Journal: Tyndale Bulletin
Volume: TYNBUL 70:2 (NA 2019)
Article: The Role Of Semitic Catchwords In Interpreting The Epistle Of James
Author: Daniel K. Eng

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The Role Of Semitic Catchwords In Interpreting The Epistle Of James

Daniel K. Eng

([email protected])

Summary

This article examines the arrangement of the Epistle of James in light of Semitic documents that display catchword association. James shows evidence of being a compilation, with adjacent sections frequently connected by a common cognate. After identifying patterns of catchword association in the Hebrew Bible, LXX, and Qumran, the article identifies instances of catchword association in the Epistle of James. Finally, some conclusions are drawn for James, including recommendations about the study of its genre, provenance, structure, and interpretation.1

1. Introduction

This article examines the interpretation of the Epistle of James in light of Semitic documents that display catchword association. James shows evidence of having adjacent sections frequently connected by a common cognate, called a catchword, or Stichwort. While not necessarily displaying logical progression, the epistle shows consistency with an intentional Semitic custom of connecting material by catchword. After identifying patterns of catchword association in Jewish documents, we will examine similar arrangements in James and

TynBull 70:2 (2019) p. 246

offer recommendations on how the identification of catchword association impacts the interpretation of the epistle.

For the purposes of this study, the phrase ‘catchword association’ refers to the adjacent placing of distinct sections of text, linked by a common lexeme.2 In his 1983 article,3 H. Van Dyke Parunak offers a delineation of various methods of structuring a biblical document that largely trace back to continental scholar David Müller.4 Müller pointed to a structuring technique called concatenation, which refers to the ‘recurrence of similar features at the end of one structural unit and the beginning of the next’.5 Parunak goes on to define different categories of linguistic similarities that can occur between two units linked by concatenation.6 For the present study we will focus on common lexemes that occur in consecutive sections, with the most compelling cases being what Parunak calls lexical similarity, a common lexeme occurring at the adjoining ends of both sections.

Concatenation based on lexical similarity can be di...