The impact of the Hebrew Scriptures, and especially the Torah , on James’s thought, terminology and teaching

, every 1.86 verses, James’s thought is clearly shaped by the OT. He grounds his fundamental teachings in the Torah – notably in the Shema , Decalogue, and ‘Holiness Code’. While James is silent on the ritual commandments, he focusses on the moral commandments and ‘weightier matters’ of the Torah , so much so that his entire contents may fall under ‘faith/faithfulness’ (or loving God, 1st Table of the Decalogue) or ‘justice’/’mercy’ (or loving neighbour, 2nd Table of the Decalogue). With the core of the Torah evidently being foundational in James, it seems appropriate to interpret James’s terms and teaching in the light of and in line with the Torah , and especially the Torah ’s weightier matters and moral instructions. Contribution: This key finding may contribute to the debate about what James’s means and teaches concerning ‘law’ ( νόμος ) his Letter.


Introduction
Prominent scholars (including Dunn 1990:251;Gench 1996:82;Hayes 1915Hayes :1562Wadge 2014: 21-22) have classed the letter of James as 'the most Jewish' of the New Testament (NT) documents. Its teaching is so Jewish that Hayes (1915Hayes ( :1512 suggests that, with its few explicit references to Christ aside, it fits 'as properly in the Canon of the OT as in that of the NT'. Wadge (2014:2) notes that Essenes kept James's epistle in their library 'alongside the other revered Jewish writings, including the Torah'. Moreover, Kugler and Hartin (2009:504) claim that 'James shows, as no other NT writing does, that the heritage of Jesus' followers is rooted within Israel's religion'. Friedman and Friedman (2012:3) venture to say that James's topics 'are all from the five books of Moses'. However, Sloan (1986:14) argues fairly that treating James 'as if it were merely a Jewish document', would be to undervalue his Christology, which is 'evidenced in the deep structures of [James's] thinking and belief'. Morgan (2010:31) claims that 'the teachings of Jesus are seen in virtually every section and theme of James's. Moreover, Selvaggio (2009) boldly claims that James is 'one of the most distinctively Christian, and Christ-centered documents in the New Testament'.
While James is certainly Christian (cf. Ja 1:1; 2:1; 5:7-8), it also seems to be very Jewish. 1 Are authentic biblical Jewishness and true biblical Christianity mutually exclusive concepts? Does James have to be the one and not the other? Can't it be both at the same time?
1.From Romans 2:25-29 it is understood that a true Jew is 'one inwardly' whose heart is circumcised by the Spirit and who practises the Torah as God intended it. They do not hold on to the 'tradition ' (incl. 'Oral Torah') at the expense of neglecting the commandment of God (i.e. Torah) (cf. Mt 7:3).
While James is a Christian document, it is also undeniably Jewish. This article investigated the degree to which James is rooted in the Hebrew Scriptures (i.e. Old Testament [OT]), especially the Torah, and how that gives meaning to what he says and teaches. The study was undertaken by establishing the likely relevance and role of the Hebrew Scriptures and particularly the Torah for James's first readers, and the manner and extent of James's use of these Scriptures in his Letter. The study was concluded by outlining the findings of the impact of these Scriptures on the Letter. The Greek translation of the Hebrews Scriptures was most likely the Bible of James's original recipients. As with the rest of the New Testament (NT), James shows remarkable dependence upon and ascribes unqualified authority to the Hebrew Scriptures. James draws substance from, applies, and never nullifies anything from the OT.
Referring to an OT Scripture, on average, every 1.86 verses, James's thought is clearly shaped by the OT. He grounds his fundamental teachings in the Torah -notably in the Shema, Decalogue, and 'Holiness Code'. While James is silent on the ritual commandments, he focusses on the moral commandments and 'weightier matters' of the Torah, so much so that his entire contents may fall under 'faith/faithfulness' (or loving God, 1st Table of the Decalogue) or 'justice'/'mercy' (or loving neighbour, 2nd Table of the Decalogue). With the core of the Torah evidently being foundational in James, it seems appropriate to interpret James's terms and teaching in the light of and in line with the Torah, and especially the Torah's weightier matters and moral instructions.
The objective of this article is to determine the influence of the Old Testament (OT) Scriptures on James. It assesses James's use of the OT in order to determine how the Hebrew Scriptures, and especially the Torah, shape James's thought and give meaning to his terms and teaching. It identifies the OT citations, quotations, allusions and echoes found in the Letter. It also traces how much of James's ideas and teachings are rooted in the OT (i.e. Hebrew Scriptures), and particularly the Torah.

