Texts in Conversation
James repeats Sirach’s teaching about controlling speech, connecting itself to Israel’s wisdom tradition and using that tradition’s authority to give credibility to its own teaching.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Sirach 14:1
Ben Sira, Ecclesiasticus
Deuterocanon
1 Blessed is the man who has not slipped with his mouth, and doesn’t suffer from sorrow for sins. 2 Blessed is he whose soul does not condemn him, and who has not given up hope. 3 Riches are not appropriate for a stingy person. What would a miser do with money? 4 He who gathers by denying himself gathers for others. Others will revel in his goods. 5 If one is mean to himself, to whom will he be good? He won’t enjoy his possessions.
Date: 195–180 BCE (based on scholarly estimates)
James 3:2
New Testament
1 Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers and sisters, because you know that we will be judged more strictly. 2 For we all stumble in many ways. If someone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect individual, able to control the entire body as well. 3 And if we put bits into the mouths of horses to get them to obey us, then we guide their entire bodies. 4 Look at ships too: Though they are so large and driven by harsh winds, they are steered by a tiny rudder wherever the pilot’s inclination directs. 5 So, too, the tongue is a small part of the body, yet it has great pretensions. Think how small a flame sets a huge forest ablaze. 6 And the tongue is a fire! The tongue represents the world of wrongdoing among the parts of our bodies. It pollutes the entire body and sets fire to the course of human existence—and is set on fire by hell.
Date: 80–90 CE (based on scholarly estimates)
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Notes and References
"... The macarism (beatitude-form) is found in the teachings of Jesus (e.g., Matthew 5:3–12; Luke 6:20–2) and in the Hebrew Bible (e.g., Psalm 1:1; Proverbs 8:34; Job 5:17; compare Sirach 14:1). The idea that God blesses the faithful who endure suffering is also found in Jewish traditions (e.g., Daniel 12:12; 4 Maccabees 7:22). Perhaps James is responding in some way to the “do not lead us into temptation” petition of the Lord’s Prayer (Matt. 6:13/Luke 11:4) ..."
David B. Gowler, James through the Centuries (Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell, 2014), 100.
* 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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