James’ Greek is also affected by the exhortatory character of his composition. The sentences are generally short, with only a few relatively lengthy periods (2:2–4; 3:15–16; 4:13–15). The combination of brevity and asyndetic construction sometimes provides a staccato rhythm (see esp. 4:7–10). It is no surprise that the dominant mood of James’ verbs is the imperative. In 108 verses, there are some 59 imperatives (46 in the second person, 13 in the third person). But by no means does James consist
Page 8