James 5 - IVP New Testament Commentaries

The Problem

My intention in this appendix is to put these tools to a modest test by focusing on one interpretive problem in the biblical text--a problem sufficiently confined and specific that we may look for definite results. The problem to be addressed is the meaning of one word (plousios, "rich") in one verse (Jas 1:10). Were the rich in this verse believers in Christ included in the address "brother" in 1:9--that is, people within the Christian community and part of the actual, intended audience for the letter? Or were they outside the Christian family, non-Christians being addressed only rhetorically in James's letter?

The importance of this question is seen in two respects. First, if hermeneutics properly includes both exegesis and application of the text, the latter portion of the task is seriously affected by whether the message in James is directed to rich Christians about themselves or to poor Christians about rich non-Christians. Second, this issue is not minor or tangential in James. The relational dynamic between rich and poor and the role of material wealth or need in Christians' lives are significant and repeated themes in the letter. Our understanding of several passages in James will be affected, including (1) passages that make explicit reference to plousios (1:9-11; 2:5-7; 5:1-6) and (2) passages that discuss wealthy people without making explicit mention of plousios (2:1-4; 4:13-17).

Our hermeneutical goal now is to identify as accurately as we can what was signified by James's use of the signifier plousios, to understand the discourse meaning of the term plousios in the letter and at least to point to some directions to be taken for contemporary applications.