James does not come out with a clear-cut traditional date, since the book does not mention any historical events or people other than the author in James 1:1. Although strong connections to some of the sayings of Jesus can be seen in verses like 5:12, “let your yea be yea” (compare Matthew 5:37), James was the 1st epistle written, so has no literary dependence on Matthew or any other New Testament book. The epistle stands essentially independent from the rest of the New Testament.
The traditional understanding of authorship is that the book was penned by James, the half-brother of Jesus (Matthew 13:55) Older brother to Jude and head of the Jerusalem church. Since James was executed in 62 A.D., that would be the latest possible date for the book. Evidence for authorship by this James, as opposed to another Christian by that name or by someone writing in his name, is good. No one else but the head of the Jerusalem church could write a letter to a large audience (“the twelve tribes scattered abroad”) and call himself simply “James”, without further clarification. There are also verbal parallels between the book of James and the words of James recorded in Acts 15. Compare also Acts 15:13 with James 2:5, Acts 15:17 with James 2:7, Acts 15:29 with James 1:27.
Several things are clear from the internal evidence of the book. First, unlike many of the other books of the New Testament which seem to have been written in Rome or Asia Minor, James clearly has a setting in the land of Israel. The term “early and latter rain” (James 5:7) addresses a weather concern unique to Israel and regions closely adjacent. Verses like (James 3:11-12) fit with Israeli geography and farming culture.
The content of James is very strictly Jewish. Certainly there is no evidence of any break between Judaism and Jewish Christianity. Abraham is described as “our father” (James 2:21), with no effort made to differentiate between physical and spiritual lineage. The book has no mention of any gentiles. Likewise, there is no mention of any of the issues associated with gentile involvement in the church, such as idolatry, food offered to idols, fellowship between Jewish and gentile Christians, etc. This, as an argument from silence, would seem to date the book prior to the Jerusalem conference of 50 A.D (Acts 15). A date of around AD 48 would seem reasonable.
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