A few years ago my brother told me, “Well, I’ll read the New Testament, but I am not reading the Old Testament!” I replied, “You can’t really read the New Testament without having the Old Tesament by your side.” I used the Gospel of Matthew as an example, but the Epistle of James might have been even more appropriate.
The author of the Epistle of James has been traditionally held to be James the Just, the Bishop of Jerusalem, a close kinsman of Our Lord (Galatians 1:19, Matthew 13:55, Mark 6:3). He was the bishop of the Church in Jerusalem (Acts 12:17; 15:13; 1 Corinthians 15:7; Galatians. 2:9,12) (Leahy 909; Hahn and Mitch 2185) who was said to be martyred in 62 AD (Eusebius 81). The Catholic Encylopedia identifies James the Just with the apostle James the Less, the son of Alphaeus (Cleophas). (Bechtel), although other authorities dispute the identification of Cleophas with Alphaeus. The epistle itself tells us that it was written for the “Twelve Tribes in the Dispersion”, that is, for Jewish Christians who had fled Jerusalem for other parts of Palestine and surrounding areas. (Hahn and Mitch 2187) The excellent Koine Greek in which it was written suggests that James was very familiar with the language, with Hellenized Judaism and with the Greek Old Testament. (Leahy 909).
The Epistle of James is the primary example of “paraenesis” (“pah-REE-nis-sis”) in the New Testament, that is, its purpose is to give moral and ethical advice and exhortation. (Hartin)
The epistle serves as a marvelous bridge between the Old and New Testaments. Not only does it present many of the teachings of Our Lord in a way that is remarkably similar to those provided by the Gospel of Matthew, but it also echoes the Wisdom traditions of the Old Testament. The letter not only draws upon some ethical teaching from Leviticus and Proverbs, but also, and perhaps to a greater degree, teaching from the Deuterocanonical books of Wisdom and Sirach.
Some Examples
Hahn and Mitch tell us that James was “familiar with the stream of tradition that eventually flowed into Matthew’s Gospel” (Hahn and Mitch 2186).
One notable example is the Royal Law:
“If you really fulfil the royal law, according to the scripture, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself,’ you do well.” James 2:8
Jesus quotes this same verse, which happens to be from the Book of Leviticus:
“And a second is like it, You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Matthew 22:39
“You shall not take vengeance or bear any grudge against the sons of your own people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord.” Leviticus 19:18
Another shared teaching is on humility:
James 4:10 “Humble yourselves before the Lord and he will exalt you.”
Matthew 23:12 “whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.”
Yet another shared teaching is in regard to mercy as a prerequisite for forgiveness. This not only clearly reflects Our Lord’s words, but also a teaching in the Book of Sirach:
James 2:13 “For judgment is without mercy to one who has shown no mercy; yet mercy triumphs over judgment.”
Matthew 5:7 “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.”
Matthew 6:14–15 “For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father also will forgive you; but if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.”
Sirach 28:2–5 “Forgive your neighbor the wrong he has done, and then your sins will be pardoned when you pray. Does a man harbor anger against another, and yet seek for healing from the Lord? Does he have no mercy toward a man like himself, and yet pray for his own sins? If he himself, being flesh, maintains wrath, who will make expiation for his sins?”
Another example found in the fourth chapter of the Epistle reflects a teaching from the Book of Proverbs about presuming the future:
James 4:13–14 “Come now, you who say, ‘Today or tomorrow we will go…’ yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring.”
Proverbs 27:1 “Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring.”
The Book of Wisdom of Solomon, often just called “Wisdom,” offers another example. This book is held to be an inspired book of the Old Testament Canon by the Catholic and Orthodox churches and is generally held to have been composed in Greek in Alexandria near the last half of the first century B.C. (Wright 510)
The “Righteous Man” refers to Our Lord:
- James 5:6 “You have condemned, you have killed the righteous man; he does not resist you.”
