KJV
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WRITER: James (Scofield Matthew 4:21, note), called "the Just" mentioned by Paul with Cephas and John as "pillars" in the church at Jerusalem (Gal 2:9). He seems to have been, as a religious man, austere, legal, ceremonial (Act 21:18-24).
DATE: Tradition fixes the martyrdom of James in the year 62, but his Epistle shows no trace of the larger revelations concerning the church and the distinctive doctrines of grace made through the Apostle Paul, nor even of the discussion concerning the relation of Gentile converts to the law of Moses, which culminated in the first council (Act 15), over which James presided. This presumes the very early date of James, which may confidently be set down as "the first Epistle to Christians."—Weston.
THEME: By "the twelve tribes scattered abroad" we are to understand, not Jews, but Christian Jews of the Dispersion. The church began with such (Act 2:5-11), and James, who seems not to have left Jerusalem, would feel a particular pastoral responsibility for these scattered sheep. They still resorted to the synagogues, or called their own assemblies by that name (Jas 2:2, where "assembly" is "synagogue" in the Greek). It appears from Jas 2:1-8 that they still held the synagogue courts for the trial of causes arising amongst themselves. The Epistle, then, is elementary in the extreme. To suppose that Jas 2:14-26 is a polemic against Paul's doctrine of justification is absurd. Neither Galatians nor Romans was yet written.
James' theme, then, is "religion" (Greek, threskeia, "outward religious service") as the expression and proof of faith. He does not exalt works as against faith, but faith as producing works. His style is that of the Wisdom-books of the O.T.
The divisions are five:
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Line-By-Line Order:
 Verse-ReferenceReference-VerseSeparate LineVerse OnlyReference Only |
Reference Delimiters:
None — Jhn 1:1 KJV Square — [Jhn 1:1 KJV]Curly — {Jhn 1:1 KJV}Parens — (Jhn 1:1 KJV) |
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Paragraph Order:
Verse-ReferenceReference-VerseReference-Only |
Number Delimiters:*
No NumberNo Delimiter — 15Square — [15]Curly — {15}Parens — (15) |
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Other Options:
 Abbreviate Books Use SBL Abbrev.En dash not Hyphen |
Quotes Around VersesRemove Square BracketsSort Canonically |
* 'Number Delimiters' only apply to 'Paragraph Order'
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