PROVENANCE
PROVENANCE
If the author of the letter is unknown, then almost any provenance for the letter is possible. Laws, for instance, noting resemblances between James and several works of Roman origin—1 Peter, 1 Clement, Hermas—thinks the letter may have been written in Rome. 18 If, as we think, James the brother of the Lord is the author of this letter, then it was probably written from Jerusalem during his tenure as leader of the Christian church in Jerusalem (tradition makes James the first bishop of Jerusalem). While it may say as much about the readers as the author, the social and economic backdrop assumed in the letter also fits a Palestinian provenance: merchants ranging far and wide in search of profits (Jas. 4:13-17), absentee landlords taking advantage of an increasingly poor and landless labor force (2:5-7; 5:1-6), and heated religious controversy (4:1-3).