verseput (2000) - genre and story. the community setting of the epistle of james

7/26/2019 Verseput (2000) - Genre and Story. the Community Setting of the Epistle of James

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Genre and Story:

The Community Setting

of the Epistle of James

DONALDJ.VERSEPUT

142 West Pleasant Lake Road

North Oaks, MN 55127

IFTHE ISSUE OF GENREwere merely one of taxonomy, the fierce contro

versy and endless discussion which it engenders would not be worth thetrouble. While the system builder in the soul of the scholar might secretly

lament the loss, literary studies as a whole would surely benefit from the

elimination of one more futile debate. But the search for the appropriate

generic category is neither vain nor futile, for it is fundamentally concerned

with the pursuit of meaning. If, for example, we were to read the maxim of,

say, Jas 1:19 as a piece of traditional paraenesis regarding human conduct in

common situations, our response would not be the same as if we were to see

it as an epistolary exhortation to a gathered community. Hence, the effortexpended in identifying the genre of a work such as the Epistle ofJamesmust

be considered energy well spent, despite the disagreements which inevitably

emerge as an unhappy by-product.

The most influential voice in the early part of this century regarding the

genre of James' epistle was that of the Heidelberg scholar Martin Dibelius.

Inheriting a deep skepticism concerning the epistolary form of James' work

from his critical predecessorsalready W. M. L. de Wette voiced doubt "ob

diese Schrift als ein wirklicher Brief verfasst und versandt worden sei"1

Dibelius judged the opening salutation to have been artificially prefixed to


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GENREAND STORY 97

theauthor'sexhortations.The reason was simple. Thebodyoftheworklacked

any indication of personal or other situational reasons which might have

forced the author to reach for a pen. Hence,the Epistle of James could not

have been a real letter; it had to be read instead as "paraenesis"a genre ofhortatory literature which resisted any immediate application to a single

audience or single set of circumstances and lacked any demonstrable conti-

nuity of thought.2

As resilient as this assessmentprovedto be, it was not tolast.In the first

case, Dibelius's rather crude distinction between "real" letters and literary

works with artificial epistolary features could not bear the weight placed

upon it. As a genre, the ancient letter served a variety of different purposes,

including even that of paraenesis(),as is evinced by the fourthcentury handbook attributed to Libanius.3The dismissalofJames'epistolary

features on the basis of that letter's paraenetic character was, consequently,

toohastily completed to remain convincing. Moreover, Dibelius's steadfast

insistence that paraenesis must exhibit a general applicability and disallow

a coherentdispositio cameunder heavy attack.4 One particularly effective

blowwas delivered by Leo Perdue, who,whileapprovingof Dibelius's generic

label, nonetheless correctly observed that the principle ofthegeneral applica-

bility of paraenesis pertained solely to the character of theindividualprecepts,

not to the entire text. Itwould be rather odd, Perdue wryly remarked, tosuggest that an author compiling a paraenetic text would not deliberately

choosefromthewideassortment of traditional moral teaching that material

which most pointedly addressed the real issues in the life of the intended

2 M. Dibelius,Der Brief des Jakobus (KEK 15; 9th ed.; Gttingen: Vanderhoeck &Ruprecht, 1957) 3-4.

3 See A. J. Malherbe, Ancient Epistolary Theorists (SBLSBS 19;Atlanta: Scholars,

1988) 74-75.4 Thechallenge to Dibelius's Kontextverbot began inearnest in the 1970s(see, e.g.,F.O.Francis, "The FormandFunctionofthe OpeningandClosing ParagraphsofJamesandI John,"ZNW61[1970] 110-27;K.Wei, "MotivundZielderFrmmigkeitdesJakobusbriefes,"in Theologische Versuche7[ed. J.Roggeand G.Schule; Berlin: Evangelische Verlagsanstalt,1976] 107-14;G.Schille, "WiderdieGespaltenheitdesGlaubens: BeobachtungenamJakobusbrief,"inTheologischeVersuche9[ed. J. Rogge andG.Schille; Berlin: Evangelische Verlagsanstalt,1977] 71-89;W. Wuellner, "Der Jakobusbrief im Licht der Rhetorik und Textpragmatik,"LB43[1978]5-67; L. G. Perdue, "Paraenesisand theEpistle ofJames,"ZNW72 [1981] 241-56;H. Frankemlle, "Das semantische Netz des Jakobusbriefes: Zur Einheit eines umstrittenenBriefes,"

BZn.s. 34 [1990] 161-97;

L. Thuren, "Risky Rhetoric

inJames?"NovT

37 [1995]

262-84). Thisled theinfluential Catholic commentator F. Muner ("Die ethische MotivationimJakobsbrief,"inNeues TestamentundEthik [ed.H.Merklein; Freiburg: Herder, 1989] 422-23)


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98 THE CATHOLIC BIBLICAL QUARTERLY I62, 2000

audience.5With these rather simple observations the supposed incompatibility

of the epistolary and paraenetic genres as it had been construed by Dibelius

was destined to disintegrate. A generic mixture containing the complete reper

toire of both genres was no longer unthinkable.6

Other scholars were not so sympathetic to Dibelius's generic label as was

Perdue. The renewed interest in Jewish wisdom literature emerging already

in the 1960s was to impact significantly the reading of James' work.7Dibelius,

of course, had already observed a similarity between paraenesis and wisdom

writings, but he dismissed the latter as poetry and, hence, as an inappropriate

generic label for James. Yet for the new generation of scholars, wisdom was

less a category for the epistle's external form than an adjectival expression

describing the mode ofJames'exhortation. The result was a growing willing

ness by scholars such as Ernst Baasland and Hubert Frankemlle to describeJames' work as a letter with sapiential character.8Hence, while few have been

willing to reopen the issue of authenticity, the epistolary form of James' letter

no longer receives the same disrespect with which Dibelius treated it. On the

contrary, the epistolary prescript is increasingly seen to constitute the funda

mental generic signal offered by the author, whatever other generic modes

may have influenced the letter's content.

