The last section of Adamson’s commentary on James Chapter 1 covers James 1:12 to James 1:27. However, he takes a break after James 1:12. He labels the next section 13-27 and briefly discusses verse 13 in particular. Due to this organization, I decided to limit this article to James 1:12. Adamson’s translation is as follows:
Happy is the man who with constancy endures trying assaults of evil; for when (upon trial) he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him.
Endurance
This section begins by saying that the idea of endurance is familiar in Judaism. Adamson cites two of the sources from the select bibliography (p. 40) who find tribal references to Jacob and Issachar (A. Meyer1, pp. 270ff. and B. S. Easton2, p. 26). But the idea of endurance is also typical of James.
Happy is the man who here and now, from day to day, withstands peirasmos: he is progressing toward salvation (as in 1:3), and if (as 1:4 requires) he endures to the end, then at last, winning final approval, he will receive the final reward, the crown of life. (Adamson p. 67)
(Adamson prefers the word happy (beatus) in this context to blessed (benedictus).
Peirasmos
Regarding the meaning or sense of the word peirasmos, Adamson agrees with Ropes3 (p. 150) who says the phrase ‘has been approved” is another way of saying endures, and not a further condition of receiving the crown. The word contains the notion of a trial, but also trial and approval (1Corinthians 10:18; 13:7; 2 Timothy 2:15).
The Crown of Life
The next paragraph discusses ‘the crown of life’. Adamson tells us that the victor’s prize in the Greek games (the crown, head-wreath, chaplet, or circlet) was worn in religious and secular feasts. It was given and received as a public sign of honor. But in the Bible there is a difference. Paul makes a distinction between this crown and the crown the Christian is hoping to win.
The Greek Games Compared to Christianity
In Corintians 9:24, 25, he reminds us that in the races only one competitor received the prize. In Christianity, however, the Christian is not competing against his fellow athletes. Adamson compares it to a scholastic examination. In other words, there is no reason why all candidates should not pass the test.
But still, this image was relevant. The clue is in Hebrews 12:1, which describes the crowd of spectator-witnesses, the past heroes of the faith, and the stripping off of encumbrances, like clothing (see James 1:21).
…it is the race of endurance; and the model of endurance, and the founder and perfecter of the faith which by endurance we must maintain, is Jesus. Whereas the athletes have human competitors, the Christian’s adversaries are the powers of darkness, trying to drive him out of the course and prevent his ever finishing it. (Adamson, p. 68)
But perhaps the metaphor of the fight would have been a closer parallel to the biblical contest. Here, Adamson quotes R. Simeon b. Lakish4:
It can be compared to two prize-fighters, one of whom was stronger than the other. The stronger prevailed over the weaker and then placed a garland over his own head.
James Differs from Paul in this Regard
But James is not like Paul in this regard. He does not pursue the metaphor of athletic competitions. The crown is the reward of the Christian’s effort but this effort is a struggle against evil rather than fellow competitors. And eternal life is the crown.
Conclusion
Some later manuscripts specifically mention ‘the Lord’ or ‘God’ as giver of this promise to those who love him. However, the promise does not appear in so many words in the Old Testament. Adamson concludes this section by listing related New Testament verses which he thinks provide evidence of an otherwise unrecorded saying of Jesus.5 These are 1 Corinthians 9:25; 1 Peter 5:4; 2 Timothy 4:8, and especially Revelations 2:10.
Finally, he argues that the ‘strong liturgical flavor’ of James 1:12 is another confirmation.
Dibelius Shows (p. 87) that the words ‘those who love him’, common enough in the LXX and later Jewish and Christian tradition, are traced back by the Rabbis to Judges 5:31.6 Man’s duty of love to God is as old as any in Hebrew religion, and from Ezekiel onward the prophets take up the theme with renewed emphasis, in which they are followed by Jesus and, after his example, by James and Paul.
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