James 1:1

KJV

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

LSB

James, a slave of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, To the twelve tribes who are in the Dispersion: Greetings.

In English, a slave describes somebody who is coerced into bondage, serves their master out of fear of punishment, and is treated as a possession by their master. A servant does not usually fit this type of description. Especially in the Bible, servants often serve out of loyalty, devotion, and love to their masters (Ex. 21:5). These same modern Bibles which call Abraham, Moses, and David “servants” of God in the Old Testament (Gen. 26:24, Ex. 14:31, Ps. 89:20), call Paul, James, Peter, Jude, and even Jesus himself “slaves” in the New Testament (Rom. 1:1, Jam. 1:1, 2Pet 1:1, Jude 1:1, Php 2:7), as if the Old Testament saints had superior standing with God.

Scripture quotations taken from the (LSB®) Legacy Standard Bible®, Copyright © 2021 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Managed in partnership with Three Sixteen Publishing Inc. LSBible.org and 316publishing.com.

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