Nonetheless, despite the progress that has been made in response to

Dibelius's overly negative assessment of James' coherence and clarity, there

5 Perdue, "Paraenesis," 247.6 Compare the insightful work of A. J. Malherbe, "Exhortation in First Thessalonians,"

NovT25 (1983) 238-56.7 U. Luck, "Weisheit und Leiden: Zum Problem Paulus und Jakobus," TLZ92 (1967)

256; idem, "Der Jakobusbrief und die Theologie des Paulus,"TGl61(1971) 161-79; idem, "Die

Theologie des Jakobusbriefes,"ZTK 81(1984) 1-30; B. Halson, "The Epistle of James: 'Christian

Wisdom'?"SE 4 (= TU 102) 308-14; R. Hoppe, Der theologische Hintergrund des Jakobus

briefes(FB 28; Wrzburg: Echter, 1977); E. Baasland, "Der Jakobusbrief als neutestamentliche

Weisheitsschrift,"ST 36(1982) 119-39; idem, "Literarische Form, Thematik und geschichtlicheEinordnung desJakobusbriefes,"ANRW2: Principat,25. 3646-84; R. Schnackenburg,Die sittliche

Botschaft des Neuen Testaments(2 vols.; HTKNT Supplementbnder 1-2; new ed.; Freiburg:

Herder, 1986-88) 2. 194-205; R. Martin,James(WBC48;Waco, TX: Word, 1988) lxxxvii-xciii;

H. Frankemlle, Der Brief des Jakobus (2 vols.; kumenischer Taschenbuchkommentar zum

Neuen Testament 17; Gtersloh: Gtersloher Verlagshaus, 1994) 1. 62-88; P. J. Hartin, James

and the Q Sayings of Jesus(JSNTSup 47; Sheffield: JSOTPress, 1991); W. Bindemann, "Weisheit

versus Weisheit: Der Jakobusbrief als innerkirchlicher Diskurs,"ZNW%6 (1995) 189-217. A

cautionary note regarding the use of "wisdom" to describe the mode of James* exhortations is

voiced by H. von Lips (WeisheitlicheTraditionen im Neuen Testament[WMANT64;Neukirchen-

Vluyn: Neukirchener Verlag, 1990] 431-34) and is echoed in L. T. Johnson's negative judgment

(The Letter of James[AB 37 A; New York: Doubleday, 1995] 33) that "despite all these resem

blances to the wisdom tradition . . . James is scarcely defined by it."


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GENRE AND STORY 99

remain yet promising avenues to explore. Itwillbesuggestedin the present

study that the ancient text attributed to James is to be read neither as a collec-

tion of moral precepts for the individual nor as wisdom literature narrowly

defined, but as a JewishChristian letter to the Diaspora regarding the regu-lation ofthefamiliar areas of communal discord typical of ancient voluntary

associations.

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

Since the authors of older critical studies generally regarded James'

epistolary salutation to be an artificial prefixation, they tended to understand

its language in awholly metaphorical manner, as if itwere describing theauthorial audience cosmologically rather than geographically. Accordingly,

the author was perceived to be addressing his Christian readers as the true

Israel, persons for whom heaven was their proper home and earth was only

a foreign country.9The fact that this cosmological dualism did not find any

significant echo in the remainder ofthedocument was notfeltto be particu-

larly troublesome as long as the prescript was considered to be a vacuous

literary formula. But there isvalid reason to question this conclusion.

AsIhave noted elsewhere, it is far from certain thatthesimple expression caneasilysupportthesuggestedmetaphorical understanding.

10

A thoroughsurveyof early Christian literaturerevealsthatdid not

typically belong to the collection including such terms as or

by which pilgrim identity was more appropriately defined.11 But

9 Such a perception can be found in H. von Soden, Hebrerbrief, Briefe des Petrus,

Jakobus, Judas (HNT 3/2; 2d ed.; Freiburg: Mohr, 1892) 162; J. H. Ropes, A Critical and

Exegetical Commentary on the Epistle of St. James(ICC;Edinburgh: T.& T.Clark, 1916) 124-26;Dibelius,Brief des Jakobus,66-67;W.Schrge, "Der Jakobusbrief,"in. Balz and W.Schrge,Die"Katholischen" Briefe: Die Briefe des Jakobus, Petrus, Johannes und Judas (NTD 10; 2d ed.;Gttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1980) 14; S. Laws,A Commentary on the Epistle of James(HNTC; San Francisco: Harper & Row, 1980) 47-48; C. Burchard, "Gemeinde in der strohernenEpistel: Mutmaungen ber Jakobus," inKirche: Festschrift fr G. Bornkamm zum 75. Geburtstag(ed. D. Lhrmann and G. Strecker; Tbingen: Mohr, 1980) 315-17. A unique and quite unconvincing perspective is offered by T. B. Cargal(Restoring the Diaspora: Discursive Structure andPurpose in the Epistle of James[SBLDS 144; Atlanta: Scholars, 1993] 45-49), who suggests thatof 1:1refersto thewandering from the truthof 5:1920.

