This programmatic socio-rhetorical investigation approaches the Epistle of James as an instance of written deliberative rhetoric, and it seeks to ascertain the social texture of James 2.5, a rhetorical performance of language that in other contexts is explicitly attributed to Jesus. Utilizing the conventions of Greco-Roman rhetoric, Dr Wachob successively probes the inner texture, the intertexture, the social and cultural texture, and the ideological implications of the rhetoric in James 2.1-13. He analyses James’ activation of antecedent texts in the LXX, common conceptions and topics in the broader culture, and also sayings in the Jesus tradition. He concludes that James emanates from the same milieu as the pre-Matthean Sermon on the Mount and shows James 2.5 to be an artful performance of the principal beatitude in that early epitome of Jesus’ teachings.

"This book will become required reading for specialists in James. Seminars and research libraries will want to secure a copy."

"Wachob's argument is well-stated and coherent. This book will become required reading for specialists in James. Seminaries and research libraries will want to secure a copy."

"...this book is noteworthy for its grasp of the history of study of James, its attention to exegetical detail, and its fruitful use of social-rhetorical method."