were more guilty than all the others living in Jerusalem? 5I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish.”

Lk. 15:7: I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.

Lk. 15:10: In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”

Lk. 16:30: ‘No, father Abraham,’ he said, ‘but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.’

Lk. 17:3: “If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him. 4If he sins against you seven times in a day, and seven times comes back to you and says, ‘I repent,’ forgive him.”

Lk. 24:47: and repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.

Fear of the Lord/live w/o fear of God

James: 2:12-13: Speak and act asthose who are going to be judged by the law that gives freedom, 13because judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful. Mercy triumphs over judgment!

4:4-10: You adulterous people, donʼt you know that friendship with the world is hatred toward God? Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God. 5Or do you think Scripture says without reason that the spirit he caused to live in us envies intensely? 6But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says: “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”7Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. 9Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. 10Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.

5:1-5: Now listen, you rich people, weep and wail because of the misery that is coming upon you. 2Your wealth has rotted, and moths have eaten your clothes. 3Your gold and silver are corroded. Their corrosion will testify against you and eat your flesh like fire. You have hoarded wealth in the last days. 4Look! The wages you failed to pay the workmen who mowed your fields are crying out against you. The cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord Almighty. 5You have lived on earth in luxury and self-indulgence. You have fattened yourselves in the day of slaughter.

Proverbs: 1:7: The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge,

but fools despise wisdom and discipline.

11 more X

Jesus: Lk. 12:5: But I will show you whom you should fear: Fear him who, after the killing of the body, has power to throw you into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him.

(Good) Fruit/firstfruits

James: 3:17: But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere.

1:18: He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of all he created.

Proverbs: 11:30: The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, and he who wins souls is wise.

8:19:My fruit is better than fine gold; what I yield surpasses choice silver.

12:14: From the fruit of his lips a man is filled with good things as surely as the work of his hands rewards him

13:2: From the fruit of his lips a man enjoys good things, but the unfaithful have a craving for violence.

18:21: The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit.

Jesus: Jn. 15:8: This is to my Fatherʼs glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.

Mat. 7:16-20: By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? 17Likewise every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. 18A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. 19Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them.

12:33: Make a tree good and its fruit will be good, or make a tree bad and its fruit will be bad, for a tree is recognized by its fruit.

13:22: The one who received the seed that fell among the thorns is the man who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke it, making it unfruitful.

21:43: “Therefore I tell you that the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people who will produce its fruit.

Jn. 15:2: He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful.

15:4-5: Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. 5“I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.

15:16: You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit—fruit that will last. Then the Father will give you whatever you ask in my name.

4. God/Lord, bless/blessing/blessed, law, Sum of law: Love neighbor/others, God’s/Jesus Word, truth, judge/judgment, save

God, Lord

James: God: 1:1, 1:5, 1:12-1:13, 1:20, 1:27, 2:5, 2:19, 2:23, 3:9, 4:2, 4:4-8

Lord( Father) 1:7:  That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord;

3:9: With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God’s likeness.

4:10: Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.

4:15: Instead, you ought to say, “If it is the Lordʼs will, we will live and do this or that.”

5:4: Look! The wages you failed to pay the workmen who mowed your fields are crying out against you. The cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord Almighty.

5:10-11: Brothers, as an example of patience in the face of suffering, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. As you know, we consider blessed those who have persevered. You have heard of Job’s perseverance and have seen what the Lord finally brought about. The Lord is full of compassion and mercy.

5:14-15: Is any one of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up. If he has sinned, he will be forgiven. (If focus is on a synagogue, God the Father. If a house church, Jesus. Or both could be in his mind.)

Lord (Jesus): 1:1: James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ,  To the twelve tribes scattered among the nations: Greetings.

2:1 My brothers, as believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ, don’t show favoritism.

5:7-8: Be patient, then, brothers, until the Lordʼs coming. See how the farmer waits for the land to yield its valuable crop and how patient he is for the autumn and spring rains. You too, be patient and stand firm, because the Lordʼs coming is near

Proverbs: (95 times in Proverbs)

1:7: The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline.

Bless, blessing, blessed

James: 1:12: Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him.

1:25: But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it—he will be blessed in what he does.

5:11: As you know, we consider blessed those who have persevered. You have heard of Job’s perseverance and have seen what the Lord finally brought about. The Lord is full of compassion and mercy.

Proverbs: 3:13: Blessed is the man who finds wisdom, the man who gains understanding,

3:18: She (Wisdom) is a tree of life to those who embrace her; those who lay hold of her will be blessed.

3:33: The Lord’s curse is on the house of the wicked, but he blesses the home of the righteous.

10:6-7: Blessings crown the head of the righteous, but violence overwhelms the mouth of the wicked, The memory of the righteous will be a blessing, but the name of the wicked will rot.

11:11: Through the blessing of the upright a city is exalted, but by the mouth of the wicked it is destroyed.

14:21: He who despises his neighbor sins, but blessed is he who is kind to the needy.

16:20: Whoever gives heed to instruction prospers, and blessed is he who trusts in the Lord.

20:7: Whoever gives heed to instruction prospers, and blessed is he who trusts in the Lord.

