ORGANIZATION OF THE EPISTLE OF JAMES: PROPOSALS

 The first question to ask is whether there really is any overall organization to this book. A number of commentators answer in the negative:

    “It is difficult to outline James. This epistle shares the rambling and moralistic style of Proverbs and other wisdom literature...” (Gundry)

    “An analysis of this Epistle is difficult because of the lack of any clearly defined thread of thought running through it.” (Guthrie)

    “Connections between different parts of the Epistle are indeed not easy to establish.” (Tasker)

    “Is there a plan in this writing? Most critics believe that none exists outside the minds of the commentators.” (Beasley-Murray)

    “The form of the epistle of James is exceedingly simple. It consists of a series of admonitions on different themes which are dealt with one after another without any clearly discernible plan.” (Reicke)

    “...the overall structure of James’s counsel is by no means self-evident.” (Gench)

    “The structure of James perplexes each of its serious readers.” (McKnight)

    “Commentators have long noted the seemingly chaotic nature of James, often attributing it to its paraenetic nature.” (Watson)

Despite this seeming consensus, a number of scholars do claim to have figured out the literary plan followed by James. Unfortunately, none of them agree with one another. But these schemes are worthy of mention anyway.

The starting point for sorting out the various literary units within James is to consider the repeated (fourteen or fifteen times) use of “brethren” as an address to begin a new thought, although McKnight feels that this is not a foolproof criterion. Also, at three points in the epistle, questions containing the phrase “among you” seem to open new sections:

    “Who is wise...among you?” (3:13)

    “What causes wars...among you?” (4:1)

    “Is any among you suffering...?” (5:13)

To these verbal markers can be added the parallel addresses to the arrogant and wealthy:

    “Come now, you who say...” (4:13)

    “Come now, you rich...” (5:1)

With these openings to work with, as well as the extreme shifts of subject matter that occur throughout the letter, it is not difficult to divide it into over twenty separate literary units. Surprisingly, comparison of these results with the opinions in fourteen recent commentaries on James reveals very close agreement on all accounts.

Some scholars have attempted to further group these smaller units into larger sections with common themes. Consensus is much weaker at this point although there seems to be a predilection for identifying major sections beginning at James 1:2 (naturally), 2:1 and 3:1, with 5:7-20 as the conclusion. Kistemaker sees the epistle as two sermons (1:2-2:26 and 3:1-5:20) of almost identical length with the use of “faith” as an inclusio for the first and instructions involving teachers in the second. These criteria appear to be less than persuasive.

A number of outlines have been proposed for the book, several of which have been conveniently summarized by McKnight. Of these, only a few contain segments that could be called symmetrical. For example, Francis sees the following parallel scheme for the opening verses:

    A. Joy (1:2-4)          B. Prayer (1:5-8)         C. Reversal of roles (1:9-11)

    A'. Joy (1:12-18)     B'. Prayer (1:19-21)     C'. Reversal of roles (1:22-25)

Welch claims to have analyzed the book as a sort of literary inversion, but the second half of his structure (after James 2:14-26) demonstrates virtually no chiastic characteristics and in addition omits James 2:13 and 5:13 entirely. Even Welch admits that it is far from perfect.

The more elaborate schemes usually rely on all or part of the first chapter to provide the key to the order of subjects in the remainder of the letter. For example, Flew proposes that James 1:2-11 provides the outline to the book as follows:

    I. Introduction (1:2-11)

        A. The trials of life (1:2)

            B. Testing of faith produces perfect work (1:3-4)

                C. Wisdom (1:5-8)

                    D. The poor and the rich (1:9-11)

    II. Body of the Letter (1:12-5:20)

        A. The trials of life (1:12-27)

            B. Testing of faith produces perfect work (ch. 2)

                C. Wisdom (chs. 3-4)

                    D. The poor and the rich (ch. 5)

Similar proposals treating the first verses as an introduction have led to structures that appear more muddled when plotted:

    I. Introduction (1:2-18)

        A. Trials (1:2-4)

            B. True wisdom (1:5-8)

                C. The rich and the poor (1:9-11)

    A'. Trials (1:12-15)

        B'. True wisdom (1:16-18)

                    D. Speech (1:19-21)

                        E. Doing the word (1:22-26)

    II. Body of the Letter (2:1-5:11)

                        E. Doing the word (2:14-26)

                    D. Speech (3:1-12)

        B. True wisdom (3:13-4:10)

            C. The rich and the poor (4:13-5:6)

    A. Trials (5:7-11)                                                                  (Gench)

 

    I. Introduction (1:1-27)

        A. Testing (1:2-4)

            B. Prayer of faith (1:5-7)

                C. Rich and poor (1:9-10)

                    D. Wicked desire and God’s gift (1:12-18)

                        E. The tongue (1:19-20)

                            F. Doing the word (1:22-27)

    II. Body of the Letter (2:1-5:18)

                C. Rich and poor (2:1-7)

                            F. Doing the word (2:14-26)

                        E. The tongue (3:1-12)

                    D. Wicked desire and God’s gift (3:13-4:10)

                C. Rich and poor (4:13-5:6)

        A. Testing (5:7-11)

            B. Prayer of faith (5:13-18)

    III. Conclusion (5:19-20)                                                          (Johnson)

These vaguely chiastic patterns find their culmination in Davids’ proposal which attempts to force all the contents of James’ letter into three main themes: A. Testing, B. Prayer/Pure Speech, and C. The Poor and the Rich. The results may be plotted as follows:

    I. Introduction (1:2-27)

        A. 1:2-4

            B. 1:5-8

                C. 1:9-11

        A'. 1:12-18 [or 1:12-15]

            B'. 1:19-21 [or 1:16-21]

                C'. 1:22-27

    II. Body (2:1-5:6)

                C. 2:1-26

            B. 3:1-4:12

        A. 4:13-5:6

III. Conclusion (5:7-20)

Cross makes a similar three-part division to the letter with, however, the second major break after 5:12 instead. Davids states, without much elaboration, that his conclusion also fits this chiastic form. He alternatively explains the choice and order of the final subjects on the basis of the pattern of endings found in ancient letters.

My own proposal for the organization of this epistle is described and defended in the post titled “James: Introduction to the Literary Structure.” It gives more attention to the varied subjects under treatment and results in a completely symmetrical organization to the whole composition. This is accomplished partially by recognition that there is a sub-theme of judgment running throughout the epistle. More importantly, the book is viewed as an extended treatise followed by a much shorter summary, rather than treating it as a brief introduction followed by an extended body. It is interesting to note that this proposal is somewhat confirmed in its major divisions by recent rhetorical analysis dividing James into three major parts: 1:2-18, 1:19-5:6 and 5:7-20. (Johnson)