The New Daily Study Bible
The Letters of
James and Peter
Published by
SAINT ANDREW PRESS
121 George Street, Edinburgh EH2 4YN
© The William Barclay Estate, 1976, 2003
First edition published in 1958 as The Daily Study Bible: The Letters of James and Peter Revised edition published in 1976 This third edition fully revised and updated by Saint Andrew Press and published as The New Daily Study Bible: The Letters of James and Peter in 2003
The Scripture quotations contained herein are from The New Revised Standard Version of the Bible, Anglicized Edition, copyright © 1989, 1995 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America, and are used by permission. All rights reserved.
ISBN 0 7152 0793 8
eISBN 978 0 8615 3650 4
The right of William Barclay to be identified as author of this work has been asserted according to the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A CIP record for this book is available from the British Library
Cover design by McColl Productions Ltd, by courtesy of Saint Andrew Press
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, re-sold, hired out or otherwise circulated without the publisher’s prior consent.
Typeset by Waverley Typesetters, Galashiels
Printed in Great Britain by Creative Print & Design, Wales
TO
J.M.
ON WHOSE STAFF
IT WAS MY PRIVILEGE TO SERVE
IN GRATITUDE FOR HELP AND GUIDANCE
SO OFTEN AND SO GRACIOUSLY GIVEN
CONTENTS
Series Foreword (by Ronnie Barclay)
General Introduction (by William Barclay, 1975)
General Foreword (by John Drane)
Editor’s Preface (by Linda Foster)
JAMES
Introduction to the Letter of James
The Jews throughout the World (1:1) (contd)
The Recipients of the Letter (1:1) (contd)
The Result of Testing (1:2–4) (contd)
God’s Giving and Our Asking (1:5–8)
As Each Individual Needs (1:9–11)
Putting the Blame on God (1:13–15)
Avoiding Responsibility (1:13–15) (contd)
God’s Constancy for Good (1:16–18)
When to be Quick and When to be Slow (1:19–20)
The Peril of Snobbery within the Church (2:2–4)
The Riches of Poverty and the Poverty of Riches (2:5–7)
The Law of Liberty and the Law of Mercy (2:12–13)
Professing the Faith and Putting it into Practice (2:14–17)
Not ‘Either Or’, but ‘Both And’ (2:18–19)