22:9: A generous man will himself be blessed, for he shares his food with the poor.

28:14: Blessed is the man who always fears the Lord, but he who hardens his heart falls into trouble.

28:20: A faithful man will be richly blessed, but one eager to get rich will not go unpunished.

28:18: Where there is no revelation, the people cast off restraint; but blessed is he who keeps the law.

Jesus: Mat. 5:3-11,11:6, 13:16, 16:17, 21:9, 23:39, etc.: Blessed are/is…each time Jesus says this.

Law

James: 1:25: But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it—he will be blessed in what he does.

2:8-9: If you really keep the royal law found in Scripture, “Love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing right. But if you show favoritism, you sin and are convicted by the law as lawbreakers.

2:10-12: For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breakng all of it. For he who said, “Do not commit adultery,” also said, “Do not murder.” If you do not commit adultery but do commit murder, you have become a lawbreaker. Speak and act as those who are going to be judged by the law that gives freedom,

Proverbs: 28:4: Those who forsake the law praise the wicked, but those who keep the law resist them.

28:7: He who keeps the law is a discerning son, but a companion of gluttons disgraces his father.

28:9: If anyone turns a deaf ear to the law, even his prayers are detestable.

29:18: Where there is no revelation, the people cast off restraint; but blessed is he who keeps the law.

31:4-5: “It is not for kings, O Lemuel— not for kings to drink wine, not for rulers to crave beer,

lest they drink and forget what the law decrees, and deprive all the oppressed of their rights.

Jesus: Mat. 5:17-19: “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished. Anyone who breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.

Mat. 7:12: So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.

Mat. 12:5: Or haven’t you read in the Law that on the Sabbath the priests in the temple desecrate the day and yet are innocent?

Mat. 22:37-40: “ ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

Mat. 23:23: Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices—mint, dill and cummin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former

Mark 3:4: Then Jesus asked them, “Which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill?” But they remained silent.

Lk. 6:9: Then Jesus said to them, “I ask you, which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil, to save life or to destroy it?”

Lk. 16:16: “The Law and the Prophets were proclaimed until John. Since that time, the good news of the kingdom of God is being preached, and everyone is forcing his way into it.

Jn. 17:19: Has not Moses given you the law? Yet not one of you keeps the law. Why are you trying to kill me?”

Jn. 7:23: Now if a child can be circumcised on the Sabbath so that the law of Moses may not be broken, why are you angry with me for healing the whole man on the Sabbath?

Jn. 8:17-18: In your own Law it is written that the testimony of two men is valid. I am one who testifies for myself; my other witness is the Father, who sent me.”

Jn. 10:34-35: “Is it not written in your Law, ‘I have said you are gods’? If he called them ‘gods,’ to whom the word of God came—and the Scripture cannot be broken—

15:25: But this is to fulfill what is written in their Law: ‘They hated me without reason.’

(God’s) Word (same as law?)

James 1:18-24: He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of all he created. My dear brothers, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, for man’s anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires. Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you. Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it—he will be blessed in what he does.

Proverbs (my words and…)

30:5-6: Every word of God is flawless; he is a shield to those who take refuge in him. Do not add to his words, or he will rebuke you and prove you a liar.

Jesus: (My words and…) He also uses Scripture)

Mat. 4:4: Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.”

Mt. 13:20: The one who received the seed that fell on rocky places is the man who hears the word and at once receives it with joy.

Mat. 15:6: he is not to ‘honor his father’ with it. Thus you nullify the word of God for the sake of your tradition.

Lk. 8:11-15: “This is the meaning of the parable: The seed is the word of God. Those along the path are the ones who hear, and then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, so that they may not believe and be saved. Those on the rock are the ones who receive the word with joy when they hear it, but they have no root. They believe for a while, but in the time of testing they fall away. The seed that fell among thorns stands for those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by lifeʼs worries, riches and pleasures, and they do not mature. But the seed on good soil stands for those with a noble and good heart, who hear the word, retain it, and by persevering produce a crop.

Lk. 8:21: He replied, “My mother and brothers are those who hear God’s word and put it into practice.”

Lk. 11:28: He replied, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it.

Jn. 5:37-38: And the Father who sent me has himself testified concerning me. You have never heard his voice nor seen his form, nor does his word dwell in you, for you do not believe the one he sent.

Jn. 14:24: He who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me.

Jn. 17:6: “I have revealed you to those whom you gave me out of the world. They were yours; you gave them to me and they have obeyed your word.

Jn. 17:8: For I gave them the words you gave me and they accepted them. They knew with certainty that I came from you, and they believed that you sent me.

17:14: I have given them your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world.

17:17: Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth.

Judgement (God’s)

James: 2:12-13: Speak and act as those who are going to be judged by the law that gives freedom, because judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful. Mercy triumphs over judgment!

3:1: Not many of you should presume to be teachers, my brothers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly.

4:12: There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the one who is able to save and destroy. But you—who are you to judge your neighbor?

5:9: Donʼt grumble against each other, brothers, or you will be judged. The Judge is standing at the door!