10 D. J.Verseput, "Wisdom, 4Q185, and the Epistle of James,"JBL 117(1998)691707.

11 On the usage of ,see W. C. van Unnik,Das Selbstverstndnis der jdischen

Diaspora in der hellenistisch-rmischen Zeit(ed. P. W. van der Horst; AGAJU 17; Leiden: Brill,


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even moreimportantly,the patently supersessionist implication of the conven-

tional readingmay wellbe anachronistic. Despite the fact that in our epistletheimplied audience isorganizationallydistinguishablefrom itssurroundings,

it is nevertheless doubtful whether the "twelve tribes" of the epistolary pre-script can be naively understood to apply to agroup conscious of existing

beyondthebordersofJudaism.It ismuch more plausibleto suppose that the

author perceivedhis audience tohave maintaineda Jewishidentity,regardless

of its precise ethnic mix.12

In this climate, it isunlikely that the alleged shiftinmeaningof fromatermof Jewish plightto one of cosmologicalsignificance couldreadily haveoccurred. If that isindeedthecase,the alleged

metaphoreffectively dissolves, and initsplace standsapregnantgeneric allusion.

In animpressivestudyof the usage of ,Willemvan Unnikhasaptlyremindedus that, farfrombeinga source ofpride,"dasLebenderJudenin der Diasporawirdim allgemeinen ungnstig als Strafe beurteilt."13Indeed,the very existence of the Jewish Diaspora was widely perceived as evidenceof divine displeasure from which only national repentance and divine mercycould bring relief. This prevalent notion that Israel's dispersion would one daybe overcome by divine deliverance following national repentance echoedrepeatedly throughout Second Temple Judaism and beyond and became the

occasion for a peculiar subgenre of Jewish epistolary literature to which we mayattach the label "covenantal letter to the Diaspora." In these textswhetheror not they were ever sent as actual letters is immaterialan authoritative

adopt as ametaphorical term for itself but continues toapply it, often as an expres-sion of disqualification, to Israel's displacementfrom the Land(see, e.g., Justin Dial. 117). On

the otherhand,, ,and relatedwordswere readily available as theological

metaphors:Lev 25:23;1 Chr 29:15;PhiloAgr. 65;Cher.120;Sobr.68;Her. 267;Somn. 1.4145;

Leg. 3.244; Heb 11:13; 2 Clem 5:1, 5; Epistle to Diognetus 5:5; 6:8 (note R. Feldmeier, Die

Christenals Fremde: Die Metapher der Fremde in der antiken Welt, im Urchristentum und in1. Petrusbrief [WUNT 64;Tbingen: Mohr (Siebeck), 1992] 23-74).

12 In short, it is the ernie question of how James and his community perceived themselvesin regard to their Jewishness which must be determinative for the interpretation of the letter,rather than the etic judgment of modern scholars regarding the ethnicity of the addressees. Onthe distinction between emic and etic perspectives, see M. Harris, "History and Significance ofthe Emic/Etic Distinction," Annual Review of Anthropology 5 (1976) 329-50.

13Van Unnik, Selbstverstndnis der jdischen Diaspora, 79. For a more thorough treatment of diaspora as punishment, see especially, in addition to the earlier formative works suchas O. H. Steck,Israel und das gewaltsame Geschick der Propheten (WMANT 23; Neukirchen-

Vluyn: Neukirchener Verlag, 1967), the contributions to the volume Exile: Old Testament,Jewish and Christian Conceptions (ed. J. M. Scott; JSJSup 56; Leiden: Brill, 1997). Amongthose contributions is one by Scott himself ("Exile and the Self-Understanding of Diaspora


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GENRE AND STORY 101

center, typically Jerusalem, consoled the assembled communities in the JewishDiaspora in the midst of the affliction occasioned by their evil circumstanceand admonished them regarding their covenant responsibilities in hope of the

expected restoration. In each of the extant texts of this typeJer29:1-23;TheEpistle of Jeremiah; 2 Mace1:1-9;1:10-2:18;2 Apocalypse of Baruch78-86the specific content of the instruction varies, but the tone of consolation intribulation and the appeal to the motivational power of the future hoperemain constant.14

The first document, arguably the originating document of the subgenre,

is the letter of the prophet Jeremiah to "all the exiles . . . sent into exile fromJerusalem to Babylon" in Jeremiah 29. In this letter, clothed in the form ofa prophetic oracle, the author exhorts the exilic communities to settle down

for a long stay and assures them at the same time that Yahweh will restorehis people to the Land. The author of the apocryphal Epistle of Jeremiah,imitating the style of its canonical precursor, offers a similar message ofencouragement and exhortation toJews in theDiaspora. After giving assurancesthat God will one day restore the exiles to the Land, he warns against the

danger of idolatry confronting those who must now live among the Gentiles.This same pattern of consolation and admonition is repeated in the letterswhich are prefixed to 2 Maccabees. While the content of these two epistlesis specifically related to the celebration of appointed feast days, the framework

of the discourse is again distinctly shaped by the expectations of repentanceand restoration characteristic of the subgenre. Finally, the "letter of doctrineand scroll of hope" in2 Apocalypse ofBaruch78-86 was explicitly written

to be read aloud in the assemblies of the exilic communities, "that [theymight] find consolation with regard to the multitude of tribulations" (82:1)and "that [they] might remember the commandments of the Mighty One"(84:7).Thus, in each of these examples the diasporic existence oftheaddresseesis associated with affliction, while the author of the letter offers instructionand encouragement in the hope of a coming salvation.

