Marginal Readings from NRSV

Illustration of Marginal Readings
NRSV Text of James 1:1-25a

JAMES 1

Hearing and doing
the Word

Salutation 1James, a servants of God^a and of the Lord Jesus Christ, To the twelve tribes in the Dispersion: Greetings. Faith and Wisdom 2 My brothers and sisters,^b whenever you face trials of any kind, consider it nothing but joy, ³because you know that the testing of your faith produces endurance; ⁴and let endurance have its full effect, so that you may be mature and complete, lacking in nothing. 5 If any of you is lacking in wisdom, ask God, who gives to all generously and ungrudgingly, and it will be given you. ⁶But ask in faith, never doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind; ^{7, 8}for the doubter, being double-minded and unstable in every way, must not expect to receive anything from the Lord. Poverty and Riches 9 Let the believer^c who is lowly boast in being raised up, ¹⁰and the rich in being brought low, because the rich will disappear like a flower in the field. ¹¹For the sun rises with its scorching heat and withers the field; its flower falls, and its beauty perishes. It is the same way with the rich; in the midst of a busy life, they will wither away. Trial and Temptation 12 Blessed is anyone who endures temptation. Such a one has stood the test and will	receive the crown of life that the Lord^d has promised to those who love him. ¹³one, when tempted, should say, "I am being tempted by God"; for God cannot be tempted by evil and he himself tempts no one. ¹⁴But one is tempted by one's own desire, being lured and enticed by it; ¹⁵then, when that desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin, and that sin, when it is fully grown, gives birth to death. ¹⁶Do not be deceived, my beloved.^e 17 Every generous act of giving, with every perfect gift, is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.^f 18In fulfillment of his own purpose he gave us birth by the word of truth, so that we would become a kind of first fruits of his creatures. Hearing and Doing the Word 19 You must understand this, my beloved:^e let everyone be quick to listen, slow to speak, slow to anger; ²⁰for your anger does not produce Gods righteousness. ²¹Therefore rid yourselves of all sordidness and rank growth of wickedness, and welcome with meekness the implanted word that has the power to save your souls. 22 But be doers of the word, and not merely hearers who deceive themselves. ²³For if any are hearers of the word and not doers, they are like those who look at themselves^g in a mirror; ²⁴for they look at themselves and, on going away, immediately forget what they were like. ²⁵But those who look into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and persevere, being not hearers who forget
^aGk slave ^bGk brothers ^cGk brother	^dGk he; other ancient authorities read God ^eGk my beloved brothers ^fOther ancient authorities readvariation due to a shadow of turning ^gGk at the face of his birth
1.1: Salutation. 1: Dispersion describes Jews scattered outside Palestine (see Jn 7.35). Its metaphorical use here testifies to the church's sense of being aliens in this world as well as the heir of Israel (Gal 4.21-31; Phil 3.20; 1 Pet 1.1). 1.2-18: The blessings of trials. Trials are a ground for rejoicing. 5: Wisdom, see 3.13 n. 6: The sea, Isa 57.20; Jer 49.23. 7-8: The doubter's entire conduct reflects inconstancy of purpose (Mt 6.24). 10-11: Isa 40.6-7. 1.12: The crown of life, see 2 Tim 4.8 n. 13: Temptation is not from God, but from human passions. 17: Father of lights, creatbr of the heavenly bodies (Gen 1.14-18; Ps 136.7).	18: The first fruits of harvest were frequently offered to God (Lev 23.10; Num 15.21; Deut 18.4). 1.19-27: True worship. 19-20: Anger, see Eph 4.26 n. 21: Rid yourselves, strip off as dirty clothing. The implanted word, the gospel which has been received and is now growing. James uses a variety of expressions for the gospel: perfect law, (v.25), law ofliberty (v: 25; 2.12), royal law (2.8). 22: Be doers..., not merely hearers, Mt 7.24-27; Rom 2.13. 25: The perfect law, the Jewish description of the Mosaic law, is here applied to the "law" (1.27; 2.1-13) through which a believer obtains freedom. Blessed, Ps 1.1; Mt

Explanation:

The marginal readings footnotes (highlighted in the ^{bold red superscripted letters} in above James text) refers only to the above illustrated footnotes. In the NOSB, the Study Notes (see yellow shaded row above) that occur at the bottom of the page underneath the NRSV text do not apply to this assignment!
Pay particular, but not exclusive attention to the introductory statement Other ancient authorities read in the footnotes, since this introduces a variant reading in the underlying Greek or Hebrew text. These are the expression of the products of Textual Critical analysis studied in class (topics 1.7.1 & 1.7.2). For more detailed analysis of these you should check the better commentaries which will discuss the textual variant issues in the specified scripture verse.
For a brief explanation of the NOSB format, read the section "1. Variant Readings and Alternative Readings" under II. FINDING WHAT THE TEXT SAYS (page xvii in How to use this study Bible). These are the primary focus of the Marginal Readings assignment in the Analysis Paper assignment.