Proverbs: King should judge fairly (3X), Judgment (=discernment) 15X

Jesus: Mat 7:1-2: Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.

Jn. 5:22: Moreover, the Father judges no one, but has entrusted all judgment to the Son,

Jn. 5:30:  By myself I can do nothing; I judge only as I hear, and my judgment is just, for I seek not to please myself but him who sent me.

Jn. 8:15-16: You judge by human standards; I pass judgment on no one. But if I do judge, my decisions are right, because I am not alone. I stand with the Father, who sent me.

Jn. 12:47-8: As for the person who hears my words but does not keep them, I do not judge him. For I did not come to judge the world, but to save it. There is a judge for the one who rejects me and does not accept my words; that very word which I spoke will condemn him at the last day.

Save

James: 1:21: Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you.

Proverbs: 2:12: Wisdom will save you from the ways of wicked men, from men whose words are perverse,

2:16: (Wisdom) It will save you also from the adulteress, from the wayward wife with her seductive words,

14:25: A truthful witness saves lives, but a false witness is deceitful.

23:14: Punish him with the rod and save his soul from death.

Jesus: Mt. 10:22: All men will hate you because of me, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved.

Lk. 9:10: For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost.”

Jn. 12:47b: For I did not come to judge the world, but to save it.

5. Good counsel about riches, the poor, tomorrow, listen, life, Swearing/vows, our spirit

Riches:

James: 1:10-11: But the one who is rich should take pride in his low position, because he will pass away like a wild flower. For the sun rises with scorching heat and withers the plant; its blossom falls and its beauty is destroyed. In the same way, the rich man will fade away even while he goes about his business.

2:5-7: Listen, my dear brothers: Has not God chosen those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom he promised those who love him? But you have insulted the poor. Is it not the rich who are exploiting you? Are they not the ones who are dragging you into court? Are they not the ones who are slandering the noble name of him to whom you belong?

5:1-6: Now listen, you rich people, weep and wail because of the misery that is coming upon you. Your wealth has rotted, and moths have eaten your clothes. Your gold and silver are corroded. Their corrosion will testify against you and eat your flesh like fire. You have hoarded wealth in the last days. Look! The wages you failed to pay the workmen who mowed your fields are crying out against you. The cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord Almighty. You have lived on earth in luxury and self-indulgence. You have fattened yourselves in the day of slaughter. You have condemned and murdered innocent men, who were not opposing you.

Proverbs: 11:28: Whoever trusts in his riches will fall, but the righteous will thrive like a green leaf.

18:23 A poor man pleads for mercy, but a rich man answers harshly.

22:1: A good name is more desirable than great riches; to be esteemed is better than silver or gold.

23:4: Do not wear yourself out to get rich; have the wisdom to show restraint.

23:5: Cast but a glance at riches, and they are gone, for they will surely sprout wings and fly off to the sky like an eagle.

27:24: riches do not endure forever, and a crown is not secure for all generations.

28:6: Better a poor man whose walk is blameless than a rich man whose ways are perverse. 28:11: A rich man may be wise in his own eyes, but a poor man who has discernment sees through him.

28:20: A faithful man will be richly blessed, but one eager to get rich will not go unpunished. 30:8: Keep falsehood and lies far from me; give me neither poverty nor riches, but give me only my daily bread.

Jesus: Mat. 6:19-21: Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

Mat. 19:23-4: Then Jesus said to his disciples, “I tell you the truth, it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.”

Lk. 6:24: But woe to you who are rich, for you have already received your comfort. Woe to you who are well fed now, for you will go hungry.

Lk. 8:14: The seed that fell among thorns stands for those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by lifeʼs worries, riches and pleasures, and they do not mature.

Lk. 12:21: “This is how it will be with anyone who stores up things for himself but is not rich toward God.” (+this parable of rich fool)

16:22 (parable of rich man and Lazarus) The rich man also died and was buried. In hell, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side.

The Poor

James: 2:5-6a: Listen, my dear brothers: Has not God chosen those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom he promised those who love him? 6But you have insulted the poor.

2:2-6

Proverbs: 14:31: He who oppresses the poor shows contempt for their Maker,

but whoever is kind to the needy honors God.

30+X

Jesus: Lk. 14:L13: But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, 14and you will be blessed. Although they cannot repay you, you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.”

20+X

Tomorrow

James 4:13-15: Now listen, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.” Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Instead, you ought to say, “If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.”

Proverbs 27:1 Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring forth.

Jesus: Mat. 6:34: Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

Listen (as a command and statement)

James: 1:19: My dear brothers, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry.

1:22-23: Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror.

2:5: Listen, my dear brothers: Has not God chosen those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom he promised those who love him?

4:13: Now listen, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.”

5:1: Now listen, you rich people, weep and wail because of the misery that is coming upon you.

Proverbs: 1:5: let the wise listen and add to their learning, and let the discerning get guidance—

1:8: Listen, my son, to your fatherʼs instruction and do not forsake your motherʼs teaching.

4:1: Listen, my sons, to a fatherʼs instruction; pay attention and gain understanding.

4:10: Listen, my son, accept what I say, and the years of your life will be many.