14The close association of Deuteronomic themes with Diaspora correspondence can be

seen as well in the message of the Babylonian exiles to Jerusalem in Bar 1:10-14. On the other

hand, while the epistolary exchange between Baruch and Jeremiah in Paraleipomena ofJere

miah6-7 has strongly Deuteronomic overtones, it does not include the assembled community

of the Diaspora as one of the partners in dialogue; thereby, it retains a private character. For

examples of letters to the Jewishand Christiancommunities oftheDiaspora containing recom

mendations or authoritative rulings without such Deuteronomic allusions, see t. Sanh.2.6;

b. Sanh. lib; Acts 15:24-29. On the relationship of 1Peter,1 Clement, Polycarp's Letter to the

Philippians, and The Martyrdom of Polycarp to the Jewish tradition of Diaspora correspondence, note E. Peterson, "Das Praescriptum des 1. Clemens-Briefes," in his Frhkirche, Judentum

und Gnosis (Freiburg: Herder 1959) 129 36; C Andresen "Zum Formular frhchristlicher


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The relevance of this epistolary type to the reading of James' epistle is

not difficult to grasp.15On the heels of the salutatory address to the "twelve

tribes of the Diaspora," James' introductory challenge to rejoice in the face

of tribulation (1:2-8)is most plausibly read against the familiar Deuteronomicbackdrop. For James, as for the other writers of the subgenre, the exilic

existence of Israel was a painful experience requiring perseverance in hope

ofGod'sultimate triumph on behalf ofhispeople. Indeed, it might be suggested

that the closest parallel to James' sequence of themes is to be found in the

epistolary opening of 2 Apocalypse of Baruch 78, whose author addresses

"the brothers who were carried away in captivity" (v. 2) in these words: "You

have suffered now for your good so that you may not be condemned in the

end . . . particularly if you remove from your hearts the idle error for whichyou went away from here" (v. 6). It is in this same vein that James both

consoles and exhorts the scattered tribes: "Consider itpurejoy, my brothers,

whenever you encounter various tribulations, knowing that the testing of your

faith produces steadfastness; but let steadfastness have its perfectwork"(1:2-4).In both cases, the afflictions of life in the Diaspora have a purifying effect by

concentrating the attentions of suffering Israel upon the anticipated deliverance

of God.

The remainder of James'epistolary opening (1:2-18) continues this noteof consolation to the community.16 The opening challenge to rejoice in

affliction is supported in Jas 1:9-11by an unmistakable allusion to Isa 40:6-8,a text which is read as a threat of doom against those who currently oppress

15 Already H. Windisch (Die Katholischen Briefe [HNT 15; 2d ed.; Tbingen: Mohr,

1930] 4) noticed the analogy between the Epistle of James and Jewish letters to the Diaspora,

particularly Jeremiah 29 and2 Apocalypse of Baruch78-87. Most recently, both M. Tsuji(Glaube

zwischen Vollkommenheit und Verweltlichung:Eine Untersuchung zur literarischen Gestalt undzur inhaltlichen Kohrenz des Jakobusbriefes [WUNT 2/93; Tbingen: Mohr (Siebeck), 1997]

5-50) and K.-W. Niebuhr ("Der Jakobusbrief im Licht frhjdischer Diasporabriefe,"NTS 44

[1998] 420-43), independently of each other, have expanded upon this thesis. Unfortunately,

Tsuji's reference to the "Diasporabrief-Tradition" as a background for the Epistle of James is

scarcely integrated into his interpretation of the letter, while Niebuhr restricts his contribution

to the isolation of individual verbal and conceptual parallels between James and the early Jewish

epistolary tradition.16 In treating Jas1:2-18as a discrete unit, we follow the observation of Dibelius(Brief des

Jakobus,68) "da es sich um einen in gewisser Beziehung gerundeten Abschnitt handelt." The

Suggestion of Francis("Formand Function," 118-21) that the epistle evidences a "double openingthematic statement" consisting of1:2-11and1:12-25is unacceptably awkward. Wuellner's attempt("Jakobusbrief im Licht der Rhetorik," 5-66) to consider 1:2-12as the opening textual unit over


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the community. Of the rich it is said that they"willpass away like the flower

ofgrass"( ,1:10;cf. LXX Isa40:6,).Indeed,

when the sun rose with its scorchingwind,it "withered thegrass"(, 1:11;cf. LXX Isa40:7, )and "its flower fell"

