Teleios in the Epistle of James

Abstract

Teleios is an Hellenistic Greek term which refers to an end, goal, purpose or aim, and it means complete, mature, or fully developed, finished. Teleios signifies consummate soundness, and it includes the idea of being whole. In its numerous forms the term teleios arises 100 times in the Greek New Testament. The term was frequently used in the Epistle of James — τέλειον (James 1:4); τέλειον (James 1:17); τέλειον (James 1:25); τελεῖτε (James 2:8); ἐτελειώθη (James 2:22); τέλειος (James 3:2). The frequent use of teleios makes it possible to know that the author clearly expressed his perspective through this word. In the previous research on teleios, Patrick J. Hartin argues that the use of teleios in the Epistle of James is rooted in the Hebrew Scriptures and the LXX as a Jewish coloured term. Hartin’s view is fair to illuminate that teleios is based on the concept of state of the completeness and whole - hearted mental state. Yet, considering that teleios (James 3:2) is used for explaining the process into completeness, called, maturity, such a view of the author of James’ Epistle is closer to the view of the Classical Greek Philosopher, Plato, or the Hellenistic Jewish philosopher, Philo of Alexandria. In addition, teleios (James 1:17) which can be regarded as one of the divine attributes, might be traced back to Platonic or Philonic thinking. Thus, James’ author might be considered as a Hellenised Jew who combined a Jewish concept with a Hellenistic perspective through the term, teleios.