4:20: My son, pay attention to what I say; listen closely to my words.

5:1: My son, pay attention to my wisdom, listen well to my words of insight, + others to son

8:6: Listen, for I have worthy things to say; I open my lips to speak what is right.

8:34: Blessed is the man who listens to me, watching daily at my doors, waiting at my doorway.

12:15: The way of a fool seems right to him, but a wise man listens to advice.

13:1: A wise son heeds his fatherʼs instruction, but a mocker does not listen to rebuke.

15:31: He who listens to a life-giving rebuke will be at home among the wise.

19:20: Listen to advice and accept instruction, and in the end you will be wise.

22:17: Pay attention and listen to the sayings of the wise; apply your heart to what I teach,

Jesus: Mat. 13:18: “Listen then to what the parable of the sower means:

Mat. 15:10: Jesus called the crowd to him and said, “Listen and understand.

Lk. 10:16: “He who listens to you listens to me; he who rejects you rejects me; but he who rejects me rejects him who sent me.”

Lk. 18:6: And the Lord said, “Listen to what the unjust judge says.

Jn. 6:45: It is written in the Prophets: ‘They will all be taught by God.’ Everyone who listens to the Father and learns from him comes to me.

Jn. 10:3: The watchman opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.

Jn. 10:8: All who ever came before me were thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them.

Jn. 10:16: I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also. They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd.

Jn. 10:27: My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.

Jn. 18:37b: Everyone on the side of truth listens to me.”

Life

James: 1:12: Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him.

1:20: for man’s anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires.

3:6: The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole person, sets the whole course of his life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell.

3:13: Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show it by his good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom.

4:14: Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.

Proverbs: 3:21-22: My son, preserve sound judgment and discernment, do not let them out of your sight; 22they will be life for you, an ornament to grace your neck.

49X

Jesus: Jn. 6:63: The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you are spirit and they are life.

100X

Swearing/vows

James: 5:2: Above all, my brothers, do not swear—not by heaven or by earth or by anything else. Let your “Yes” be yes, and your “No,” no, or you will be condemned.

Proverbs: 20:25: It is a trap for a man to dedicate something rashly

and only later to consider his vows.

Jesus: Mat. 5:34-37: But I tell you, Do not swear at all: either by heaven, for it is God’s throne; 35or by the earth, for it is his footstool; or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the Great King. 36And do not swear by your head, for you cannot make even one hair white or black. 37Simply let your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No,’ ‘No’; anything beyond this comes from the evil one

Our spirit

James: 2:26: As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.

4:5: Or do you think Scripture says without reason that the spirit he caused to live in us envies intensely?

Proverbs: 20:7 The lamp of the Lord searches the spirit of a man; it searches out his inmost being.

Jesus: Mt. 26:41: Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the body is weak.”

Lk. 23:46: Jesus called out with a loud voice, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.” When he had said this, he breathed his last.

Jn. 3:6: Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit.

4:23-24: Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. 24God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth.”

6. Vocatives:

James: 2:5: Listen, my dear brothers: Has not God chosen those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom he promised those who love him?

2:20: You foolish man, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless?,

4:4: You adulterous people

4:8: Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.

4:13: Now listen, you who say…

4:14: What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.

5:1: Now listen, you rich people, weep and wail because of the misery that is coming upon you.

Proverbs: My son(s), others? 1:22, 8:5 you simple ones, 8:4 To you, O men,

Jesus: Mat. (3.7; 12.34; 23.33) Brood of vipers

Mat. 7:5 Hypocrite!,  15.7 and 22.18 in plural 23:13-29: (23.13-29), Jesus addresses his opponents several times as “scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!”  “hypocrites” in Luke 12.56 and 13.15,

Mat 9:2 My child, 9:22 Daughter

Mat. 15:28 Woman. Also to mother Jn. 2.4 and to Mary Magdalene in John 19.26 and 20.15

16:23 Get behind me, Satan

Mat. “people of little faith” occur (6.30; 8.26; 14.31; 16.8). Not exactly a vocative

“blind guides” in 23.16 and 24), (“blind fools” in 23.17), and (“blind men” in 23.19)

Mat.  “faithless generation” in 17.17

Mat. 26:50 My friend (to Judas) In parables has negative connotation (Mat. 20.13; 22.12)

7. Realm of nature:

Wind (instability)

James: 1:6: But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.

Proverbs: 25:14: Like clouds and wind without rain is a man who boasts of gifts he does not give.

Jesus: 11:7: What did you go out into the desert to see? A reed swayed by the wind?

Withering grass and fading flowers

James: 1:10-11: But the one who is rich should take pride in his low position, because he will pass away like a wild flower. 11For the sun rises with scorching heat and withers the plant; its blossom falls and its beauty is destroyed. In the same way, the rich man will fade away even while he goes about his business.

Proverbs: 27:25: When the hay is removed and new growth appears and the grass from the hills is gathered in,

Jesus: Mat. 6:30: If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?

Fire

James: 3:5-6: Likewise the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark. The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole person, sets the whole course of his life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell.

5:3: Your gold and silver are corroded. Their corrosion will testify against you and eat your flesh like fire. You have hoarded wealth in the last days.