The Old Testament as the Scriptures of James's first recipients
From James's several references (in 2:8; 2:23; 4:5) to 'the Scripture' (τὴν γραφήν), it is reasonable to assume that he presupposed that his readers were familiar with and quite possibly had access to the hearing or reading the OT Scriptures (cf. Ac 15:21). This assumption is particularly supported by James 4:5 which states, 'Or do you think the Scripture says in vain' (ἢ δοκεῖτε ὅτι κενῶς ἡ γραφὴ λέγει) that 'the Spirit … yearns jealousy' (πρὸς φθόνον ἐπιποθεῖ τὸ πνεῦμα) (Raven 2021:55). While this may refer to multiple OT Scriptures, as Moo (2000:191) suggests, the original recipients would only have been fully able to appreciate James's reference here if they knew the corpus of the OT Scriptures.
James's direct citation of the Septuagint (LXX) (in 2:8; 4:6) and his use of its terms (e.g. 1:11; 2:25; 5:4, 5, 17, 20) indicate, as Johnson (2008) rightly observes, his dependence on the LXX and that his 'diction as a whole is that of the LXX'. 2 Moreover, as James's first readers were (predominantly) Jews of the diaspora in the Greek speaking Roman Empire of the 1st century AD, it is reasonable to assume that they also used the LXX. This aligns with Law's claims (2013:119) that 'the formation of Christianity … depended almost entirely on the Septuagint as the Old Testament', and that during the (late) 1st century 'the Septuagint was the Bible of the church'.
Accordingly, the premise that the Greek translation of the OT (the LXX) served as James's original recipients' functional canon of Scripture seems sound.

James's use of the Old Testament
Having found that the LXX translation of the OT Scriptures likely constituted the 'Bible' (or at least one of the versions) of the author and first recipients, this section examines James's use of the OT Scriptures. This investigation starts with a consideration of the NT's use of the OT in general, and then proceeds by focussing on James as such.
The New Testament's use of the Old Testament Gooding (2013:1) rightfully asserts that '[t]he New Testament everywhere declares its indebtedness, indeed its dependence on, the Old Testament, and accepts its divine authority'. The 'grand assumption', according to Beale (2012:95), is that 2.According to Carson (2007:997), 'in almost all quotations from the OT the text quoted is the LXX'.
'Jesus and the apostles believed that the OT Scriptures were "sacred" and were the Word of God … what the OT said, God said'. Hagner (1976:78) rightly points out that the NT writers, 'were thoroughly immersed' in the Holy Scriptures (i.e. OT), and they 'lived and breathed' its contents. Hagner (1976:78) adds that the Christian Church has rightly affirmed the following observation of St Nicole (1979:617) explains that the NT 'appeals to the OT in order to provide proof of statements made, confirmation for positions espoused, illustration of principles advanced, and answers to questions raised'. Furthermore, as Burnham (1885:157-158) observed, 'all the New Testament writings can only be fully and truly interpreted in the light of Old Testament truths and facts', and 'the New Testament doctrine owes both substance and form to the same essentials that underlie and shape the teaching of the Old Testament'.
According to Nicole (1979:617), the NT contains at the very least '295 separate quotations' of the OT Scriptures. 3 Nicole (1979:617) adds that when 'allusions' are included, 'the count rises sharply', quoting counts by Toy (lists 613), Shires (lists 1604), Dittmar (lists 1640) and Huehn (lists 4105 instances). 4 Kaiser (2001) has found that: [T]here are approximately 300 formal citations in the NT from the OT in addition to an almost incalculable influence on the language, modes of expression, and thought in the NT. (p. 3) Moyise (2001:5) notes that studies on the NT's use of the OT, 'have found it helpful to distinguish between quotations, allusions and echoes'. 5 However, agreement is lacking among scholars on the terms and categories to be used (see Moyise 2000:18). For example, scholars such as Jackson (ed. 2015), distinguish between 'citations' and 'quotations'; the former being with an introductory citation formula (e.g. 'It is written', or 'the Lord says', or 'the prophet says'), and the latter without it. Other scholars such as Beale (2012:30), hold that the distinction between 'allusions' and 'echoes' can be somewhat arbitrary, and not all are 'that helpful'. Nevertheless, in this article the following categories and terms used by Jackson (ed. 2015) will be used: • Citation: An explicit reference to Scripture with a citation formula (e.g. 'It is written', or 'the Lord says', or 'the prophet says').
3.'Two hundred and seventy-eight different verses of the OT are cited (some of them several times): 94 from the Law, 99 from the Prophets, and 85 from the Writings' (Nicole 1979:617).
4.There are 7 957 verses in the New Testament. If a connection is made somehow (by way of citation/quotation, allusion, or echo) in say 4 000 verses, then a connection is made on average every 1.99 verses. This is a remarkably high level of intertextuality. Clearly the OT is woven into the fabric of the NT, and NT is saturated with OT language, expressions, precepts and concepts.
5. Moyise's (2001:5-6) definitions for the terms are: 'Quotations: are quotations of the OT usually, but not always … indicated by a citation formula' such as 'it is written' (e.g. Mk 1:2); 'Allusions … are less precise, picking up on a few key words and usually woven into the new composition; … Echoes: … when the allusion is so slight that conscious intention is unlikely'.
• Quotation: A direct reference to Scripture, largely matching the verbatim wording of the source but without a quotation formula. • Allusion: An indirect but intentional reference to Scripture, likely intended to invoke memory of the Scripture. • Echo: A verbal parallel evokes or recalls a Scripture (or series of Scriptures) to the reader, but likely without authorial intention to reproduce exact words.

