King James Version · Under Rome
James 3
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My brethren, be not many masters, knowing that we shall receive the greater condemnation. For in many things we offend all. If any man offend not in word, the same is a perfect man, and able also to bridle the whole body. Behold, we put bits in the horses’ mouths, that they may us; and we turn about their whole body. Behold also the ships, which though they be so great, and are driven of fierce winds, yet are they turned about with a very small helm, whithersoever the governor listeth. Even so is a little member, and boasteth great things. Behold, how great a matter a little kindleth! And is a , a world of : so is among our members, that it defileth the whole body, and setteth on the course of nature; and it is set on of hell. 7For every kind of , and of birds, and of , and of things in the sea, is tamed, and hath been tamed of mankind: But can no man tame; it is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison. Therewith we , even ; and therewith we men, which are made after the similitude of . Out of the same proceedeth and . My brethren, these things ought not so to be. 11Doth a fountain send forth at the same place sweet water and bitter? Can the fig tree, my brethren, bear olive berries? either a , figs? so can no fountain both yield salt water and fresh. Who is a man and endued with knowledge among you? let him shew out of a good conversation his works with meekness of . But if ye have bitter envying and strife in your , not, and lie not against the truth. This descendeth not from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish. For where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work. But the that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without . And the fruit of is sown in peace of them that make peace.
The 1611 translation, public domain. Its original printing included the Apocrypha, which is why the deuterocanonical books can be read here. Notes and cards are EKLI’s own.
The world at this moment · Under Rome, 63 BC to AD 100 ›
Judea as a client kingdom and then a province. Roads, garrisons, taxes, crucifixion, and a common Greek language that let a message travel the empire faster than any before it.
- Rome
- The republic tears itself apart in civil war and comes out as an empire under Augustus. What follows is two centuries of relative peace across the whole Mediterranean, enforced by legions and paid for by taxes, with safe roads and safe sea lanes. Every one of Paul's journeys depends on that.
- Judea
- Governed first through Herod the Great, a client king of enormous ability and enormous brutality who rebuilds the temple into one of the wonders of the ancient world, then directly by Roman prefects. Crucifixion is the standard penalty for sedition and is used often and publicly.
- The wider world
- Greek is spoken from Spain to Syria, which means a letter written in Corinth can be read in Rome without translation. Jewish communities already exist in most major cities, which is where the first Christian preaching lands. Mystery religions, imperial cult, and philosophy all compete in the same marketplace.
- Further afield
- The Han dynasty rules China and trades silk westward along routes that touch the Roman world at second hand. In Britain the Roman conquest begins within a decade of the crucifixion.