![\"JesusJames*.jpg\"](\"https:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/jesuscreed\/imgs\/JesusJames%2A.jpg\")
<\/span>James 4:7-10 contains a list of commands and prohibitions, with an occasional promise. Here is the text, and you can read it and see if you think here is a discernible structure:<\/p>\nSubmit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up. <\/p><\/blockquote>\n
\nFirst, there are ten imperatives in this section, and my own view is that each of them is simply another way of saying \u201cChange, leaders, and drop this craving for power. Devote your friendship to God!\u201d<\/p>\n1.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 7 Submit yourselves therefore to God.
2.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.\u00a0
3.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 8 Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you.
4.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cleanse your hands, you sinners,
5.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 and purify your hearts, you double-minded.\u00a0
6.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 9 Lament
7.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 and mourn
8.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 and weep.
9.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Let your laughter be turned into mourning and your joy into dejection.\u00a0
10.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 10 Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.<\/p>\nSecond, 4:7a, \u201csubmit yourselves,\u201d could be the topic but it is far from clear that it is. We can use words to make it the topic but proof is hard to come by. \u201cResist\u201d in 4:7b is a separable command with a promise, and \u201cDraw near\u201d in 4:8a has the same form. Clearly, the \u201ccleanse\u201d and \u201cpurify\u201d in 4:8b is a tidy, balanced double command that belongs together. And the first three commands of 4:9a are not only a unit but separable from the 3d person imperative of 4:9b. Finally, 4:10 is indeed similar to 4:7a, but both a different word is used and \u201cHumble yourselves,\u201d like 4:7b and 4:8a, comes with a promise. These units are clearly discernible.\u00a0 The relationship of the separable units, though having some structure, are more random than they are logically connected.\u00a0 Some connect the commands: thus, one must first submit and then resist and then approach God and then be pure and then repent and then \u2026 . Such connections are not made by James and reveal more the ingenuity of a scholar or preacher than the realities of this text. Martin describes the section well when he describes it \u201ca staccato burst of rapid commands.\u201d\u00a0 The sections come more like a battering ram from a variety of angles than a logical argument.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
James 4:7-10 contains a list of commands and prohibitions, with an occasional promise. Here is the text, and you can read it and see if you think here is a discernible structure: Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come near to God and he will come near […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":197,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[172],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5663","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-jesus"],"yoast_head":"\n
A Brother's Wisdom 67<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"James 4:7-10 contains a list of commands and prohibitions, with an occasional promise. Here is the text, and you can read it and see if you think here is\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/2009\/06\/10\/a-brothers-wisdom-67\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"A Brother's Wisdom 67\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"James 4:7-10 contains a list of commands and prohibitions, with an occasional promise. Here is the text, and you can read it and see if you think here is\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/2009\/06\/10\/a-brothers-wisdom-67\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Jesus Creed\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2009-06-10T18:05:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/jesuscreed\/imgs\/JesusJames%2A.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Scot McKnight\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Scot McKnight\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/2009\/06\/10\/a-brothers-wisdom-67\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/2009\/06\/10\/a-brothers-wisdom-67\/\",\"name\":\"A Brother's Wisdom 67\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2009-06-10T18:05:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2009-06-10T18:05:00+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/#\/schema\/person\/5919e847c58ffe6efb5899fb61797252\"},\"description\":\"James 4:7-10 contains a list of commands and prohibitions, with an occasional promise. Here is the text, and you can read it and see if you think here is\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/2009\/06\/10\/a-brothers-wisdom-67\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/2009\/06\/10\/a-brothers-wisdom-67\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/2009\/06\/10\/a-brothers-wisdom-67\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"A Brother’s Wisdom 67\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/\",\"name\":\"Jesus Creed\",\"description\":\"Scot McKnight on Jesus and orthodox faith in the 21st century\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/#\/schema\/person\/5919e847c58ffe6efb5899fb61797252\",\"name\":\"Scot McKnight\",\"description\":\"Scot McKnight is a recognized authority on the New Testament, early Christianity, and the historical Jesus. McKnight, author of more than fifty books, is the Professor of New Testament at Northern Seminary in Lombard, IL.\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/author\/scotmcknight\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"A Brother's Wisdom 67","description":"James 4:7-10 contains a list of commands and prohibitions, with an occasional promise. Here is the text, and you can read it and see if you think here is","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/2009\/06\/10\/a-brothers-wisdom-67\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"A Brother's Wisdom 67","og_description":"James 4:7-10 contains a list of commands and prohibitions, with an occasional promise. Here is the text, and you can read it and see if you think here is","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/2009\/06\/10\/a-brothers-wisdom-67\/","og_site_name":"Jesus Creed","article_published_time":"2009-06-10T18:05:00+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/jesuscreed\/imgs\/JesusJames%2A.jpg"}],"author":"Scot McKnight","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Scot McKnight","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/2009\/06\/10\/a-brothers-wisdom-67\/","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/2009\/06\/10\/a-brothers-wisdom-67\/","name":"A Brother's Wisdom 67","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/#website"},"datePublished":"2009-06-10T18:05:00+00:00","dateModified":"2009-06-10T18:05:00+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/#\/schema\/person\/5919e847c58ffe6efb5899fb61797252"},"description":"James 4:7-10 contains a list of commands and prohibitions, with an occasional promise. Here is the text, and you can read it and see if you think here is","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/2009\/06\/10\/a-brothers-wisdom-67\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/2009\/06\/10\/a-brothers-wisdom-67\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/2009\/06\/10\/a-brothers-wisdom-67\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"A Brother’s Wisdom 67"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/","name":"Jesus Creed","description":"Scot McKnight on Jesus and orthodox faith in the 21st century","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/#\/schema\/person\/5919e847c58ffe6efb5899fb61797252","name":"Scot McKnight","description":"Scot McKnight is a recognized authority on the New Testament, early Christianity, and the historical Jesus. McKnight, author of more than fifty books, is the Professor of New Testament at Northern Seminary in Lombard, IL.","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/author\/scotmcknight\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5663","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/197"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5663"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5663\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5663"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5663"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5663"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}