- Wisdom 2:10–20 “…“Let us lie in wait for the righteous man, because he is inconvenient to us and opposes our actions; he reproaches us for sins against the law, and accuses us of sins against our training. He professes to have knowledge of God, and calls himself a child[a] of the Lord. He became to us a reproof of our thoughts; the very sight of him is a burden to us, because his manner of life is unlike that of others, and his ways are strange. We are considered by him as something base, and he avoids our ways as unclean; he calls the last end of the righteous happy, and boasts that God is his father. Let us see if his words are true, and let us test what will happen at the end of his life; for if the righteous man is God’s son, he will help him, and will deliver him from the hand of his adversaries. Let us test him with insult and torture, that we may find out how gentle he is, and make trial of his forbearance. Let us condemn him to a shameful death, for, according to what he says, he will be protected.”
The Book of Sirach constitutes an important part of the Old Testament Wisdom tradition. This book was originally composed in Hebrew by the author, “Yeshua ben Eleazar ben Sira”, in Jerusalem around 180 B.C. and translated into Greek by the grandson of the author around 117 B.C. (Di Lella p. 497)
The teaching of James on the origin of temptation, wherein James asserts that God is not the source of evil or temptation, seems to have been influenced by Sirach:
James 1:13 “Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am tempted by God”; for God cannot be tempted with evil and he himself tempts no one;”
Sirach 15:11–12 “Do not say, “On account of the Lord I fell away,” for what he hates, he will not do. Do not say, “It was he who led me astray,” for he has no need of a sinful man.”
The Epistle of James shows us that Our Lord’s moral teaching was deeply rooted in the Hebrew Wisdom tradition and that we ignore the Old Testament at our peril. A more complete list of citations from the Epistle of James may be found below.
A Fuller List
Here is a more complete list of citations linking the Epistle of James with specific teachings in the Gospel of Matthew, and the Books of Proverbs, Wisdom and Sirach. I have sorted them by order of their appearance in the Epistle of James.
Testing of Faith
- James 1:2–3 “Count it all joy, my brethren, when you meet various trials, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.”
- Matthew 5:11–12 “Blessed are you when men revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so men persecuted the prophets who were before you.”
- Sirach 2:1 “Child,if you come to be subject to the Lord, prepare your soul for testing. Set straight your heart, and be steadfast, and do not be hasty in a time of distress. Cling to him, and do not stand aloof so that you may be strengthened at your end.”
Exhortation to Perfection
- James 1:4 “And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.”
- Matthew 5:48 “You, therefore, must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”
Asking for Wisdom and Gifts
- James 1:5 “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives to all men generously and without reproaching, and it will be given him.”
- Matthew 7:7 “Ask, and it will be given you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.”
- Matthew 7:11 “If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!”
- Wisdom 8:21 “But I perceived that I would not possess wisdom unless God gave her to me— and it was a mark of insight to know whose gift she was—so I appealed to the Lord and besought him…”
Double-Mindedness
- James 1:8 “For that person must not suppose that a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways, will receive anything from the Lord.”
- Sirach 1:28 “Do not disobey the fear of the Lord, and do not approach him with a double heart.”
The Fading Flower of Wealth
- James 1:10-11 “…the rich in his humiliation, because like the flower of the grass he will pass away. For the sun rises with its scorching heat and withers the grass; its flower falls, and its beauty perishes. So will the rich man fade away in the midst of his pursuits.”
- Proverbs 11:28 “Whoever trusts in his riches will fall, but the righteous will flourish like a green leaf.”
- Wisdom 2:7–8 “the rich say ‘Let us take our fill of costly wine and perfumes, and let no flower of spring pass by us. Let us crown ourselves with rosebuds before they wither.’”
The Righteous Will Receive a Crown
- James 1:12 “Blessed is the man who endures trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life which God has promised to those who love him.”
- Wisdom 5:15-16 “But the righteous live for ever, and their reward is with the Lord; the Most High takes care of them. Therefore they will receive a glorious crown and a beautiful diadem from the hand of the Lord, because with his right hand he will cover them, and with his arm he will shield them.”
God is not the Source of Evil or Temptation
- James 1:13 “Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am tempted by God”; for God cannot be tempted with evil and he himself tempts no one;”
- Sirach 15:11–12 “Do not say, “On account of the Lord I fell away,” for what he hates, he will not do. Do not say, “It was he who led me astray,” for he has no need of a sinful man.”
God the Creator
- James 1:17 “…the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.”
- Wisdom 7:26, 29 Wisdom is a “reflection of eternal light… she is more beautiful than the sun, and excels every constellation of the stars.”
