[b-greek] Re: James 2:1

From: Mike Sangrey (msangrey@BlueFeltHat.org)
Date: Tue Jul 03 2001 - 14:24:39 EDT



"George Athas" <gathas@ausisp.com> said:
> Jas 2:1 --
> ADELFOI MOU, MH EN PROSWPOLHMYIAIS ECETE THN PISTIN TOU KURIOU hMWN
> IHSOU CRISTOU THS DOXHS.

> Question: Is it the "brethren" who trust Jesus Christ (ie, the
> brethren have trust IN Christ), or is it Jesus Christ who trusts the
> "brethren" (the brethren have the trust OF Jesus Christ)?

I haven't checked any commentaries; however, I'll toss something on the
table for people's consideration.

Notice the rhetorical structure of this very practical text.
   Vs 1: James makes a statement regarding a particular topic
   Vss 2-4: He illustrates and applies the statement
   vs 5: He gives further explanation and justification for why the
            statement should be applied in this way.

The point I'm making is that verse 5 and 1 are somewhat semantically
parallel with verses 2-4 in the middle.

Note vs 5:
  AKOUSATE, ADELFOI MOU AGAPHTOI. OUX hO QEOS EXELEXATO TOUS
  PTWCOUS TWi KOSMWi PLOUSIOUS EN PISTEI KAI KLHRONOMOUS THS
  BASILEIAS hHS EPHGGEILATO TOIS AGAPWSIN AUTON;

Quickly translated as:
  Listen up, my dear friends, didn't God select those the world thinks
  of as poor to be those rich in faith and to receive the kingdom, the
  one promised to those he loves.

In a world where partiality MEANT favoring the rich, God takes up the
cause of the disenfranchised and therefore brings about a steady-state
impartiality.

Notice who the actor is (ie. the person performing the action). It's
God. If this statement is in some sense parallel to vs 1, then we
should expect Jesus, as God's representative--the Messiah--to be the
actor in the earlier verse. And that the selection by God (hO QEOS
EXELEXATO) is in some sense parallel to the faithfulness of Jesus (THN
PISTIN TOU KURIOU hMWN IHSOU).

Quickly translating verse 1, then, we have:
  My friends, in regard to impartiality, we should own for ourselves
  the faithfulness of our Lord Jesus, the glorious Messiah.

The idea, I think, James is expressing is that Jesus was faithful to
us in an impartial way, we should therefore possess, hold to,
experience (ECW) the same thing. In some sense this parallels Paul in
Phil. 3:10-11.

--
Mike Sangrey
msangrey@BlueFeltHat.org
Landisburg, Pa.
                        "The first one last wins."
            "A net of highly cohesive details reveals the truth."



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