James 4,1-4 in the Light of the Jewish Two Ways Tradition 3,1-6 55 The desire to abstain from evil incited pietistic Sages to keep to not only the literal meaning of a commandment but also its broad intention, surpassing the scope of widely accepted precepts. It exceeds the halakha’s legal corpus. Certain things, not forbidden by the Law, were taken in these pious circles to be actual transgressions and are referred to as minor sins. Conversely, the current halakhic norms were tightened to the extent that they became minor commands in their own right. The early stratum of Derekh Erets literature embodied a refined human ethic highlighting acts of charity, modesty, humility. The most pertinent parallel to the preamble in Did 3,1 and the subsequent strophes in 3,2-6 is found in the treatise Yir’at Het II,16-17: Keep aloof from that which leads to transgression, keep aloof from everything hideous and from what even seems hideous. Shudder from committing a minor transgression (lqh afjm), lest it leads you to commit a major transgression (rwmj afjl). Hurry to (perform) a minor precept (hlq hwxml), for this will lead you to (perform) a major precept (hrwmj) (52). This shows that the popular apophthegm, to be as careful of an unimportant precept as of an important one (53), was in its original meaning an alternative form of the counsel “my child, flee from all evil and from anything resembling it”. The conclusion to be drawn from this is that Did 3,1-6 displays a tradition which was very much alive in Jewish Derekh Erets circles. James was interested in such a tradition as it embodied a teaching preserved and handed on by pious Jews in his time. The agreement between the maxims in Yir’at Het I,13; II,16-17 and Did 3,1 is not surprising, since there is a close affinity between the ideas and ethical principles in the early Derekh Erets doctrine and the —————— Massekhet Derekh Erets I, 12 according to HIGGER, The Treatises Derek Erez, I, 63 (Hebr.) and 2, 35 (English translation). Compare also the following saying: “Keep aloof from anything hideous and (even) from whatever seems hideous”; cf. Derekh Erets Zuta VIII, 3 according to VAN LOOPIK, The Ways, 290 = Massekhet Derekh Eretz VII, 2 according to HIGGER, The Treatises Derek Erez I, 126 [Hebr.] and II, 50 [English translation]). (52) Yir’at Het (or Derekh Erets Zuta) II, 16-17 according to VAN LOOPIK, The Ways, 229-231 (with commentary) = Massekhet Derekh Eretz I, 26 according to HIGGER, The Treatises Derek Erez I, 78-79 [Hebr.] and 2, 38 [ET]). (53) See F. BÖHL, Gebotserschwerung und Rechtsverzicht als ethisch-religiöse Normen in der rabbinischen Literatur (FJS 1; Freiburg i. B. 1971) 59-63 and 85- 109.