audience is the use of the monotheistic confession to summarize doctrine (2:19) and the use of the word synagōgē in 2:2. The implied Jewish audience of the letter is in keeping with the New Testament and early Christian portrayal of James as one who ministered among ‘the circumcised’ (Gal. 2:9). The letter implies that these Jewish believers were mainly poor people who were caught in a situation of considerable social tension. Oppressed and taken advantage of by wealthy landlords (5:4–6), hauled