This background information comes in handy when James starts to reference things like “the Law”. They were the tribes of the nation Israel that descended from the family of Jacob.įor the purpose of our study of the book of James - or of any epistle - it is of interest to note whether the audience was made up of mostly Jewish or Gentile believers.
Genesis 49:1-28 tells you exactly who the 12 tribes are. We want to live the way God wants us to live. Yes, we want to know how God sees the world, but beyond that, we want to then live according to that new knowledge. He calls us to not only learn more about God intellectually by to put that knowledge into practice. The Book of James, in general, challenges us to live out our faith. Not only does this verse give us some basic information about the background of the book of James, but it also presents us with our first opportunity to reflect on our commitment to Jesus. “James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes scattered among the nations: Greetings.” James 1:1 What do we know about the circumstances in which this book was written?įortunately, the first verse of the Book of James gives us the answer to some of these questions.
Who was the original audience? What do we know about the audience? The first step of studying any book of the Bible, especially epistles, is to answer some preliminary questions:
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