Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Acknowledgments
- Sources and abbreviations
- 1 Introduction
- 2 The history of research and the present investigation
- 3 The inner texture of James 2.1–13
- 4 The intertexture of James 2.1–13
- 5 The social and cultural texture of James 2.1–13
- 6 Conclusion
- Bibliography
- Index of sources and authors
- Index of biblical references
- Index of subjects
3 - The inner texture of James 2.1–13
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 22 September 2009
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Acknowledgments
- Sources and abbreviations
- 1 Introduction
- 2 The history of research and the present investigation
- 3 The inner texture of James 2.1–13
- 4 The intertexture of James 2.1–13
- 5 The social and cultural texture of James 2.1–13
- 6 Conclusion
- Bibliography
- Index of sources and authors
- Index of biblical references
- Index of subjects
Summary
Introduction
This chapter comprises an exegetical and rhetorical analysis of James 2.1–13. Our primary concern is the “inner texture” of this unit: its form, structure, and argumentative pattern. Utilizing basic strategies of rhetorical criticism, we shall approach the unit from the perspectives of invention, arrangement, and style. In the course of analyzing the unfolding argumentation in this unit we shall show that James 2.1–13 contains a form of the elaboration of a theme or proposition that approximates a complete argument as it is found and displayed in the progymnasmata and rhetorical handbooks.
James 2.1–13 is recognized by practically all commentators as a clearly defined rhetorical unit. It has a definite beginning, an admonition that states the theme of the unit (2.1); a middle, in which the theme is elaborated (2.2–11); and a conclusion, or summarizing exhortation (2.12–13). Most commentators have also accepted Dibelius' view that the unit exhibits the characteristics of a “treatise” (Abhandlung), a unit in which “the ideas are grouped together,” “closely connected,” and “centered around one theme” (Dibelius, 1975, pp. 124–25; cf. pp. 34–38).
The style of the unit reflects certain features that are common to the diatribe and the sermon (Dibelius, 1975, pp. 38, 125–30). Typical of diatribal style are apostrophe (2.1, 5), vivid and graphic examples (2.2–4), and rhetorical questions (2.7–8).
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- The Voice of Jesus in the Social Rhetoric of James , pp. 59 - 113Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2000