Four persons bearing the name of 'James' are mentioned in
the New Testament.
(1) The Apostle, the son of Zabdi.
(2) The Apostle, the son of Alphaeus.
(3) The son of Mary the wife of Clopas.
(4) The Lord's brother, mentioned as such along with Joses, Simon
and Judah, and prominent in the Acts (12:17; 15:13; 21:18).
The last-named was also known as 'James the Just' and is
represented by tradition as having led an ascetic life, which
ended in martyrdom. He was undoubtedly Bishop, or President, of
the Church in Jerusalem and in all probability this Letter was
written by him from that city.
There has been some difference of opinion as to the date
of the book. The majority of scholars insist that both the
internal and external evidence point to its having been written
between 44 and 50 A. D., before the earliest of Paul's Letters.
But, on the other hand, the solemn emphasis which the author lays
upon the immediateness of the Lord's Return (5:7,8,9) may be
regarded as a moral proof of a date very much nearer the winding
up of the Mosaic dispensation in 70 A. D.
The Letter may have been a Jewish one, addressed to the
Christian converts from Judaism who were scattered abroad, within
or beyond the limits of the Roman Empire. Luther deemed it "an
Epistle of straw," by reason of its insistence upon the vital
importance of 'works.' But its practical ideal assumes the same
basis of Christian faith as is found in the Letters of Paul. The
opening references to severe trial seem to show that the
persecution begun by Herod Agrippa had already been repeated
elsewhere. If the later date of the book be admitted, the
persecution must then, of course, have been that under Nero.