Word Studies:
Rejoice! Diaspora
Diaspora
James 1:1 opens with a greeting to the dispersion. The
Greek is diaspora is derived from diaspeiro, which
means scatter. Neither word is used frequently in the New
Testament; the other uses don't shed much light on James' understanding
of the word.
In Acts 8:1, 4 and 11:10 diaspeiro is used to refer to
Christians who have scattered for fear of persecution.
The word is used in the Greek Old Testament, the Septuagint, to
refer to the people of Israel who are living in exile, or living
among Gentiles. Outside of Biblical texts the word refers more the
chaos of ordinary life when we have not found divine harmony (Shrenk
156). In John 7:35 diaspora seems to have the Old Testament
sense, as the Jewish leaders misunderstand Jesus as leaving to preach
to the Jews living in Gentile lands. 1 Peter 1:1 is quite clear
in its reference to people living in exile outside of Palestine.
But James 1:1 is the only text referring to the twelve tribes
in the dispersion. If James is the brother of Jesus, and a
leader of the Jerusalem church, why is he writing to the people
in exile, outside of Palestine? Some scholars have argued instead
that diaspora in this text refers to scattering in a spiritual
sense-that is, we are all far removed from the promised kingdom
of God (Johnson 186). Yet Johnson argues that Jewish Christians
in Antioch, Syria, and Cilicia might be the audience James intended;
they are within the influence of Jerusalem, yet scattered
from the center (Johnson 186). Tamez notes that the diaspora
live transitory lives, they are those whose culture is different
from their neighbors. And the diaspora, the exiles, the
outsiders, are often those that are oppressed (Tamez 19).
Luke Timothy Johnson, "The Letter of James" in Leander Keck et
al, eds., The New Interpreter's Bible, Volume XII, (Nashville:
Abingdon, 2000).
G. Shrenk, II, “diaspora” in Gerhard Kittle and Gerhard
Friedrich, Theological Dictionary of the New Testament Abridged
in One Volume by Geoffrey W. Bromily, (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm
B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1985.)
Elsa Tamez, The Scandalous Message of James: Faith Without
Works is Dead, (New York: The Crossroad Publishing Company,
1990).
REJOICE, chairo, chara
Looking up joy or chara in James 1:2 turns
up a surprise. The word joy or delight is derived
from the word chairo, which is used in James 1:1 and translated
greeting. James uses chara again in 4:9, calling
for a reversal, that our joy might be turned to mourning.
The word is used as a greeting in Acts 15:23, Acts 23:26, and James
1:1, yet must be understood as more than hello; perhaps
glad to see you would be the modern equivalent. It is translated
with a form of rejoice 73% of the time, and a form of glad
for an additional 12% of the uses.
The use of joy as a greeting in letters
is found in secular Greek, somewhat like we use good morning.
It is used as well to greet the gods and as a closing to hymns.
The Old Testament uses the word in a festive sense, at weddings
and harvest celebrations, as well as to describe God’s rejoicing.
Philo, a first century Jewish philosopher, describes joy
as a gift that is available only from God, the result of virtue
and wisdom. In the New Testament joy and rejoicing
come from faith, and from God’s rule, but we are also to rejoice
in suffering and persecution (Bromiley 1299).
“Blessed are you when people revile you
and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely
on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in
heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were
before you. -Matthew 5:11-12
Tamez finds hope for the future implicit in James
choice to open his letter with a call to rejoice.
Geoffrey W. Bromily, Theological Dictionary of the New Testament
Abridged in One Volume, (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm B. Eerdmans Publishing
Company, 1985.)
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