On James

Our resident Blog Expert on Jacobean studies has been catching up on some much needed blogging after some time doing actual work... :)

Be sure to keep a close on eye on this blog if you're interested in James. Unfortunately, all my research on James came to a holt when I couldn't get my grubby paws on Johnson's excellent commentary. I'm still working on a paper: Jesus' Death in James 5:6 but it needs time, which I don't really have at this point... Maybe next year... Jim offers Top Picks on James. I thoroughly agree with these suggestions! Although, I haven't read all of them...

The most helpful commentaries I've used are Davids NIGTC, then Hartin Sacra Pagina, then Wall, Community of the Wise. When Johnson arrives, I'm sure I'll add it to this list. Johnson's collection of studies [Brother of Jesus, Friend of God], for exegetical usefulness, is better than Bauckham's [Wisdom of James, Disciple of Jesus the Sage]. On the sayings of Jesus in James, Deppe and Hartin's work have proved very helpful. Commentaries by Moo and Martin have proved helpful, but at times eccentric or idiosyncratic. They are nonetheless very good.

We look forward to William Baker's work, as everything that I've read of his so far has proved useful, insightful and worthy of time. And of course, there is Scot McKnight's forthcoming commentary of James to expect. But that will be a while in the making...