Proverbs: 6:27: Can a man scoop fire into his lap without his clothes being burned?

16:27: A scoundrel plots evil, and his speech (tongue) is like a scorching fire.

30:16b: and fire, which never says, ‘Enough!’

Jesus: Mat. 5:22: But I tell you that anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to his brother, ‘Raca’ is answerable to the Sanhedrin. But anyone who says, ‘You fool!’ will be in danger of the fire of hell.

13:40: As the weeds are pulled up and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of the age.

18:8-9: If your hand or your foot causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life maimed or crippled than to have two hands or two feet and be thrown into eternal fire. And if your eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into the fire of hell.

Mat. 25:41: Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.’

Mk. 9:48: (hell) where “ ‘their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched.’

Lk. 12:49: “I have come to bring fire on the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled!

Lk. 17:29: But the day Lot left Sodom, fire and sulfur rained down from heaven and destroyed them all.

Jn. 15:6: If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned.

Water

James: 3:11-12: Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring? 12My brothers, can a fig tree bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water.

Proverbs: 18:4: The words of a man’s mouth are deep waters, but the fountain of wisdom is a bubbling brook.

14X

Jesus: Jn. 7:38: Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him.”

35+X

Figs and olives

James: 3:12: 12My brothers, can a fig tree bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water.

Proverbs: 27:18: He who tends a fig tree will eat its fruit, and he who looks after his master will be honored.

Jesus: Mat. 17:16: By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles?

9X

Sow/harvest

James: 3:18: Peacemakers who sow in peace raise a harvest of righteousness

Proverbs: 11:18: The wicked man earns deceptive wages, but he who sows righteousness reaps a sure reward.

22:8: He who sows wickedness reaps trouble, and the rod of his fury will be destroyed.

Jesus: 13:37: He answered, “The one who sowed the good seed is the Son of Man. 38The field is the world, and the good seed stands for the sons of the kingdom.

17 (not including PP)

Rain

James: 5:8: Be patient, then, brothers, until the Lord’s coming. See how the farmer waits for the land to yield its valuable crop and how patient he is for the autumn and spring rains.

5:17-18

Proverbs: 16:15: When a king’s face brightens, it means life; his favor is like a rain cloud in spring.

16:15, 25:14, 25:23, 26:1, 25:15, 28:3

Jesus: Mat. 5:45: that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.

Mt. 7:25, 7:27, Lk. 12:54

Heaven/sky/God’s realm

James: 5:18: Again he prayed, and the heavens gave rain, and the earth produced its crops.

3:17: But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere.

1:17, 3:15, 5:12

Proverbs: 3:9: By wisdom the Lord laid the earth’s foundations, by understanding he set the heavens in place;

8:27: I was there when he set the heavens in place, when he marked out the horizon on the face of the deep,

30:4a: Who has gone up to heaven and come down?

25:3 (Earth: 3:19, 8:16, 8:26, 8:29, 11:31, 17:24, 25:3, 26:23, 30:4, 30:14, 30:21, 30:24)

Jesus: Mk. 14:62: “I am,” said Jesus. “And you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven.”

5:16: In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.

11:25a: At that time Jesus said, “I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth,

152X

Sun

James: 1:11: For the sun rises with scorching heat and withers the plant; its blossom falls and its beauty is destroyed. In the same way, the rich man will fade away even while he goes about his business.

Proverbs:

Jesus: Mat. 13:6: But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root.

Mat. 5:45, 13:43, 24:29

Sex

Paul: Has 13 lists which include three or more sins, and in 12 of the 13, he lists sexual sins. In the only one he doesn’t, he mentions sexual sins before and after the list of relational sins. Proverbs: Deals extensively with sexual sins, especially in chapters 6 and 7.

Jesus: He interacts a lot with prostitutes and uses several different words about sex as sins that come from the heart.

James: Does not mention this sin at all in his letter.

Keith Green wrote a pamphlet called “What so great about the Gospel,” saying that until people realize how sinful they are, they will not see their need of Jesus. Maybe that is part of what James is doing. We need to see how far we have gotten from God and His law. Once we do that (and this is what he shows in James), then we will realize our great need for Jesus.

Willmington, Harold L., “What You Need to Know About the Book of James” (2010). . 63. https://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/will_know/63

The terms religion and religious appear only five times in the entire Bible. Of these

instances, three are found in James’ epistle:

• James 1:26 (twice)

• James 1:27 The usage of religion in 1:27 is the only reference in Scripture where it is used in a

positive way.

Why is this book in the Bible?

Some ask why the book of Ecclesiastics is even in the Bible? It is kind of depressing in places. But I believe that is the whole point. One way to summarize the book would be to say: “The consequences of living a life apart from God.” If we just live life and take God out of if, some of the things he expresses in the book would be things that we would experience and feel. And we see “God removed” a lot in this world. Even in our own lives, the farther and farther we get away from God, the more we get depressed, the more we focus in on the injustices, the bad. We begin to see life as a burden instead of seeing God in His creation and His glory in so many things.

