James 1:1 (KJV)
James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad, greeting.

We are taught, when studying the Word of God, to consider first of all who is the writer and to whom he is writing. This is clearly given to us as:

James, the writer
This is not the Apostle as he had been executed early in Christian history. It’s the pastor of the church in Jerusalem that wrote this letter.

The twelve scattered tribes, the reader
This is a bit tougher to discern. On first glance this looks to be strictly the dispersion, those Jews scattered both east and west due to world crises in the history of Israel. This doesn’t compute well because the New Testament is a Christian book. On the other hand it does answer why this letter seems so bent toward works.

Barnes says, “Many have supposed that James here addressed them as Jews, and that the epistle was sent to them as such. But this opinion has no probability; because:
(1) If this had been the case, he would not have been likely to begin his Epistle by saying that he was “a servant of Jesus Christ,” a name so odious to the Jews.
(2) And, if he had spoken of himself as a Christian, and had addressed his countrymen as himself a believer in Jesus as the Messiah, though regarding them as Jews, it is incredible that he did not make a more distinct reference to the principles of the Christian religion; that he used no arguments to convince them that Jesus was the Messiah; that he did not attempt to convert them to the   faith.
It should be added, that at first most converts were made from those who had been trained in the Jewish faith, and it is not improbable that one in Jerusalem, addressing those who were Christians out of Palestine, would naturally think of them as of Jewish origin…”

I prefer Clarkes’ thoughts on this subject, “To the Jews, whether converted to Christianity or not, who lived out of Judea, and sojourned among the Gentiles for the purpose of trade or commerce. At this time there were Jews partly traveling, partly sojourning, and partly resident in most parts of the civilized world; particularly in Asia, Greece, Egypt, and Italy. I see no reason for restricting it to Jewish believers only; it was sent to all whom it might concern, but particularly to those who had received the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ;”

To my readers:
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James 1:1 (KJV) The Twelve Scattered Tribes

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