James 1:13

Mike Sangrey mike at sojurn.lns.pa.us
Tue Jul 11 20:21:23 EDT 2000



"Mark Wilson" <emory2002 at hotmail.com> said:
> > Any help would be greatly appreciated.
> > Last question: IAKWBOS
> >
> > Why is this James, and not Jacob?

Jim West <jwest at highland.net> said:
> AHHHHHHH-- Because we are westerners and we prefer our anglicized
> pronunciation to an accurate rendering of the text itself......

> sadly. 

Actually, I believe it is even worse than this.  `Jacob' is a perfectly 
acceptable pronunciation of IAKWBOS.  Otherwise why is not the word "Jacob" 
completely missing from the Bible?  "God of Abraham, Isaac, and James?" is not 
mentioned in the NT.

The book of Jacob is about how people who society doesn't value should be 
valued.  Read through the book several times; he comes back to the well-off 
again and again, those who exploit others, showing favoritism, and several 
times addresses our own selfishness and desire to get ahead, especially when 
it is at another's expense.  He also deals with how the exploited are to 
respond to such abuse.  That's the theme of the book, IMO.

Why do I point all this out?  Because it paints an horrific picture when one 
learns how the book of James got its name.  When the Bible was translated into 
English the translators changed the name of this book, from Jacob to James, in 
order to honor the King, King James.

Sad.  The book which deals with honoring the widow, orphan and others of 
humble circumstances is named in order to honor one of the rich.  Well, the 
flower withers and falls and its beauty is destroyed.

Long live King Jacob.

----

BTW, very good observation Mark.  Many would have hardly noticed and simply 
went on.  Observations like this are key to good exegesis.  Some observations 
lead to rabbit trails (sometimes in public <grumble><grumble>), but others are 
golden.  Keep up the good work.
-- 
Mike Sangrey
mike at sojurn.lns.pa.us
Landisburg, Pa.
       Every Christian library should have a plaque which states:
              "There is one book which explains all these."





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