Texts in Conversation
James 4:14 describes life as a mist that vanishes quickly, echoing 1 Enoch 108:9, where the righteous regard everything as a passing breath and live accordingly. Both texts likely use this stock language to position themselves in continuity with Israel's wisdom tradition.
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1 Enoch 108:9
Pseudepigrapha
8 Who loved God and loved neither gold nor silver nor any of the good things which are in the world, but gave over their bodies to torture. 9 Who, since they came into being, longed not after earthly food, but regarded everything as a passing breath, and lived accordingly, and the Lord tested them greatly, and their spirits were found pure so that they should bless His name. 10 And all the blessings destined for them I have recounted in the books. And he has assigned them their reward, because they have been found to be such as loved heaven more than their life in the world, and though they were trodden underfoot by wicked men, and experienced abuse and reviling from them and were put to shame, yet they blessed Me.
Date: 200-50 B.C.E. (based on scholarly estimates)
Source
James 4:14
New Testament
13 Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into this or that town and spend a year there and do business and make a profit.” 14 You do not know about tomorrow. What is your life like? For you are a puff of smoke that appears for a short time and then vanishes. 15 You ought to say instead, “If the Lord is willing, then we will live and do this or that.”
Date: 80-90 C.E. (based on scholarly estimates)
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Notes and References
"... James shares much with Proverbs, as well. James, like Proverbs, wants readers to acquire wisdom and regards wisdom's source as God and its char acter as ethical. Twice James quotes from Proverbs (James 4:6; 5:20). There are also several allusions: Proverbs 2:3—6 (get wisdom) has an echo in James 1:5; Proverbs 27:21 (on being tested) can be seen behind James 1:3; James 2:6 reflects the concern for respecting the poor also seen in Proverbs 14:21; Proverbs 16:27 has the same concern for the tongue seen in James 3:6; and James 4:14 has an echo of Proverbs 27:1; other parallels may be seen. But these parallels also may be found in other Jewish literature. If James was alluding to these passages from Proverbs, he was likely doing so only unconsciously. Rather unlike Proverbs, on the other hand, James speaks with a voice resembling that of the Old Testament prophets at points ..."
* 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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