( ,1:11;cf. LXX Isa40:7, ),

with the result that its beauty was destroyed. Godwill one day redeem his

people from their bondage, regardless of the apparent might of their enemies,

for in the face of his overwhelming power all human glory is brief and

ephemeral. ForJames,,thatis,the community membersperse,should boast in their exalted position within the chosen remnant, for

theywillexperience God's deliverance through the destruction of theirfoes.17

It is only after punctuating this note of consolation with the beatitudeof 1:12 that James adopts a more cautionary tone, warning an imaginary

sluggard that no excuse for failure can be derived from attributing the

temptation of the moment to God. God, James insists, does not tempt his

people but has "by thewordof truth" brought them forth to be the chosen

heirs of the coming regeneration. In view of the significance of Isaiah 40 as

theprimary text underlying James'exordium, it is quite probable that, as

Luke Johnson hassuggested,inJas 1:18echoesthe irn^x *m

of Isa40:8.18

Hence, James' readers, in the midst of their tribulation, arefirmlyreminded that God's eternalwordhas already carved out a community

of salvation and will one day accomplish the promised redemption.19

Having thus encouraged his readers in the Diaspora, and having foiled

any attempt to escape theburdenof perseverance, James begins his instruc-tions in themiddleof the letter's body which follows (1:195:11).20In 1:21,

the content of his admonitions is explicitly related to the manner of reception

17 That of 1:1011is not a member of the community should be selfevident

upon a careful reading of thetext (Dibelius,Brief des Jakobus,80). As a result,James'use ofIsa40:68is similar to that in2 Apoc. Bar.82:7,for there too one encounters an effort to lift

thespirits ofreadersinthe Diasporaby evokingtheIsaianpicture of theiradversaries'evanescence,

incontrastto the use ofthesametextin4Q18512i.9ii.2,where the imageryofjudgment from

Isa40:68evokesa warning rather thanconsolation;seethe fullerdiscussionin Verseput, "Wisdom,

4Q185,and the Epistle ofJames."18 Johnson,Letter of James, 191. Note 1 Pet 1:25, where of Isa40:8is

equated with > .19

On the renewal ofcreation,seePseudoPhiloL.A.B. 16:3;32:7;4 Ezra7:75;2 Apoc.Bar.32:6;1 Enoch 45:45; 1Q4342 i.23. ForJames,cosmic and covenantal history intersect,

sothat the end of the community's tribulation is the regeneration ofcreation.20 By readingJas 5:711together with the immediately preceding segment rather than as

the beginning of the letter's closing (as is frequently done e g by Frankemlle "Das semantische


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104 TH E CATHOLIC BIBLICAL QUARTERLY I 62,2000

of thedivine word, which must be "done" and not merely heard. In good

Deuteronomic fashion the "word" of 1:18 is now described as

,becoming evenin 1:25.21Once we have

properly observed the significance of the epistle's character as a letter to the

diaspora, these once puzzling terms assume a new significance. We need not

search long to discover that the dispersion of Israel was associated with

"slavery," from which divine liberation was characteristically expected (see,

e.g.,Bar4:32;2Mace 1:27;T.Iss.6:2;T.Napht.4:2; Mos.3:14;Josephus

A J.4.8.2190;4.8.46313;PhiloPraem. 164).22ForJames,the community's

formative message was the law whichwouldbe written on the hearts of God's

people and associated with the anticipated ingathering of dispersed wanderers

from the servitude to which they were subjected.

II. Instructions to the ChristianJewish Associations

Having illuminated the generic background ofJames'letter,we turn next

to the content of its epistolary instructions.Whilethe letters to the Jewish

Diaspora mentioned above display a family resemblance in their implied

settingand covenantalmotif,the specific content of the admonitions imparted

tothe communities of the Diaspora was as varied as the occasions which pro-voked the respective compositionthe celebration of a festival, the impending

death of a revered prophet, or simply the author's apprehensions for the

continued purity of his scattered coreligionists. In thecaseofJames'epistle,

the author's instructions represent neither the typical topoi of Jewish wisdom

literature nor the familiar motifs of early Christian paraenesis. Rather, a

peculiar principle ofselectionhas been atwork,highlighting communal issues

21 The internalization of the divine word may signify an intensive occupation with thestudy of the Law(Isa 51:7;Ps37:31;JosephusAp. 2.18178[ . . .

]),or what is accomplished by a divine act (Jer 31:33;1QH

4.10;also,judging from the use oftheverbmn[uaVansminrwVi],4Q5041-2ii.13,a documentbest understood "inthecontextof apre-Qumranicphenomenon,"accordingto E.Chazon,"IsDivrei Ha-MeDorotaSectarianPrayer?"inThe Dead SeaScrolls:Forty YearsofResearch[ed.D. Dimantand U.Rappaport; STDJ 10;Leiden: Brill, 1992] 17). Jas 1:21 falls in thelattercategory. Note that the"circumcisionof theheart"inLet. Barn.9:1-8 is termed in v. 9. While pagan authors were certainly familiar with the distinction

betweenwrittendocumentsand internalizedteaching(e.g.,PlutarchMoralia779C,780C),there

islittle inJames*letter to suggest that he borrows theStoic idea of innateReason.22 For a brief discussionof the use of motifs of slavery and freedom to depict theDeutero-

i tt S V ll id F ih it l S h f (FRLANT 147 Gtti


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GENRE AND STORY 105

such as speech, leadership, and treatment of the poor in the assembly.23Inthis regard, a significant clue to the social world of the epistle has been

provided by Bo Reicke.

24

Although Reicke's effort to enlist James in a battleagainst eschatologicalSchwrmereishould be viewed with some reserve, hissuggestion that the typical abuses of the ancient associations(collegia, ,) might profitably illuminate the backgroundof James' letter must

be gratefully acknowledged.25

Thereis little seriousdebateof the thesis that theearlyChristiancongre-

gations would havebeen regarded by outsiders simplyas another form ofassociation.

