James 2


James 2 is the second chapter of the Epistle of James in the New Testament of the Christian Bible. The author identifies himself as "James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ" and the epistle is traditionally attributed to James the brother of Jesus, written in Jerusalem between 48–61 CE. Alternatively, some scholars argue that it is a pseudographical work written after 61 CE. This chapter contains an exposition about the commandment, "You shall love your neighbour as yourself", and about dead faith.

Text

The original text was written in Koine Greek. This chapter is divided into 26 verses.

Textual witnesses

Some early manuscripts containing the text of this chapter in Greek are:
An ancient manuscript containing this chapter in the Coptic language is:

Verse 1

Poor and Rich (2:5–7)

The form of address in verse 5a, Listen, my beloved brethren, is found in James' speech at the Council of Jerusalem and nowhere else in the New Testament. Verse 5b recalls Jesus' blessings in the Sermon on the Mount about the poor, in contrast to the rich who 'blaspheme the excellent name that was invoked over you'.

Love as the Royal Law (2:8–13)

Verse 8

Contains citation from. Jesus made "Love your neighbor" a 'foremost command'. Because of its pre-eminence and because it is sanctioned by Jesus as the "king", James regards this citation as "the royal law".

Verse 9

To act against the poor is like murder, and is judged by the law as such.

Verse 11

Contains citation from ;

Faith and the Needs of the Poor (2:14–17)

Verse 17

"Works" without faith are 'dead works', like a lifeless carcass, a body without a soul, and so faith, without works, is a dead faith, because 'good works are second acts', necessarily flowing from the life of faith, and by these, faith appears to be 'living, lively and active', so who perform them appear to be true and living believers.

No Faith without Works (2:18–20)

The theme of this part is that by 'showing' works someone's faith is 'demonstrated'.

The Example of Abraham (2:21–24)

Verse 23

Contains citation from cf. ;.

Verse 25

"Rahab the harlot": by faith received the Israelite spies and protect them in her house and "send them out another way", instead of giving them up to the authority. She had faith in the God of Israel, but if she did not act on that faith, she would have died when Jericho was destroyed. She experienced God's blessings among the Israelites because she 'activated the faith' she had.