Ecclesiastics can also be summarized by stating that it presents a worldview of those who ignore God or leave Him out of their lives. We see this so much in our world today. So much hopelessness, suicides, so much bad that is happening in our world. The sentiments echoed in this book are the philosophy and state of mind of so many people. But thank the Lord that we do have a hope. We have a sure firm foundation. As a result, the things that it talks about that bring fear or despair, they will not affect us if we put our faith in Him.

Intro to the book, the author

Ecclesiastics is the Greek name for this book. It is from the Greek, ekklesia, which means church, or assembly, people getting together to worship. The book also refers to the teacher, the leader, the guide, the sage. He is sharing wisdom from a religious perspective.

There is no consensus as to who wrote the book. Most scholars think it was king David’s son who also became king, Solomon, or that the person who wrote it acted like he was Solomon. As is the case for most of the books of the Bible, many theories are put out there as to who wrote it and why. To continue talking about the book, I will assume it was written by Solomon.

If Solomon is the author

1 Kings 3:7-14 is the good place to start: “Now, O LORD my God, you have made me king instead of my father, David, but I am like a little child who doesn’t know his way around. And here I am in the midst of your own chosen people, a nation so great and numerous they cannot be counted! Give me an understanding heart so that I can govern your people well and know the difference between right and wrong. For who by himself is able to govern this great people of yours?”

The Lord was pleased that Solomon had asked for wisdom. So God replied, “Because you have asked for wisdom in governing my people with justice and have not asked for a long life or wealth or the death of your enemies—I will give you what you asked for! I will give you a wise and understanding heart such as no one else has had or ever will have! And I will also give you what you did not ask for—riches and fame! No other king in all the world will be compared to you for the rest of your life! And if you follow me and obey my decrees and my commands as your father, David, did, I will give you a long life.”

Solomon’s petition, when God asked what he wanted, was for wisdom to govern this people. God is pleased with this request and promises to give him more wisdom than anyone ever has had or ever will have.  Of course it is not the wisdom that God has, it is finite, and it is for a specific purpose. As we read through the book of Ecclesiastics we see that there are times when Solomon wishes he had even more wisdom. That is seen in quite a number of verses, for there are still many, many things that he does not know or understand, and that frustrates him at times. Again, that is true because the wisdom God gave him was for a specific purpose, and not divine, all-knowing wisdom. It was not to the extent, say, that he could answer all the questions God posed to Job in Job 38-41.

We know that despite all this wisdom, there are examples of him doing some very unwise things, such as at the end of his life marrying many foreign women who worship idols. 2 Kings 11:1: Now King Solomon loved many foreign women. Besides Pharaoh’s daughter, he married women from Moab, Ammon, Edom, Sidon, and from among the Hittites. 11:4-6: In Solomon’s old age, they turned his heart to worship other gods instead of being completely faithful to the LORD his God, as his father, David, had been. Solomon worshiped Ashtoreth, the goddess of the Sidonians, and Molech, the detestable god of the Ammonites. In this way, Solomon did what was evil in the LORD’s sight; he refused to follow the LORD completely, as his father, David, had done.

Solomon took his eyes off the Lord and put his attention and efforts to the false gods of his wives, and we know that these idols cannot give peace, the kind of peace and comfort that only knowing and serving God can give. Those who turn their back on God can become completely confused. The same thing can happen today as we think of the many false gods of this world that people look to instead of the One True God. These false gods do not satisfy, and can lead people down all kinds of paths that are destructive, and can negatively affect their mental health. We can see that happening to Solomon in this book.

I would like to highlight some of these passages where Solomon is expressing what it is like to life a life without God, without His peace, His joy, His comfort, His hope. He tries to understand the world without considering God, or, as we will see, even at times considering God part of the problem. The “god of this world” can confuse us and make life seem worthless. It is probable that Solomon did not understand much about spiritual warfare, or the role of the devil in this world. It is not talked about too much in the Old Testament, other than Genesis 3, Job 1-2, the passage from Isaiah 14:12, etc. In contrast there are well over one hundred verses or more in the New Testament talking about the god of this world, the prince of this world, the confrontations Jesus had with evil spirits, the power satan has over people (Acts 26:19), the devil, the principalities and the powers, etc. For the most part, the people of the Old Testament did not understand this, thus did not understand why there are so many injustices in this world.

Cycles can be good or depressing depending on your perspective

The book starts out, specifically in 1:4-9, talking about things that, depending on your perspective and heart, can either be amazingly wonderful things that God has created and ordered or really tedious depressing cycles that do not go anywhere or accomplish anything. We can think of these verses as referring to circles. Circles that can be good or depressing depending on your perspective. Generations come and generations go, but the earth never changes. The sun rises and the sun sets, then hurries around to rise again. The wind blows south, and then turns north. Around and around it goes, blowing in circles. Rivers run into the sea, but the sea is never full. Then the water returns again to the rivers and flows out again to the sea. Everything is wearisome beyond description. No matter how much we see, we are never satisfied. No matter how much we hear, we are not content. History merely repeats itself. It has all been done before. Nothing under the sun is truly new.