26Whetheror not theseearlyChristian groupsconsciously modeled

23 See the insightful remark of L. T. Johnson ("The Social World of James: Literary

Analysis and Historical Reconstruction," in The Social World of theFirstChristians: Essaysin

Honor ofW.A. Meeks[ed.L. M.Whiteand O. L.Yarbrough; Minneapolis: Fortress, 1995] 195n. 78), "The group is always being addressed in James even when individual cases are being

considered; the exhortation in the majority of ancient paraenetic texts is to the individual."24 B. Reicke, Diakonie,Festfreudeund Zehs in Verbindungmit der altchristlichenAgapen

feier (UU 1951/5; Uppsala: Lundequistska Bokhandeln, 1951) 320-47.25 On the Greco-Roman associations, see P. Foucart,Des associations religieuses chez les

Grecs: Thiases, ranes, orgeons, avec le texte des inscriptions relatives ces associations (Paris:

Klincksieck,1873);W.Liebenam,Zur Geschichte und Organisation des rmischen Vereinswesens(Leipzig: Teubner, 1890); J.-P. Waltzing,Etude historique sur les corporations professionnelleschez les Romains, depuis les origines jusqu' la chute de l'Empire d'Occident(4 vols.; Louvain:Peeters, 1895-1900); F. Poland, Geschichte des griechischen Vereinswesens (Preisschriften . . .von der Frstlich Jablonowskischen Gesellschaft zu Leipzig 38; Leipzig: Teubner, 1909); A. Boak,"The Organization of Gilds[sic]in Greco-Roman Egypt,"68(1937) 21220;E.Ziebarth,Das griechische Vereinswesen(reprint,Wiesbaden: Sandig, 1969;original,1896); M. SanNicol,

gyptisches Vereinswesen zur Zeit der Ptolemer und Rmer (2vols.; Mnchener Beitrge zurPapyrusforschung und antiken Rechtsgeschichte 2; 2d ed.; Munich: Beck, 1972); J. S. Kloppenborg, "Collegia and Thiasoi: Issues in Function, Taxonomy and Membership," in Voluntary

Associations in the Graeco-Roman World (ed. J. S. Kloppenborg and S. G. Wilson; London:Routledge, 1996) 16-30.

26Note especially the evidence of PlinyEp. 10.96. Cf. OrigenCels.1.1; Tertullian Apolo-geticus 38-39. Regarding the Christian churches' closest organizational relatives, the Jewishsynagogues, Josephus(A.J. 14.10.8 214-16) records a letter of Julius Caesar likewise equatingthe Jewish assemblies with . The epigraphic evidence for the structure of the Jewishcommunities in the diaspora reveals administrative titles frequently parallel to those in paganassociations (e.g., ,;cf. Poland, Geschichtedes griechischen Vereins-

wesens,33767;yet on thedistinctivesof Jewish modelsof leadership,see J. T. Burtchaell, From

Synagogueto Church:Public Services and Officesin the Earliest Christian Communities [Cam-

bridge: Cambridge University Press, 1992] 26567). Note the conclusion of E. M.Smallwood

(The Jews under Roman Rule, from Pompey to Diocletian: A Study in Political Relations[SJLA20;2d ed.;Leiden:Brill,1981]133):"thoughthe synagogues resembledcollegia superficially

i h ldi l ti d i i l f d th diff d di ll f


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106 THE CATHOLIC BIBLICAL QUARTERLY I62,2000

their organizational structure on the ancient clubs with their bewilderingvariety of aims and functions has been awarmlydebated question for over

a century,

27

but it is less the matter of influence than the fundamentalsimilarities which interestus.Membership inbpthchurch andcollegiumwasestablished voluntarily, by free decision to associate, rather than by birth.Bothwere small groups in which facetoface social intercourse on a regular

basis was possible and was encouraged. Both engaged in common mealstypically accompanied by rituals and culticactivities.Given these very signi-ficantanalogies,it is certainly not wrongheaded to point to the characteristicoffenseswhich plagued the ancientassociationsas instructive forthosetryingto comprehend the endemic problems of early Christian congregations.

Unfortunately, however, literary evidence regarding the internal affairsof the GrecoRoman associations is sparse.28The clearest evidence of theirinner workings isprovided primarilyby their papyrologically and epigraphically preserved statutes. Already J.R Waltzing and Erich Ziebarth pointedoutcorrectly that one should not regard suchstatutesas modern institutionalcharterswhich specifytheclub's purpose,itsmembership, and its officers withtheir responsibilities, in an orderly fashion.29Such statutes in antiquity werefar more chaotic, skipping randomly from topic to topic, often regulatingnarrowly select issues while leaving others seemingly unattended. Nonethe-

less, irrespective of theirindividuality,these statutes do present a consistentpicture of smallsocialgroups, often ofnotmore than thirty or forty members,30

towhom the issues of membership, leadership, andinterestinglypreven-tion of verbal and physical abuse at regular meetings were of paramountimportance.

thevoluntaryassociations,see R. L. Wilken,"Collegia, Philosophical Schools,and Theology,"

in Early ChurchHistory: The Roman Empire as the Setting of Primitive Christianity(ed.