James's citations and quotations of the Old Testament
According to Jackson (ed. 2015), James has two 'citations', three 'quotations', 28 'allusions', and 14 'echoes' of the OTwhich refers to a total of 47 OT Scriptures. Aland et al. (2012:890-901) distinguish only between 'quotations' and 'allusions and verbal parallels', listing five of the former and 45 of the latter -which refers to a total of 50 OT Scriptures. When combining these results, James refers to the Torah 12 times, to the Prophets 21 times, and to the Writings 25 times -a total of 58 references. 6 However, if only 'citations' and 'quotations' are considered then four of the five (80%) are from the Torah.
Focussing on the citations and quotations, the first OT quotation (citation) in James is the commandment to 'love one's neighbour as oneself' (i.e. the 'love commandment') from Leviticus 19:18 in James 2:8 which was referred to by Jesus himself (in Mt 22:39) as the second greatest commandment after the first and greatest commandment 'to love the LORD your God'.
The next two OT quotations (in Ja 2:11) are from the Ten Commandments. In the first instance, the seventh commandment is quoted (Ex 20:14; Dt 5:18). In the second instance, the sixth commandment is quoted (Ex 20:13; Dt 5:17). All these are in the context of not having 'in partiality the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ of glory' (ἐν προσωπολημψίαις … τὴν πίστιν τοῦ κυρίου ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ τῆς δόξης) and 'thus speaking and thus doing as those about to be judged by the nómou eleutherías' (οὕτως λαλεῖτε καὶ οὕτως ποιεῖτε ὡς διὰ νόμου ἐλευθερίας μέλλοντες κρίνεσθαι -Ja 2:12). The Decalogue seems to be foundational in James's ethics.
The fourth OT quotation in James -in 2:23 -is also from the Torah. In this case it is the renowned Genesis 15:6 (New American Standard Bible [NASB]), which states 'Then he [Abram] believed in the LORD; and He reckoned it to him as righteousness.' 7 James brings it up to argue that Abraham's 'faith worked with his works' (ἡ πίστις συνήργει τοῖς ἔργοις αὐτοῦ), by his works his 'faith was perfected' (πίστις ἐτελειώθη -Ja 2:22), and Genesis 15:6 'was fulfilled' (ἐπληρώθη) that said: 'And Abraham believed and it was reckoned to him into righteousness' (Ἐπίστευσεν δὲ Ἀβραὰμ τῷ θεῷ καὶ ἐλογίσθη αὐτῷ εἰς δικαιοσύνην).
Strikingly, with these first four OT quotations, James is drawing both substance and authority from the Torah when dealing with two of the most fundamental doctrines in James and in Christianity. 8 The fifth and last OT quotation (citation) in James is from the book of Proverbs in the Writings section of the OT. James 4:6 ('God opposes [the] arrogant but He gives grace to [the] humble' -θεὸς ὑπερηφάνοις ἀντιτάσσεται ταπεινοῖς δὲ δίδωσιν χάριν) basically 9 quotes Proverbs 3:34 (LXX). It can be argued that the basic elements of this teaching originate from the Torah. For example, Noah 'found favour 10 in the eyes of the LORD' and was a 'righteous man', 'blameless', and one who 'walked with God' (Gn 6:8-9 [NASB]). Pharaoh 'refused to humble [himself] before the Lord' (Ex 10:3 [NASB]) and the LORD obviously opposed him (cf. Ex 7:4; 18:10-11; Dt 6:22). Furthermore, the exhortation to 'submit then to God' (ὑποτάγητε οὖν τῷ θεῷ -Ja 4:7) is in the context of a warning against idolatry (4:4), and a reminder of God's jealousy (4:5) and 'greater grace' (4:6). The warning is certainly alluding to that against infidelity in the Prophets (e.g. Jr 3:20; Hs 3:3), as several scholars (

