RSV ~ James 2 Notes

Jas 2:1-7 | ISB Notes

James cautions believers not to favor the rich and discriminate against the poor. Though the world despises and oppresses the poor, God honors and blesses them with abundant faith (2:5; 1 Cor 1:26-31). These verses are followed by a warning that partiality and prejudice against the less fortunate violate the Levitical law of charity (Jas 2:8-13).

Jas 2:5 | ISB Notes

heirs of the kingdom: Echoes the beatitude spoken by Jesus in Lk 6:20. The point is not that poverty itself is a blessing, but that those with little in the world are better prepared to rely on God for their needs. It is the attitude of a child who trusts in his heavenly Father (Jas 1:17) that secures our inheritance in the kingdom of heaven (Mt 18:1-4) (CCC 2546-47).

Jas 2:7 | ISB Notes

that honorable name: Presumably the name is “Christ”, on account of which believers are called “Christians” (Acts 11:26; 1 Pet 4:16).

Jas 2:8 | ISB Notes

the royal law: The law of Christ’s kingdom (2:5), which incorporates the Mosaic laws of charity (2:8; Mt 22:34-40) and the commandments of the Decalogue (2:11; Mt 19:16-19) into the gospel teaching of Jesus (Mt 5-7; CCC 1972).

You shall love your neighbor: A citation from Lev 19:18.

• The precept of love is the summation of every commandment in the Torah dealing with our neighbor (Rom 13 :8-10). Beyond the quotation here, there are several allusions to Lev 19 throughout the Letter of James. This is clearest in the warnings against partiality (2:9; Lev 19:15), slander (4:11; Lev 19:16), withholding wages (5:4; Lev 19:13), and oath swearing (5:12; Lev 19:12).

Jas 2:10 | ISB Notes

fails in one point: To trespass even a single commandment makes one a transgressor of the royal law of Christ and a sinner in the eyes of the Lawgiver. The challenge is to follow the laws of charity comprehensively, not selectively, realizing that God will judge both our speech and our actions by this standard (2:12) (CCC 578, 2069).

Jas 2:11 | ISB Notes

Do not commit adultery … kill: Two of the Ten Commandments (Ex 20:13-14).

Jas 2:13 | ISB Notes

mercy triumphs: Our conduct in this life sets the terms for our judgment in the next. Thus, the extent to which we have shown mercy to others is the extent to which we will receive mercy from the Lord (Mt 5:7; 6:14-15; 18:21-35). The following verses show that mercy is more than an attitude—it is expressed concretely through works of mercy and charity (Jas 2:14-16; Sir 16:14; Mt 25:34-40) (CCC 2447).

Jas 2:14 | ISB Notes

Can his faith save him?: The form of the question in Greek implies a negative answer.

It makes explicit what James teaches implicitly throughout the rest of the chapter: that our willingness to put faith into action has a direct bearing on whether or not we will be saved in the end (CCC 162).

Jas 2:18 | ISB Notes

some one will say: James makes use of a teaching style called “diatribe”, where an imaginary conversation partner poses questions and raises objections that the author answers for his audience (2:20; 4:13-16). It cannot be assumed, given the use of this literary device, that James is debating an actual opponent who was harassing his readers. See also note on Rom 2:1-3:20. You have …

I have: The issue is whether faith and works represent two different but equal ways to be justified before God. James denies the proposition and insists that faith that is not expressed in works is dead faith, not saving faith (2:26). If one has faith but no good works, he is no better off than the demons, who believe yet face the certainty of condemnation rather than justification (2:19).

• Just as faith apart from works is dead, so works apart from faith are dead. If we have right doctrine but fail in right living, our doctrine is useless. So too, if we are careful about life but careless about doctrine, that will not benefit us either (St. John Chrysostom, Homilies on Genesis 2, 14).

Jas 2:19 | ISB Notes

God is one: The monotheistic faith of Israel (Deut 6:4). The demons are proof that it is possible to have merely intellectual faith without works of charity (Mk 3:11) (CCC 181416).

Jas 2:21 | ISB Notes

justified: The doctrine of justification includes an initial action, whereby God makes the believer righteous by an infusion of grace, and an ongoing process, whereby the believer grows in righteousness by exercising his faith through good works. The latter sense is highlighted here (CCC 198795).

See word study: Justified at Rom 2.

offered his son: A reference to the sacrifice of Isaac in Gen 22:1-19.

• Abraham had long believed in the Lord (Gen 15:6) before his faith was tested by the command to burn Isaac on the altar (Gen 22:12). This was not the first test he had faced as God’s servant (1 Mac 2:52), nor was it the first time he had put his faith into action (Heb 11:8-9). It was rather the high point of Abraham’s spiritual journey and the climactic ordeal that tested his trust in Yahweh like never before (Heb 11:17-19). Having passed the test in heroic fashion, his faith was at last “completed” (Jas 2:22). See note on Jas 1:2.

Jas 2:23 | ISB Notes

Abraham believed God: A quotation from Gen 15:6.

• This is the one explicit text in Genesis that refers to Abraham’s faith, though his belief and trust in God are evident throughout. Here he believes in the promise of a son, despite his old age and the barrenness of his elderly wife (Gen 16:1; 18:11). Reading the passage in light of Abraham’s willingness to sacrifice Isaac, James concludes that belief and behavior go together. So faith in God is inseparable from faithfulness to God, even in the most trying circumstances of life.

friend of God: The background of this title is probably found in 2 Chron 20:7 and Is 41:8.

Jas 2:24 | ISB Notes

faith alone: Faith by itself is “dead” (2:17), “barren” (2:20), and has no power to “save” anyone (2:14). In the NT, the expression “faith alone” occurs only in James, where it is rejected as false teaching. Paul often stresses the importance of “justification by faith”, but he nowhere speaks of justification by faith alone (Rom 3:28; Gal 2:15-16).

Jas 2:25 | ISB Notes

Rahab: The heroine of Josh 2:1-21.

• Rahab of Jericho I offered hospitality and protection to Israelite scouts spying out the land of Canaan. Her assistance, coupled with a confession of faith in Yahweh (Josh 2:11), was rewarded as she and her family were rescued from the violent destruction of the city (Heb 11:31).