Be Quick to Listen
- James 1:19 “Know this, my beloved brethren. Let every man be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger,”
- Matthew 5:22 “But I say to you that every one who is angry with his brother shall be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother shall be liable to the council, and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ shall be liable to the hell of fire.”
- Sirach 5:11 “Be quick in your hearing, and with long-suffering utter a reply.”
Anger and Judgment
- James 1:20 “for the anger of man does not work the righteousness of God.”
- Matthew 5:22 “But I say to you that every one who is angry with his brother shall be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother shall be liable to the council, and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ shall be liable to the hell of fire.”
Receive the Implanted Word
- James 1:21 “Therefore put away all filthiness and rank growth of wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.”
- Matthew 13:23 “As for what was sown on good soil, this is he who hears the word and understands it; he indeed bears fruit, and yields, in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty.”
Being “Doers” of the Word
- James 1:22 “But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.”
- Matthew 7:24–27 “Every one then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house upon the rock…And every one who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house upon the sand…”
Impartiality of God
- James 2:1 “My brothers, show no partiality as you hold the faith…”
- James 2:9 “But if you show partiality, you commit sin, and are convicted by the law as transgressors.”
- Leviticus 19:15 “You shall do no injustice in judgment; you shall not be partial to the poor or defer to the great, but in righteousness shall you judge your neighbor.”
- Wisdom 6:7 “For the Lord of all will not stand in awe of any one, nor show deference to greatness.”
The Poor and the Kingdom
- James 2:5 “Listen, my beloved brethren. Has not God chosen those who are poor in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom which he has promised to those who love him?”
- Matthew 5:3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”
The Royal Law (Love)
- James 2:8 “If you really fulfil the royal law, according to the scripture, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself,’ you do well.”
- Matthew 22:39 “And a second is like it, You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
- Leviticus 19:18 “You shall not take vengeance or bear any grudge against the sons of your own people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord.”
Mercy over Judgment
- James 2:13 “For judgment is without mercy to one who has shown no mercy; yet mercy triumphs over judgment.”
- Matthew 5:7 “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.”
- Matthew 6:14–15 “For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father also will forgive you; but if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.”
- Sirach 28:2–5 “Forgive your neighbor the wrong he has done, and then your sins will be pardoned when you pray. Does a man harbor anger against another, and yet seek for healing from the Lord? Does he have no mercy toward a man like himself, and yet pray for his own sins? If he himself, being flesh, maintains wrath, who will make expiation for his sins?”
Faith and Works/Fruit
- James 2:14–26 “…So faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead….”
- Matthew 7:16–23 … “Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus you will know them by their fruits….Not every one who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.”
Giving to the Poor
- James 2:15–16 “If a brother or sister is ill-clad and in lack of daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what does it profit?”
- Matthew 25:41-45 “Then he will say to those at his left hand, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels; 42 for I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, 43 I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.’ 44 Then they also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see thee hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to thee?’ 45 Then he will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it not to one of the least of these, you did it not to me.’
- Sirach 4:1–5 “Child, the life of the poor do not defraud, and do not put off needy eyes. A hungry soul do not grieve, and do not anger a man in his difficulty. An angry heart do not trouble, and do not delay giving to one in need. A suppliant in distress do not keep rejecting, and do not turn your face away from the poor. From one who begs do not turn away an eye, and do not give him occasion to curse you.”
The Demons Know that God Is One
- James 2:19 “You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder.”
- Matthew 8:29 “And behold, they cried out, “What have you to do with us, O Son of God? Have you come here to torment us before the time?”
Not Mispeaking
- James 3:2 “For we all make many mistakes, and if any one makes no mistakes in what he says he is a perfect man, able to bridle the whole body also.”
- Sirach 14:1 “Happy mouth and was not stabbed with the pain of sins.”
- Sirach 5:10-13 “Be firm in your understanding, and let your speech be one. Be quick in your hearing, and with long-suffering utter a reply. If you have understanding, answer your fellow, but if not, let your hand be upon your mouth. Repute and dishonor are in speaking, and a person’s tongue is his downfall.”
