The Fruit of Righteousness in James: A Study in Discourse Analysis 101 the interrogative “ἐν ὑμῖν”48. The content of this paragraph describes the reader’s progression in sin, for after desiring and envying, they murder and wage war, and after not getting what they want, they turn to God in prayer (vv. 1-3). James has structured his argument in a way so that he can now lurch into his strongest rebuke of the letter. Therefore he directly calls the readers μοιχαλίδες (4,4), ἁμαρτωλοί (4,8), and δίψυχοι (4,8), and issues a forceful series of aorist imperatives in vv. 7-1049. Again, this language parallels the OT prophets. In 4,4 James addresses the readers using a feminine plural vocative, “Adulteresses” (μοιχαλίδες). The textual variant that adds the masculine form μοιχοί to make the reading “Adulterers and Adulteresses” can likely be explained in light of a scribe puzzling over the appearance of the feminine vocative50, especially in a letter addressing brothers (ἀδελφοί). Commenting on the significance of μοιχαλίδες, Jobes explains that the term appears in the feminine in several places throughout Hosea and the OT prophets. Thus, “by referring to world-friendly Christians as ‘adulteresses’, James accuses them of the same kind of unfaithfulness to the new covenant in Christ as condemned by the Twelve”51. In summary, 3,1 – 4,10 serves as the Epistle’s second section and contains three paragraphs. Together, these continue the argument begun in the previous section (located in James 2). James’ audience has failed to show faith by their actions, as evidenced by their favoritism. 3,1-12 then identifies the tongue as a primary source of unrighteousness by which every believer sins. Righteousness comes from above in the form of wisdom and is full of all sorts of good fruits (vv. 13-18). James’ audience, however, is characterized by all sorts of unrighteous action and this demands the sharpest rebuke (4,1-10)52. The pendulum of James’ argument has swung 48 Lockett, Purity and Worldview, 154. 49 Cf. ὑποτάγητε, ἀντίστητε, ἐγγίσατε, καθαρίσατε, ἁγνίσατε, ταλαιπωρήσατε, πενθήσατε, κλαύσατε, μετατραπήτω, ταπεινώθητε. The tone of 4,1-10, and especially the imperatives just listed, bear strong allusions to the OT LXX prophetic material, since many of James’ words also appear in the prophets’ rebuke of Israel. Such allusions to the prophets have been noted by numerous interpreters, including Moo (The Letter of James, D.A. Carson [ed.] [PNTC; Grand Rapids 2000] 186), and Harnack (Geschichte, 487), who considers the tone of 4,1ff. and 5,1ff. as being in the spirit of the prophets. 50 Jobes, “Minor Prophets”, 139. Jobes contends that virtually every major English translation except the NASB and ASV obscures the significance of this allusion by rendering the term “Adulterers” (NRSV, NLT) or “You adulterous people” (TNIV, NIV, ESV). The KJV and NKV follow the textual variant in rendering the phrase “Adulterers and Adulteresses”. 51 Ibid., 140. Jobes’ article is worthy of a detailed reading in its entirety. 52 The change in tone in 4,1 has been noted by Baasland (“Weisheit”, 122), who states that the Epistle’s first section is positive and mild in tone. This contrasts with the second half of the Epistle, whose tone is accusatory, and which rarely uses “brother” (until 5,7ff.).