From: Mike Sangrey (mike@sojurn.lns.pa.us)
Date: Tue Jul 11 2000 - 20:21:23 EDT
"Mark Wilson" <emory2002@hotmail.com> said:
> > Any help would be greatly appreciated.
> > Last question: IAKWBOS
> >
> > Why is this James, and not Jacob?
Jim West <jwest@highland.net> said:
> AHHHHHHH-- Because we are westerners and we prefer our anglicized
> pronunciation to an accurate rendering of the text itself......
> sadly.
Actually, I believe it is even worse than this. `Jacob' is a perfectly
acceptable pronunciation of IAKWBOS. Otherwise why is not the word "Jacob"
completely missing from the Bible? "God of Abraham, Isaac, and James?" is not
mentioned in the NT.
The book of Jacob is about how people who society doesn't value should be
valued. Read through the book several times; he comes back to the well-off
again and again, those who exploit others, showing favoritism, and several
times addresses our own selfishness and desire to get ahead, especially when
it is at another's expense. He also deals with how the exploited are to
respond to such abuse. That's the theme of the book, IMO.
Why do I point all this out? Because it paints an horrific picture when one
learns how the book of James got its name. When the Bible was translated into
English the translators changed the name of this book, from Jacob to James, in
order to honor the King, King James.
Sad. The book which deals with honoring the widow, orphan and others of
humble circumstances is named in order to honor one of the rich. Well, the
flower withers and falls and its beauty is destroyed.
Long live King Jacob.
----
BTW, very good observation Mark. Many would have hardly noticed and simply
went on. Observations like this are key to good exegesis. Some observations
lead to rabbit trails (sometimes in public <grumble><grumble>), but others are
golden. Keep up the good work.
--
Mike Sangrey
mike@sojurn.lns.pa.us
Landisburg, Pa.
Every Christian library should have a plaque which states:
"There is one book which explains all these."
---
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