S.Benko andJ.J. O'Rourke; London: Oliphants,1971)26891;W. A. Meeks,The FirstUrbanChristians(New Haven:Yale UniversityPress, 1983)7780;J. S. Kloppenborg, "Edwin Hatch,

Churches,andCollegia,"inOriginsandMethod: TowardsaNew UnderstandingofJudaismand

Christianity; Essays in honour of John C. Hurd (ed. . .McLean; JSNTSup 86; Sheffield:

JSOTPress, 1993)21238;W. O.McCready,"EkklsiaandVoluntaryAssociations,"in Voluntary Associations (ed.KloppenborgandWilson),59-73.

27 The initial suggestions in this direction from G.Heinrici ("Die ChristengemeindenKorinthsund die religisen Genossenschaften der Griechen," WT 20 [1876] 465526) andE.Hatch(The Organization of theEarly Christian Churches: EightLectures Delivered before

the University of Oxford[BamptonLectures,1880;London: Rivington's,1881])raised a storm

ofcontroversy conveniently described by Kloppenborg, "Edwin Hatch,"21220.28 An instructive glimpse into the raucous political agitation of the Alexandrian

isprovided, however, by Philo(Flacc.13545).


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GENREAND STORY 107

Spacewillnot permit an exhaustive review of all the extant clubstatutes,but three can be chosen for their degree of preservation and their representa-tive value. The firstcomesfromlate PtolemaicEgypt and is apparentlyadraftof alex collegiikept by an official of theguildofZeusHypsistos.After desig-nating the president, obviously a wealthy patron of the association, anddefining his obligations, thestatutesturnto the responsibilities of the members:

Allaretoobey the president and his servant in matters pertainingtothe corpo-ration, and they shall be present at alloccasionsto be prescribed for them andatmeetings() and assemblies()and outings().Itshall not be permissible for any one of them . . . to make factions()ortoleave the brotherhood of the president for another, or for mentoenter intooneanother's pedigreesatthe banquet ortoabuse one another()atthe banquet or to chatter()or to indict() or accuse()another or to resign for the course of the year.31

The emphasis of this document on the harmony oftheassembled group is byno means unusual. It is repeated again and again throughout the ancientMediterraneanworld in similar prohibitions against provocation and angryspeechwithin the collegia?

2

Afurtherexample can be seen in the detailed statutes of the Attic societyof Iobacchi (178CE.) which, after stipulating entrance fees, contributions

and meeting times, prescribe the following:

Noone may either sing, orcreateadisturbance, orapplaudin the assembly, buteachshall speak and act his rolewithall good order and quietnessunderthedirection of the priest or the archbacchus . . . If anyone starts afight()orisfoundacting disorderly (),or occupying the seat of any other mem-

ber, or insulting()orreviling()anyone, the person so reviledor insulted shall produce two of the Iobacchi to declare by an oath that theyheard him insulted or reviled, and he who was guilty of the insult or abuse shallpay to the society twentyfive light drachmas.33

For afinal instructive example, we shall remain in Attica and examinean engraved statute likewise from the second century CE.Once more, nearthe beginning of the document we have regulations regarding peace andorder within the assembly:

31 PLond.2710. SeeC. Roberts, T.Skeat,and A.Nock,"The Guild of Zeus Hypsistos,"

#77*29(1936)4042.32

Cf.PMich. 243,78;PDemLille 29;PDemCairo 30605; 30606; 31179;PPrague.Trans-

lations of the Demotic statutes can be found in F. deCnival, Les associations religieusesenEgypte d'aprs les documents dmotiques (Bibliothque d'tude46;Cairo:Institut d'archologie

i t l 1972)


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108 THE CATHOLIC BIBLICAL QUARTERLY I 62, 2000

If anyone during the meeting( ) enters a fight (), let him pay

on the following day afine of tendrachmai if he participated in it, and without fail

let him be (made to be) expelled after his fellow eranistai have cast a vote.34

In the lightof theobviouslyreoccurringconcernamongancientorgani-zationstoregulatemembership,leadership,and communalbehavioreventothepointof seating arrangements,we are led totakea new lookat theManualof Discipline(1QS)discovered amongthe Qumran scrolls. As MosheWeinfeld has cogently argued,thisdocumentclosely resemblesthe legal codes ofthepaganassociations,particularlyin cols. 57.35Despite theprofounddistinc-tionbetweenthe intemperateparties of the Hellenistic world and theJewishmonasticsect, the same issues of acommunalnatureareheavilyrepresented

here.To cite only a single section from this lengthy catalog,

They shalladmonishoneanotherintruth(nX3),humility(may) andmercifullove(nanx)to oneanother.Hemustnotspeakto hisfellowwithanger(*|X3)orwithasnarl (ruyVna)orwitha [stiff]neck[or in ajealousspirit]ofwickedness(ytrhmi niopa),...andtheyshalleat (in)unity,saybenedictions(in)unity,andgivecounsel(in)unity.And ineveryplacewherethereare ten men (belongingto) theCouncilof the Community,theremustnot belacking among themaman (who is) apriest.And eachmembershallsitaccordingto hisrankbefore

him.

