Context at a Glance
Author:Traditional Attribution
Topic:james Chapter 5 Study
This chapter provides a foundational look at the theological themes of james, analyzed across multiple historic translations for maximum scholarly depth.
James 5
New Revised Standard Version
1Come now, you rich people, weep and wail for the miseries that are coming to you.
2Your riches have rotted, and your clothes are motheaten.
3Your gold and silver have rusted, and their rust will be evidence against you, and it will eat your flesh like fire. You have laid up treasure for the last days.
4Listen! The wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, cry out, and the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts.
5You have lived on the earth in luxury and in pleasure; you have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter.
6You have condemned and murdered the righteous one, who does not resist you. A word of consolation to the faithful
7Be patient, therefore, beloved, until the coming of the Lord. The farmer waits for the precious crop from the earth, being patient with it until it receives the early and the late rains.
8You also must be patient. Strengthen your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is near.
9Beloved, do not grumble against one another, so that you may not be judged. See, the Judge is standing at the doors!
10As an example of suffering and patience, beloved, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord.
11Indeed we call blessed those who showed endurance. You have heard of the endurance of Job, and you have seen the purpose of the Lord, how the Lord is compassionate and merciful.
12Above all, my beloved, do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or by any other oath, but let your "Yes" be yes and your "No" be no, so that you may not fall under condemnation. A closing litany of pastoral concerns
13Are any among you suffering? They should pray. Are any cheerful? They should sing songs of praise.
14Are any among you sick? They should call for the elders of the church and have them pray over them, anointing them with oil in the name of the Lord.
15The prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise them up; and anyone who has committed sins will be forgiven.
16Therefore confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another, so that you may be healed. The prayer of the righteous is powerful and effective.
17Elijah was a human being like us, and he prayed fervently that it might not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain on the earth.
18Then he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain and the earth yielded its harvest.
19My brothers and sisters, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and is brought back by another,
20you should know that whoever brings back a sinner from wandering will save the sinner's soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.
1PETER
5031 PETER Introduction The First Letter of Peter presents itself as a pastoral letter written by the apostle Peter from "Babylon," where he is accompanied by Silvanus (= Silas) and Mark (5.12-13), to churches in five provinces of Asia Minor (1.1). Some scholars continue to understand this as a literal description, with Silvanus often regarded as the actual writer at Peter's behest. The situation indirectly described by the letter, however, points to a time after Peter's death. The language, style, content, and thought would seem inappropriate to Peter the Galilean fisherman and missionary to the Jews (Gal 2.9). The excellent and sophisticated Greek, the lack of references to the life and teaching of the earthly Jesus, the christological emphasis on the cosmic Christ, and the address to Gentile Christians who had previously lived a sinful, idolatrous life (1.14, 18,21; 2.1, 9-11, 25; 4.3) point to a disciple of Peter writing in the name of the revered apostle. Thus most critical scholars interpret the document as a letter from the last decade of the first century CE, written in Peter's name in order to claim that its teaching represented the apostolic faith. The letter itself indicates it was written by a presbyter (elder; 5.1) of the Roman church — the "Babylon" of 5.13 was a common cryptogram for Rome at the end of the first century (see, for instance, Rev 17.5, 9; 18.2, 10, 21). The references to Silvanus and Mark, both known companions of Paul (1 Thess 1.1; Philem 24), are part of the fictive literary picture that combines elements of Pauline tradition with the figure of Peter, as is the Pauline letter form itself adopted by
1Peter. The letter thus represents the combination of Pauline and Petrine traditions in the church of Rome at the end of the first century, set forth in Peter's name as a pastoral letter to churches struggling in a difficult social situation.
1PETER
504First Peter is a real letter, a united composition. It is not, as has often been thought, a baptismal homily or liturgy to which epistolary elements have been added secondarily. The letter addresses a critical situation in the lives of the addressees, who once participated in the social and cultural life of their communities, but since their conversion to Christ have become marginalized and abused. The society to which they once belonged now considers them an unwelcome, even dangerous sectarian movement (as in Acts 28.22 — "the sect everywhere spoken against"). While Christians are called to suffer "for the name" (4.15-16), the abuse is mostly verbal (2.22-23; 3.9-12, 16). The positive attitude toward the state (2.13-17) indicates there is as yet no overt government persecution, except perhaps for occasional arbitrary acts by subordinate officials. First Peter offers realistic encouragement and instruction to Christians attempting to live faithfully in such a situation. The author does not present a theological essay, but the instructions he gives are based on deep theological reflection, expressed indirectly by the narrative milieu the letter projects: God created the world (4.19); God chose an elect people (2.9-10); God sent the Christ who was rejected by humans but exalted by God (2.4); God sent the Spirit and Christian evangelists who established a new people of God and converted the addressees (1.12); and God will send Christ in the near future to conduct the final judgment (1.7, 13; 4.7). Christians live their lives in the time between Christ's resurrection and return. The christological pattern of suffering and exaltation is foundational for the ethic he commends: Just as Christ was misunderstood and suffered unjustly for the sake of others, so Christians are now called to follow "in his steps" (2.21). Just as all Christians are instructed to respect the government authorities (2.13-17), so the most vulnerable Christians, slaves of unbelieving master and wives of unbelieving husbands, are instructed to fit complacently into the given structures of society as a testimony to the faith (2.18-3.6). Such behavior may convert the oppressor (3.1-2), but if not it is still following the example set by Christ and will be vindicated at the last judgment that is soon to come (4.5-7).
1PETER
505The structure of First Peter represents an adaptation of the Pauline letter form: epistolary greeting (1.1-2); thanksgiving (1.3-12); the body of the letter (1.13-5.11) portraying the new identity of the people of God (1.13-2.10), Christian conduct in the given structures of society (2.11-3.12), and responsible suffering in the face of society (3.13-5.11); epistolary conclusion (5.12-14).