Skip Navigation


The Journal of Theological Studies Advance Access originally published online on February 17, 2006
The Journal of Theological Studies 2006 57(1):57-75; doi:10.1093/jts/fli267
This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow All Versions of this Article:
57/1/57    most recent
fli267v1
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Poirier, J. C.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

© The Author 2006. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org

Symbols of Wisdom in James 1:17

John C. Poirier

Correspondence: poirier{at}siscom.net

Although scholars have often recognized that wisdom is the ‘gift’ mentioned in Jas. 1:17, they have not given much attention to how the giving of wisdom answers the problem of persecution as discussed in the preceding verses. The best solution to this puzzle is to adopt the understanding of wisdom's role that we find in 4 Maccabees: wisdom is a sort of direct antidote to persecution. An investigation of the religious background of the language of Jas. 1:17 supports this interpretation. Philo speaks of divine wisdom as a shadowless light, in terms very similar to James, while the Qumran scrolls evince a fully developed theology of the priestly oracles (Urim and Thummim) as symbols of divine wisdom. Not only does the Qumranic profile of the Urim and Thummim answer to the theme of wisdom and to James's pleonastic use of ‘lights’ and ‘perfect’, but the Qumran scrolls also enlist the operation of the urim and thummim as a sort of bulwark or antidote against persecution, similarly to how wisdom functions for James.


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?




Disclaimer:
Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.