The Shema 11 and the Torah's two greatest commandments
According to Cheung (2003:67), the prologue of James focusses on 'themes associated with the Shema' (Ja 1:2-18) and 'the obedience of Torah' (1:19-27) with both focal points being 'related to the theme of perfection' (in 1:2-4). Obedience to the Torah is centred on loving one's neighbour (in Ja 2:8-13) which, in turn, is a citation and application of Leviticus 19:18 as mentioned above. As Cheung (2003:189) suggests, the Shema is centred on loving God with 'all one's soul', 'all one's heart', and 'all one's might' as seen in Deuteronomy 6:4-6. Cheung (2003:188) furthermore points out that, in 'early rabbinic exposition' of the Shema, 12 'all one's heart' includes both one's 'good' and 'evil inclinations'; 'all one's soul' includes loving God 'even if He takes your soul'; and 'all one's might' includes 'all your money'. Cheung (2003:188) 8.The two doctrines are: 'justification by faith' and 'faith expressing itself through love in action'.
9.The only variance is that κύριος ('LORD') in the LXX is replaced with θεὸς ('God') in James.
If the allusions to the Shema mentioned above are correct, then both sections of the prologue (Ja 1:2-18; 1:19-27), and two of the three main sections of the Letter (Ja 2:1-27; 4:11-5:12) all make connections with the Shema. Furthermore, one could argue that the other main section (Ja 3:1-4:10) is at least true to the Shema in its warning against idolatry (Ja 4:4-6) which is undoubtedly meant to spur the readers on to loving God first and foremost as instructed in the Shema and the first two of the Ten Commandments.
It is concluded that James's teaching is deeply rooted in the Shema (Dt 6:4-6) and 'love commandment' (Lv 19:18) which encapsulate the two greatest commandments as taught by Jesus (Mt 22:36-40). Evidently, James is firmly grounded in the teaching of the Torah. Moreover, this 'shows considerable parallel with the emphasis of the double commandments of love 13 in the Jesus tradition', as Cheung (2003:274) rightly observes.

The weightier matters of the Torah
James does not mention any ritual observances of the Torah. He shows 'no concern' for 'circumcision', 'special days or feasts' or 'dietary or purity regulations' as Johnson (2008:30) observes. However, it does not necessarily follow, based on James's silence, that he no longer saw value in the 'ritual law'. Rather, as Allison (2013:353-354) and Moo (2000:18) rightly argue, it seems better to conclude that the 'ritual law' was not a particular issue for James's readers that needed addressing. Instead, James concentrated on the 'weightier matters of the Torah' as Jesus did (cf. Mt 23:23). 17 Hagner (1995:670) explains that the essential and significant matters of 'justice' (κρίσις), 'mercy' (ἔλεος), and 'faith' or 'faithfulness' (πίστις -Mt 23:23) are 'at the heart of the OT' and shows 'close affinity' to Jesus' two-fold summary of the Arguably, the third embraces the commandments of the first table of the Decalogue.
James's concern for 'faith' or 'faithfulness' is seen at the beginning of both the introduction and body of the Letter (Ja 1:2; 2:1). His concern for 'justice' and 'mercy' is explicit in several locations in the Letter, including in James 1:27; 2:4, 9, 15-16; 5:4-6. The need for 'mercy' is especially stressed in that it is held above judgement (in Ja 2:13) and James's readers are exhorted or encouraged to be 'full of mercy' (μεστὴ ἐλέους -3:17). So pervasive and sustained is James's focus on the 'weightier matters of the Torah' that every section of the Letter may fall under 'faith /faithfulness' (or loving God -1st Table) or 'justice'/'mercy' (or loving neighbour -2nd Table), as demonstrated in Table 1.
With the proposed categorisations in Table 1, it is recognised that some sections do not neatly fit in the one or other column of Table 1, but could fit in both. This is not surprising, as our love for God does show in our love towards our neighbours (cf. 1 Jn 3:17; 4:12, 20).

Conclusion
The following findings emerge from the whole discussion above: • James refers (by way of citations, quotations, allusions and echoes) to no less than 58 OT Scriptures (from the Torah, the Prophets and the Writings) in 108 verses.