The Fruit of Righteousness in James: A Study in Discourse Analysis 95 firstfruits means: (1) being quick to hear (God’s word)31. Being quick to hear entails slowness of speech and slowness of anger — both of which foster the proper hearing of the word. (2) Living as God’s firstfruits means receiving the word with gentleness (v. 21) — a certain humbleness of mind and of demeanor. Receiving the word in this way involves putting off all moral filth and the abundance of wickedness — yet another reminder that the readers have sin, and lots of it, needing to be dealt with. They are reminded that putting off sin is a healthy practice for believers and ensures that they continue receiving the word in the proper manner, since it is difficult to become arrogant when filth is being exposed through the word (1,21). Thus, as believers continue dealing with sin, they continue to receive the word with gentleness. (3) Living as God’s firstfruits means not only hearing but also doing the word (vv. 22-25). James provides an example of what it means to be a doer by alluding to a mirror (vv. 23-25). This paragraph concludes in the indicative (1,26-27), providing a smooth ending to the body-introduction. Significantly, Verseput notes that vv. 26-27 strongly allude to the prophetic material, since the Hebrew prophets demanded the cessation of improper behavior and commanded for the people to “defend the cause of the fatherless, plead the case of the widow” (e.g., Isa 1,15-17)32. In summary, we noted that vv. 2-27 function as the body-introduction and are structured into three paragraphs: vv. 2-12, vv. 13-18, and vv. 19-27. In the first, believers are admonished to turn to God in prayer when temptation reveals they are lacking so that they may be given the wisdom which makes them τέλειοι. Secondly, James argues that believers have no excuse for their lack because God has birthed them through his word to live as his firstfruits. Finally, vv. 19-27 describe some of the fruit produced by God’s offspring. 2.2.2 Body Proper (2,1 – 5,8) Important to a discussion of James’s composition is an analysis of the three large sections of the body: 2,1-26, 3,1 – 4,10, and 4,11 – 5,8. An attempt will now be made to demonstrate that the body-proper is composed of three sections whose peak is located in 3,13-18. Each of these 31 That this instruction is related to hearing God’s word, and not hearing in general, is confirmed by 1,18, which speaks of the word by which believers were birthed, and by 1,21, which speaks of the implanted word that saves the soul. Such a view is supported by Verseput (“Anger”, 432). 32 Verseput argues that vv. 26-27 offers a weighty climax to what goes before (“Anger”, 437), and then summarizes James’ thought: “True worship, he tells his readers, was to offer to God with hands unstained by strife the righteous deeds of which the prophets had spoken” (p. 439). Thus, pure and undefiled worship is the obedience required by the prophets.