- Sirach 25:8 “happy is he who …has not made a slip with his tongue”
- Sirach 28:13-26 “…Many have fallen by the edge of the sword, but not so many as have fallen because of the tongue…”
The Tongue, a Spark that Kindles a Fire
- James 3:5–6 “So the tongue is a little member and boasts of great things. How great a forest is set ablaze by a small fire! And the tongue is a fire. The tongue is an unrighteous world among our members, staining the whole body, setting on fire the cycle of nature, and set on fire by hell.”
- Proverbs 16:27 “A worthless man plots evil, and his speech is like a scorching fire.”
- Proverbs 26:21 “As charcoal to hot embers and wood to fire, so is a quarrelsome man for kindling strife.”
- Sirach 28:10–12 “In proportion to a fire’s wood, so will it burn, and in proportion to the obstinacy of strife, it will increase; in proportion to a person’s strength, will his anger be, and in proportion to his wealth, he will raise up his wrath. A quarrel being hastened kindles a fire, and strife in a hurry sheds blood. If you blow on a spark, it will flame up, and if you spit on it, it will be extinguished, and both will proceed out of your mouth.”
- Sirach 5:13 “Repute and dishonor are in speaking, and a person’s tongue is his downfall.”
- Sirach 28:22 “It will never prevail over pious persons, and in its flame they will not be burned.”
A Tree and its Fruit
- James 3:12 “Can a fig tree, my brethren, yield olives, or a grapevine figs? No more can salt water yield fresh.”
- Matthew 7:16 “You will know them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thorns, or figs from thistles?”
Wisdom from Above
- James 3:17 “But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason…”
- Wisdom 7:22–26 Describes Wisdom as “intelligent, holy, unique, manifold, subtle, mobile, clear, unpolluted, distinct…”
Peace and Peacemakers and the fruit of righteousnss
- James 3:18 “And the harvest of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.”
- Matthew 5:9 “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.
- Proverbs 11:18 “A wicked man earns deceptive wages, but one who sows righteousness gets a sure reward.”
Praying
- James 4:3 “You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions.”
- Matthew 6:5-15 “And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites…”
Friendship with the World
- James 4:4 “Unfaithful creatures! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.”
- Matthew 6:24 “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.”
Grace to the Humble
- James 4:6 “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”
- Proverbs 3:34 (LXX) “Toward the scorners he is scornful, but to the humble he gives favor.”
Humility
- James 4:10 “Humble yourselves before the Lord and he will exalt you.”
- Matthew 23:12 “whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.”
Slander and Grumbling
- James 4:11 “Do not speak evil against one another, brethren. He that speaks evil against a brother or judges his brother, speaks evil against the law and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge.”
- James 5:9 “Do not grumble, brethren, against one another, that you may not be judged; behold, the Judge is standing at the doors.”
- Leviticus 19:16 “You shall not go up and down as a slanderer among your people, and you shall not stand forth against the life of your neighbor: I am the Lord.”
Fear of the Lord
- James 4:12 “There is one lawgiver and judge, he who is able to save and to destroy…”
- Matthew 10:28 “And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.”
Boasting of Tomorrow
- James 4:13–14 “Come now, you who say, ‘Today or tomorrow we will go…’ yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring.”
- Proverbs 27:1 “Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring.”
The Frailty of Life
- James 4:14 “whereas you do not know about tomorrow. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes.”
- Sirach 18:9-10 “The number of a person’s days is as many as a hundred years, like a drop of water from the sea and a grain of sand, so are a few years in a day of eternity.”
- Wisdom 2:4–5 “Our name will be forgotten in time… our life will pass away like the traces of a cloud… for our allotted time is the passing of a shadow.”
Riches and Decay (Moth and rust)
- James 5:2–3 “Your riches have rotted and your garments are moth-eaten. Your gold and silver have rusted, and their rust will be evidence against you and will eat your flesh like fire. You have laid up treasure for the last days.”
- Matthew 6:19 “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal”
- Proverbs 11:4,28 Riches do not profit in the day of wrath, but righteousness delivers from death….He who trusts in his riches will wither, but the righteous will flourish like a green leaf.
- Sirach 29:10 Lose your silver for the sake of a brother or a friend, and do not let it rust under a stone and be lost.
Not Withholding Wages
- James 5:4 “Behold, 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.”
- Leviticus 19:13 “You shall not oppress your neighbor or rob him. The wages of a hired servant shall not remain with you all night until the morning.