36

34 A.Raubitschek,"A NewAtticClub(RANOS),"TheJ.Paul Getty Museum Journal9

(1981) 93-98.35 M. Weinfeld,The Organizational Pattern and the Penal Code of the Qumran Sect: A

Comparison with Guilds and Religious Associations of the Hellenistic-Roman Period (NTOA2;Fribourg: Editions universitaires; Gttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1986). Cf. also M. Kling-hardt, "The Manual of Discipline in the Light of Statutes of Hellenistic Associations," inMethods of Investigation of the Dead Sea Scrolls and the Khirbet Qumran Site: Present Realitiesand Future Prospects(Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences 722; ed.. O.Wiseet al.;NewYork:NewYorkAcademy of Sciences, 1994)25170;S.WalkerRamisch, "GraecoRoman

VoluntaryAssociations and the Damascus Document: A SociologicalAnalysis,"in VoluntaryAsso-

ciations (ed. Kloppenborg and Wilson), 12845. H.Bardtke ("Die Rechtsstellung der Qumran

Gemeinde,"TLZ 33[1961]93104) was thefirsttodrawattention to thesimilarities betweenthe

organizationof theQumransect and thepaganassociations.Evenin", one of theselfappellations

of theQumran community,is best explainedas aparallelto theGreek termused of

paganassociations (B. Dombrowski,""in 1QS and : An Instance of Early Greek

and Jewish Synthesis,"HTR 59[1966]293307). For an additionalexampleof areligiousasso-

ciation in the eastern Mediterranean, see thePalmyran inscriptionpublishedby J.Teixidor,"Le

thiase de Blastor et.de Beelshamn d'aprs une inscription rcemment dcouverte Palmyre,"

CRAIBL (1981) 306-14.36 This is Charlesworth's translation of 1QS 5.24-6.26 (E. Qimron and J. H. Charles-
http://et.de/http://et.de/


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GENREAND STORY 109

Whilethe language is patently Jewish, thecharacteristicconcernsof the ancient

associationsare clearly recognizable in these words, as elsewhere in the scroll.

The potential for altercations and discord was a significant threat to the

existence of the voluntary associations, the more so since they frequentlyincluded a range of social status which was only partially relativized by

membership in the society.37The close social intercourse promoted by the

associations,together with their reliance upon patronage and the accompanying

tendency to cater to wealth orstatus, rendered the careful regulation of the

potential for conflict a vital necessity.

Returning to thecontents ofthemiddleofJames'letter'sbody,we notice

immediately the parallels between the author's admonitions and the issues

plaguing other voluntary societies in the ancientworld. After consoling hisreaders in the diaspora whofindthemselves in a troublesome situation(1:2

18),James launches into an injunction against contentious speech(1:1927),

urginghumblebehavior rather than anger(

)in much the same language as the ordinances of Qumran (1QS5.25

26). In the subsequent admonition of James 2, the author then takes aim

against the familiar deference to the rich so blatantly characteristic of the

ancient associations in their dependence upon the beneficence of wealthier

patrons, even placing this admonition in the traditionalcontextof appropriateseatingarrangements (2:126).Thereupon, the author engages the matter of

leadership and the misuse of the tongue in the context of the assembly (3:1

4:10),before drawinghis exhortations regarding the harmony of the group

to a close in the solemnwarning, "Do not speak against one another (

),brethren. Hewho speaks against a brother, or judges

his brother, speaks against the Law and judges the Law. . ..There is only one

Lawgiver and Judge who is able to save and destroy; who are you whojudge

your neighbor?" (4:1112).In the remainder of the epistle he continues the

dialogue with the imaginary recalcitrant over behavior outside the community

(4:135:6), before finally offering encouragement to the "brethren" not to

complain against one another(5:712)but to seek God in all aspects of life

(5:1320).Seenin this light, the instructions given to the readers are plainly

notthose onewouldexpect of Hellenistic paraenesis as it was traditionally

addressed to the individual person, or even of wisdom literature narrowly

37

An inscription recording the names of thebelonging to a secondcentury ItalianDionysiacassociation reveals abreadthof social statusfroman exconsul, his family, and his

acquaintances to slaves and freedmen (seeB. H.McLean,"TheAgrippinilla Inscription: Religious


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110 THE CATHOLIC BIBLICAL QUARTERLY I 62, 2000

defined; rather, the author's primary purpose lay in the regulation of those

typical communal squabbles which were consistently a source of concern in

the ancient world.

III. Conclusion

Luke Johnson is correct, of course, in suggesting that the consideration

of the text as a "real letter" is dependent upon the judgment regarding the

authenticity of its authorial claim.38 But leaving this question aside for an

other day, we can reasonably conclude from the self-presentation of the text

that, regardless of the hand which held the reed, it was intended to be read

as a "covenantal letter to the Diaspora," offering consolation and instructionin view of the hope of the expected restoration. Indeed, if our depiction of

the story implied in the composition of the Epistle of James is sound, we are

confronted not with a paraenetic letter addressed to a group of individual

persons but with an encyclical regulating matters of perpetual concern to

ancient voluntary associations. Its fundamental purpose is to warn the assem

bled Christian congregation not to commit the error of presumption against

God by assuming that their worship without obedience will impress the

Father of lights who has called them to a new existence as the first fruits of

the expected regeneration. Rather than being driven by the hybris whichassaults the honor of others and orders the life of the community without

deference to divine authority, the community is to be characterized by a

gentleness which restrains the tongue and reveres the poor. When the Epistle

of James is read in this manner, as a communal instruction to a gathered

congregation rather than as an ethic for individual believers, it will yield new

information on the internal dynamics of the first-century church.

Johnson, Letter of James,24.


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