“Generations come and go. The sun rises and sets then does it all again the next day. The wind blows south then north, in circles. Rivers run into the sea but it is never full.” How does Solomon view these “marvelous, wonderful” happenings? Wearisome beyond description. Never satisfied. Never content. Repeating itself. All down before! Nothing truly new! This is actually a perspective that some have of this world. Their souls are tainted by all the suffering, injustices and wrong in the world. This is especially true when people leave out God or blame God. Again, this is the main theme of Ecclesiastics. What the world is like, what our life is like, if we leave God out of it all.

Chapter three, in one of the best known passages in the book, Solomon reflects on the cycles/circles of a time for everything: a time to be born and a time to die. A time to plant and a time to harvest. A time to kill and a time to heal. A time to tear down and a time to build up. A time to cry and a time to laugh. A time to grieve and a time to dance. A time to scatter stones and a time to gather stones. A time to embrace and a time to turn away. A time to search and a time to quit searching. A time to keep and a time to throw away. A time to tear and a time to mend. A time to be quiet and a time to speak. A time to love and a time to hate. A time for war and a time for peace.

In English many poems rhyme. In Hebrew, one way to get this type of poetic affect is to use parallelism or contrasts. For example, Psalms is full of this, like God being high and lifted up. Two concepts that are practically synonymous. Jesus’ discourse with Nicodemus, among others, also uses Hebraic parallelism. In Solomon’s list here, he is using contrasts to form his poetic prose: born/die, plant/harvest, kill/heal, etc. In the following verses he states that while God does make all things beautiful in His time, he concludes in vs. 12-13 that: there is nothing better than to be happy and enjoy ourselves as long as we can. And people should eat and drink and enjoy the fruits of their labor, for these are gifts from God. Solomon is observing the world, and while He knows there is a God, and He has a plan, much of life seems a burden and so people should try and be happy and enjoy themselves. While the theme is living a life without God, at other times it seems like he believes God has ordained to make life difficult, then at others, that fearing God is the best thing.

If Solomon wrote this near the end of his life, then he knew what it was like to be close to God, and what it was like to be far from Him. But if he did come back to God in the end (which even the evilest king Manasseh did, 2 Cron. 33:12-17), then the book of Ecclesiastics could be understood as being written at times from the viewpoint of recognizing God as God, but at other times, what it is like to live a life without taking God into account. At times we see God in a good light, while at others we note a type of fatalism, seeing God as ordaining a rough life and there is nothing we can do about it, as in 3:10: I have seen the burden God has placed on us all. We see quite a lot of bitterness entwined in this book, bitter at God for the way things seem to happen in this world. Despite His wisdom, many times he still just does not get it!

The heavy burden of having too much wisdom

Another thing that jumps out in Ecclesiastics are all the issues that come to his life because of all the wisdom he has. Usually we think of wisdom as only a positive thing, but there can be a lot of bad side-effects of having that much wisdom. Many of these negative aspects of wisdom jumped out to us as we were working on the translation into Mixtec. For example 1:16-18: I said to myself, “Look, I am wiser than any of the kings who ruled in Jerusalem before me. I have greater wisdom and knowledge than any of them.” So I set out to learn everything from wisdom to madness and folly. But I learned firsthand that pursuing all this is like chasing the wind. The greater my wisdom, the greater my grief. To increase knowledge only increases sorrow.

It says he learned everything from wisdom to madness and folly. He was learning not only good amazing things, but also all the awful stuff that there is to be learned. Another way to state this is: “I know all the good, but I also now know all about the evil and vile things of this world.” This is also a dangerous issue that our world is facing today. All the things we are or can be exposed to via television, the internet, video games, social media etc. Shows like “Criminal Minds” and the like expose us to the most awful sides of human nature. Many dark thoughts and ideas enter into our minds. Not to mention many movies, current events and human behavior that the vast majority of people in the past were never openly exposed to. We live in dangerous times, In that aspect, we are probably more “learned”, shall I way “wise” to such a wide array of goings-on than even Solomon. So many things that in the very recent past we could never have even imagined.

Solomon did not always like all this extra wisdom and knowledge that he obtained either, calling it madness and folly. It is like chasing the wind (especially trying to be as wise as God in a positive way). Such wisdom increased his sorrow and grief. As mentioned earlier, his wisdom was for a specific task, to be a good king, and he would never know “everything”, and that became frustrating to him. But not only that, he would learn things that he probably, like many of us, wished he had never been exposed to. As king, he had to judge cases where he learned some of the worst things that people can do. As 1:18 states, he would had rather been in ignorance of these things than to have to consider all the absolutely dark and evil things that people come up with and do.

This lament about having access to all these things probably includes his own pleasure. I have tried everything, had everything a man could possibly want or desire (the most desirable women, riches, power, fame), but none of it truly satisfies (without God). These are some of the negative sides of wisdom, and most likely something that was weighing on him, especially if he looks at it from a human perspective and not God’s. The same thing can happen to us. All these things we are exposed to can weigh us down and depress us. It is hard to escape from it. As king, Solomon was exposed to the best and the worst that the world had to offer. And it obviously negatively affected him as well. One of the most revealing commercials of our culture, and something Solomon faced, is the mantra: “I want it all, and I want it now.” (Even though there was no Dr. Pepper in Solomon’s time.)

