The author describes himself as a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ. In Greek it is possible to take both God and Lord as joint qualifiers of Jesus Christ, literally “servant of God and Lord Jesus Christ,” resulting in the translation “a servant of Jesus Christ, who is God and Lord.” It is doubtful, however, that this is the meaning intended here. The main reason is that it is extremely unusual in the New Testament to call Jesus “God” in such a direct way (John 20.28 is an exception). In order to explain this difficulty and apparent awkwardness, some early manuscripts added the word “Father” after “God” so as to distinguish “God” as “Father” and “Jesus” as “Lord.” Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation both avoid the apparent awkwardness by translating “of God and of the Lord…,” making clear that two persons are involved.

The word servant literally means “slave.” It indicates someone who belongs to a master. It is not a hired servant who is free to change his employer at will, but a slave who is the property of his master, not free to leave his owner. Such a person has no rights of any kind but must show complete obedience and loyalty to his owner. When James applies this term to himself, he obviously means that he is the property of God and of Jesus Christ, and that they have the right to command him and use him. The word, however, does not convey a sense of utter humiliation; it also has a sense of devotion and pride. To have God and Jesus Christ as Master is certainly an honor. In Old Testament times prophets are sometimes called “servants” (compare Jer 7.25; Amos 3.7). The term is also used of great leaders such as Moses (Josh 1.1-7) and David (2 Sam 7.18-29). In cultures where slaves are unknown, possible alternative translations of this first sentence may be the following: “I, James, who serve … with complete obedience and loyalty,” or even “I, James, who am God’s and the Lord Jesus Christ’s man.”

James regards himself as a servant also of the Lord Jesus Christ. This expression embodies the earliest Christian confessions, “Jesus is Christ,” “Jesus is Lord,” and “Jesus Christ is Lord.” The word Christ is the Greek translation of the Hebrew word “Messiah,” which means the “anointed one.” When the early Christians of Jewish background confessed Jesus as the Christ, they expressed their faith in Jesus as God’s anointed representative, equipped with God’s authority. For most of the Gentile Christians, however, “Jesus Christ” probably was no more than a proper noun. For this reason the preferred title applied to Christ was “Lord.” The basic meaning of the word Lord is “owner” or “master,” but in the Bible it has a special meaning. It is one of the most common titles for God in the Old Testament, and in the New Testament it is most frequently applied to Jesus. And as such it is a title of respect and of authority. In the context of this letter it is important to use the same term that is applied to Jesus in the Gospels, whenever he is addressed as “Lord.” In calling Jesus “Lord,” the honor and authority due to God is given also to him. It may be noted, however, that in the Letter of James, the title “Lord” is more frequently applied to God (for example, 1.7; 3.9; 4.10, 15; 5.4, 10, 11).

In some languages translators will need to use a term for Lord in combination with the name Jesus Christ that is merely a dignified title. This should be, however, a title that is normally reserved for deity or for persons of great authority; for example, “Great chief, Jesus Christ,” “Elder Brother, Jesus Christ,” and so on. It should not be the equivalent of “Sir” in English, if the term is merely a polite expression referring to someone of equal standing with the speaker. In some languages translators will need to express the meaning of Lord as, for example, “the one who controls” or “the one who commands”; for example, “Jesus Christ, the One who Controls us,” or “The One who Rules over us, Jesus Christ.”

James addresses his letter To the twelve tribes in the Dispersion. The people of Israel consisted of twelve tribes representing the twelve sons of Jacob. The twelve tribes is normally a comprehensive expression used to describe all the people of Israel, or the whole Jewish nation (compare Acts 26.7). In this letter the phrase obviously refers to Christians, not to Jews. It is possible that the reference is to Jewish Christians, but more likely it is to be taken figuratively as a description of the Christians, the new people of God who constitute the new Israel (compare Gal 6.16; also Matt 19.28). It is for this reason that Good News Translation renders the expression as “all God’s people,” and in many languages this will be a suitable translation. However, if a translator wishes to retain the expression twelve tribes, it will be helpful to include a footnote explaining the term. The footnote in Contemporary English Version reads: “twelve tribes scattered all over the world: James is saying that the Lord’s followers are like the tribes of Israel that were scattered everywhere by their enemies.”

The word Dispersion is sometimes used as a technical term for Jews living outside their historic homeland. Here, as in the understanding of the phrase “twelve tribes,” the reference is most probably not to the Jews living in other countries. It is possible that it refers to Jewish Christians living beyond their home country, mainly in Syria and Asia Minor. The most widely accepted understanding, however, is to take the term metaphorically as referring to Christians who are “strangers and exiles on the earth” (compare Heb 11.13; 13.14; 1 Peter 1.1, 17; 2.11), namely Christians “scattered over the whole world” (Good News Translation), or “dispersed throughout the world” (New English Bible and Revised English Bible [New English Bible/Revised English Bible]). Some languages will not be able to use the passive expression “dispersed.” In such cases we may say, for example, “to all God’s people [or, Christians] who are living as strangers in various places all over the world.” Just as it was possible to describe the Christian Church in terms of the “twelve tribes,” so it was possible to think of its widely scattered members in terms of a “new Dispersion.” It may be mentioned that scholars engaged in social analysis of New Testament texts have recently proposed the view that the term Dispersion should be understood not only as a religious designation, but also as a social designation, referring to the poor Christians who were prevented by their neighbors from taking part in community affairs because of their faith. This interpretation, while not impossible, may not be the central meaning intended here.

Greeting translates the infinitive form of a verb that also means “rejoice” or “be glad.” This word is also used as a formula of greeting when meeting people (compare Mark 15.18; Luke 1.28; John 19.3) and at the beginning of a letter (compare Acts 15.23; 23.26). Unlike Paul in his letters, James does not attempt to expand his greetings into a distinctive Christian salutation. Since this is a conventional greeting formula, it is all right to use an equivalent formula in translation. For example, the Japanese New Interconfessional Translation in its first edition published in 1978 has “How are you?” However, the use of the simple greeting may be intentional. It serves to link verse 2 to verse 1, as there is a similarity in sound between chairein (“rejoice,” or “greeting”) and charan (“joy”). If so, in languages where the standard greeting is, for example, “cheers” or “be happy,” it may be desirable to use such a formula.

An alternative translation model for this verse may be as follows:
• I, James, who serve God and the Lord Jesus Christ, write this letter to all the Christians who live all over the world. Greetings!

Quoted with permission from Loh, I-Jin and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on The Letter from James. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1997. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .