Texts in Conversation
James and Philo both reflect a merging of Greek and Jewish traditions, using Greek language and concepts to interpret the Hebrew Bible. Each presents God’s gifts as perfect and complete, linking this to moral virtue, and shows how Hellenistic Jewish thought could integrate philosophical ideals with scriptural themes.
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Philo On the Birth of Abel 1:57
De sacrificiis Abelis et Caini
Classical
57 And he who conceives that he was deserving to receive the possession and enjoyment of good things, may be taught to change his opinion by the oracle which says, 'You do not enter into this land to possess it because of thy righteousness, or because of the holiness of thy heart; but, in the first place, because of the iniquity of these nations, since God has brought on them the destruction of wickedness; and in the second place that he may establish the covenant which he swore to our Fathers.' Now by the covenant of God his graces are figuratively meant (nor is it right to offer to him anything that is imperfect), as all the gifts of the uncreated God are complete and entirely perfect, and virtue is a thing complete among existing things, and so is the course of action in accordance with it.
Date: 20-50 C.E. (based on scholarly estimates)
Source
James 1:17
New Testament
15 Then when desire conceives, it gives birth to sin, and when sin is full grown, it gives birth to death. 16 Do not be led astray, my dear brothers and sisters. 17 All generous giving and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or the slightest hint of change. 18 By his sovereign plan he gave us birth through the message of truth, that we would be a kind of firstfruits of all he created. 19 Understand this, my dear brothers and sisters! Let every person be quick to listen, slow to speak, slow to anger.
Date: 80-90 C.E. (based on scholarly estimates)
Source
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Notes and References
"... James makes use of wisdom and prophetic traditions from Scripture as well as the law. Here we find a complete and seamless merging of Greek and Jewish sensibilities, in the manner of The Letter of Aristeus, 4 Maccabees, The Sentences of Pseudo-Phocylides, and Philo Judaeus ... James also shows us a thoroughly Hellenized Judaism that interprets Scripture, not through the sort of allegorical readings that we associate with Alexandrian compositions such as Aristeas, Aristobolos, and Philo (or for that matter, Paul and Hebrews), but with specifically Palestinian modes of halachic midrash, with the difference that the text being thus treated is Greek rather than Hebrew ..."
Johnson, Luke Timothy
Brother of Jesus, Friend of God: Studies in the Letter of James
(p. 19) William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2004
* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.
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