The most wise, but still frustrated for all he still does not understand

7:23-25a states: I have always tried my best to let wisdom guide my thoughts and actions. I said to myself, “I am determined to be wise.” But it didn’t work. Wisdom is always distant and difficult to find. I searched everywhere, determined to find wisdom and to understand the reason for things. This verse really brings out his frustrations of only having limited wisdom, wisdom in order to be able to do what God called him to do, and not all-encompassing wisdom, say like the wisdom God has. His wisdom was to govern the people, but there were boundaries to this wisdom. He was wiser than any person living at that time or anyone who would ever live, but he probably still knew next to nothing about spiritual warfare, the depths of the human heart, the answers to the questions in Job 38-41, how to understand a woman, etc. This was very frustrating to him. He wanted wisdom and deeper understanding about many things which were not part of his calling.

Wisdom is not the most important thing, it does not fill the “void”

He was trying to understand things which surpassed or were outside the boundaries of the wisdom God had given him. Wisdom in and of itself cannot satisfy. It cannot fill the void. It cannot replace God in ones life.  So as he got farther way from God, especially in the later part of his life, wisdom, pleasure and all the things he had access to could not satisfy him, could not fulfill the deepest longings of his heart. The same with us. We all have that “void” in our life that can only be filled by God.  Most try to fill it with so many different things (both healthy and unhealthy), but in the end, we will only feel hollow until we put God in His rightful place in our lives. There are many things that we will never understand until we are face-to-face with the Lord. Then we will realize that all those things didn’t really matter anyway. The only thing that matters is knowing Him and being with Him.

Fear God, you will be better off (than I have been recently)

Another theme of the book is fearing God, a concept mentioned six times.  8:12: But even though a person sins a hundred times and still lives a long time, I know that those who fear God will be better off.  If Solomon wrote this book, and he wrote it toward the end of his life, then he knows the difference between a life lived fearing God, and one lived not fearing God. A hollow life that follows idols which would indicate a time in his life when he did not fear God. A time when he got completely off-track, and that kind of life would lead to a doom and gloom attitude and viewpoint. But now, near the end, he seems to have come to his senses to say that those who fear God are better off.

Eternal life

One final theme I will mention (and I am leaving many out) is the concept of eternal life. Many passages in Ecclesiastics give us the impression that Solomon did not have a strong belief in or understanding of eternal life. This seems to be true of much of the Old Testament. They almost never refer to heaven like in the New Testament, the place that you are waiting for that will bring you into the eternal presence of God. There are many verses in the Old Testament about going to Sheol, which does not seem to be a very hopeful place to go. Solomon gives us the idea that you might as well enjoy life here since Sheol is not going to be much fun. 9:3-4: It seems so tragic that everyone under the sun suffers the same fate. That is why people are not more careful to be good. Instead, they choose their own mad course, for they have no hope. There is nothing ahead but death anyway. There is hope only for the living. As they say, “It’s better to be a live dog than a dead lion!”

If a person lives a life without God, without hope, what do they have to live for? Just enjoy things as much as they can while they are alive? Eat, drink and be merry for tomorrow you die. This was not only true in the past, but many people in our day feel the same way. In the face of that worldview, may those who know God be a light to show others that there is another way, there is hope, there is something more once we die. Of course we need to continue to reinforce our own faith, to cultivate a strong foundation so that we do not lose hope when things get difficult.

The most important thing: Best to fear God and obey His commands

Solomon ends the book, after talking about a life lived for the most part leaving out God, or a life seeing God as a burden, by saying what one should do. Instead of doing what I did, do this. This could be considered his final conclusion, his main point of the book. Don’t live life like I did for a while, leaving God out of it and doing my own thing. I had access to wisdom, power, riches, fame and all types of pleasure but lost sight of the most important thing. I got bitter in regards to God.  12:13-14: That’s the whole story. Here now is my final conclusion: Fear God and obey his commands, for this is everyone’s duty. God will judge us for everything we do, including every secret thing, whether good or bad. Life can become very depressing if we focus on the evil, the injustices, the questions that fill Psalms, Proverbs and Job where they ask why do the wicked seem to prosper more than the righteous. We can turn our backs on God and get bitter towards him, like what seemingly happened to Solomon. In spite of what we see with our eyes, let us follow this last advice to fear God and follow His commands and not get captured by the snares of the devil and the worthless things of this world.

The rest of the story

In the New Testament we get the rest of the story, of how Jesus came to show us the truth, to fill us with his Holy Spirit and true wisdom. We can be filled with the power to overcome sin, to serve Him and have the blessed assurance of forgiveness of sins and eternal life. All the wonderful things we have access to because of what Jesus did for us.

May we never attempt, to any degree, to leave God out of our lives or let any root of bitterness take hold of us. Keep following Him, fearing Him, obeying His commands and guarding all that Jesus and the rest of His followers teach us in the New Testament. In this way we do have access to more wisdom than Solomon if we apply it to our lives and keep God as the most important part and never turn our backs on Him.