How to read this page

An Intertextuality Pair — one connection between two passages, shown as linked verse cards: the Later text and the Earlier text it quotes, alludes to or echoes. The Significance essay explains why the link matters and where it points in Christ.

Reference Type— how explicit the link is: Quotation, Allusion, or Echo
Connection Method(s)— how it carries meaning: e.g. Typology, Promise-Fulfillment, Analogy, Longitudinal Theme
Found via— where the connection was identified, e.g. the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge or an Anchor-Text Network

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Intertextuality Pair

James 2:23 → Isaiah 41:8

Allusion

Later text

James 2:23BSB

And the Scripture was fulfilled that says, "Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness," and he was called a friend of God.

Earlier text

Isaiah 41:8BSB

“But you, O Israel, My servant, Jacob, whom I have chosen, descendant of Abraham My friend—

Significance

James adds to his Genesis 15:6 quotation the title "friend of God" (philos theou eklēthē), which echoes Isaiah 41:8, where God calls Abraham "my friend" (ohavi, literally "my lover/beloved one"). This title also appears in 2 Chronicles 20:7 (ohav-ka, "your friend"). The LXX of Isaiah 41:8 renders this as hon ēgapēsa ("whom I loved"), and 2 Chronicles 20:7 has tō ēgapēmenō sou ("your beloved"). James's use of philos theou synthesizes this OT tradition into a single title. The longitudinal theme traces God's personal, covenantal intimacy with Abraham — not merely a legal declaration of righteousness but a relational designation. James uses this title to demonstrate that Abraham's faith-works unity resulted in covenant intimacy with God, establishing a paradigm for all believers.

Found via: Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Reference Type: Allusion
Connection Method(s): Longitudinal Theme