The Book Of James Should Not Be In the Bible

In case you were not aware of it, there are a number of writings from the time of Messiah's ministry that were not included in our Bibles today. Some of us have heard of Maccabees or perhaps the Gospel of Thomas. Some of the tales have made it to the silver screen or are hung in the better art museums around the world. I remember the story of Bel and the Dragon. A tale of one of Daniel's adventures. The distressing tale of Suzanna and the Elders is captured for us in paintings by Rembrandt, Ruben and several other artists. By 363 A.D. the twenty seven books of the New Testament were accepted, as well as the books we hold as the Old Testament. These, along with some of the Apocryphal writings, were now to be read when the Assembly of believers came together. Yet, it is a curious thing that when we arrive at today's translations we find that the books of Jacob and those of Jonas are not in the table of contents in most Bibles. Why is that so and what happened to them? 

The books in question are actually there. They have been disguised so we don't even see them any more. However, if you dabble in a little Greek, they suddenly reappear. We are introduced to the authors of the books of Jacob and Jonas in the Gospel accounts. In Matthew 4:21 we are introduced to one and receive a clue for the other. In Greek the text reads, "Going on from there, He [Yeshua] saw two brothers, Yaakob Ben Zebdai and Yoannan (Yoannas in other passages). There is no "J" sound in Greek or Hebrew. The "Y" sound turn into a "J" sound around the time of the reformation. Thus we have two brothers Jaakob and Joannan or Joannas. One of Yeshua's brother's names was also Yaakob in Matthew 13:55 http://www.blueletterbible.org/Bible.cfm?b=Mat&c=17&v=1&t=KJV#s=946001 He is the writer of the book that follows Hebrews. The James of Acts 15.  
The truth is that in every reference in the New Testament you will find Yaakob or Jacob translated James. The same is true for John, which is always some derivation of Jonas or Jonah. The one exception is in Matthew 16:17. http://www.blueletterbible.org/search/search.cfm?Criteria=barjona&t=KJV#s=s_primary_0_1 Simon, well actually Simeon, is BarJona or the son of Jona. As the New Testament was carefully translated by the best scholars King James could find, an interesting thing happened along the way. The Jewish names in the New Testament took on an English sound. And as King James was paying for the work it was helpful to find his name among the pages. So Jacob becomes James, Jonas and Jonah become John. We can toss in Simon for Simeon, Jude for Judah, Mary for Miriam, just to name a few. So there really is no book called James in the New Testament. That book is Jacob. We just want to honor the king, as it were, so accuracy is less important. 

As we read our translations of the Scriptures it is wise to recognize that those who translate have a point of view. They have a personal bias that simply cannot be overcome. We are naive to think otherwise. So English translators purge Jewish names and others make judgement calls as to which texts are more reliable. Thus when reading the New International Version or the English Standard Version you will find Acts 8:37 missing. The translators have determined that the verse does not belong. Consider the differences between the King James and the NIV when translating Mark 7:19. KJV "Because it entereth not into his heart, but into his belly, and goeth out into the draught, purging all meats?" Now the NIV "For is doesn't go into their heart but into their stomach, and then out of the body.' (in saying this, Jesus declared all foods clean)". The NIV adds "In saying this Jesus declared". None of this is in the Greek text. It has been added by the translators because they believe all Jewish dietary laws have been done away with. But the words are not there and the addition violates the meaning of the passage as well as the cultural setting.

My point here is not to make you question your translation, but rather to encourage all of us to take a little more time in our Bible study. Read the same passage in several translations. You can do so by buying a multiple translation Bible or see how many translations you already own. You can pick up some different translations at some of the Dollar Stores or Walmart at minimal expense. Perhaps You can add a Greek/ English interlinear New Testament. Or take a minute to check out Blue Letter Bible.org. http://www.blueletterbible.org/  Just select your passage and click on the many translations to see if there are any differences. It will take a bit more time, but then trying to understand God's revelation to you seems like it should be worth it. I also suggest you pick up the Complete Jewish Bible by David Stern. It has its short comings, as it is just one man's point of view, but it will give you a little more Jewish flavor to our very Jewish Bible.

Don't sell yourself short. You can learn a lot just from investigating a variety of translations. Who knows, if you act like a Berean and really study God's Word you may just find the Book of Jacob there right after Hebrews.