- Sirach 34:21-22 “The bread of the needy is the life of the poor; whoever deprives them of it is a man of blood. To take away a neighbor’s living is to murder him; to deprive an employee of his wages is to shed blood.”
The “Righteous Man”
- James 5:6 “You have condemned, you have killed the righteous man; he does not resist you.”
- Wisdom 2:10–20 “…“Let us lie in wait for the righteous man, because he is inconvenient to us and opposes our actions; he reproaches us for sins against the law, and accuses us of sins against our training. He professes to have knowledge of God, and calls himself a child[a] of the Lord. He became to us a reproof of our thoughts; the very sight of him is a burden to us, because his manner of life is unlike that of others, and his ways are strange. We are considered by him as something base, and he avoids our ways as unclean; he calls the last end of the righteous happy, and boasts that God is his father. Let us see if his words are true, and let us test what will happen at the end of his life; for if the righteous man is God’s son, he will help him, and will deliver him from the hand of his adversaries. Let us test him with insult and torture, that we may find out how gentle he is, and make trial of his forbearance. Let us condemn him to a shameful death, for, according to what he says, he will be protected.”
Christ, Standing at the Door
- James 5:9 “…the Judge is standing at the doors…”
- Matthew 24:33 “you know that he is near, at the very gates.”
Not Swearing
- James 5:12 “But above all, my brethren, do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or with any other oath, but let your yes be yes and your no be no, that you may not fall under condemnation.”
- Matthew 5:33–37 “Again you have heard that it was said to the men of old, ‘You shall not swear falsely, but shall perform to the Lord what you have sworn.’ But I say to you, Do not swear at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God, or by the earth, for it is his footstool, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. And do not swear by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black. Let what you say be simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything more than this comes from evil.” See also Matthew 23:16-22
- Leviticus 19:12 “And you shall not swear by my name falsely, and so profane the name of your God: I am the Lord.”
- Sirach 23:9 “Do not accustom your mouth to oaths, and do not habitually utter the name of the Holy One;”
Healing
- James 5:14 “Is any among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord;”
- Sirach 38:1–15 “…for healing comes from the Most High,…My son, when you are sick do not be negligent, but pray to the Lord, and he will heal you…”
Confessing Sins
- James 5:16 “Therefore confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man has great power in its effects.”
- Leviticus 5:5 When a man is guilty in any of these, he shall confess the sin he has committed
- Proverbs 28:13 “He who conceals his transgressions will not prosper, but he who confesses and forsakes them will obtain mercy.”
- Sirach 4:26 “Do not be ashamed to confess your sins, and do not try to stop the current of a river.”
Covering Sins
- James 5:20 “My brethren, if any one among you wanders from the truth and some one brings him back, let him know that whoever brings back a sinner from the error of his way will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.”
- Matthew 18:12-13 “What do you think? If a man has a hundred sheep, and one of them has gone astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine on the hills and go in search of the one that went astray? And if he finds it, truly, I say to you, he rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine that never went astray.”
- Proverbs 10:12 “Hatred stirs up strife, but love covers all offenses.”
Works Cited
Bechtel, Florentine. “The Brethren of the Lord.” The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 2. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1907. <https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/02767a.htm>.
Di Lella, Alexander A. “Sirach.” The New Jerome Biblical Commentary, edited by Raymond Edward Brown, et al., Prentice-Hall, 1990, pp. 496-509.
Eusebius. Eusebius: The Church History. Translated by Paul L. Maier, Grand Rapids, Kregel Publications, 1999.
Hahn, Scott, and Curtis Mitch, editors. Ignatius Catholic Study Bible: Old and New Testament. Ignatius Press, 2026.
Hartin, Patrick J. “The Letter of James.” New Collegeville Bible Commentary: One Volume Hardcover Edition, edited by Daniel Durken, Liturgical Press, 2017.
Leahy, S.J., Thomas W. “The Epistle of James.” The New Jerome Biblical Commentary, edited by Raymond Edward Brown, et al., Prentice-Hall, 1990, pp. 909-916.
The Navarre Bible: New Testament in the Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Four Courts Press, 2008.
Wright, Addison G. “Wisdom.” The New Jerome Biblical Commentary, edited by Raymond Edward Brown, et al., Prentice-Hall, 1990, pp. 510-522.
