James came to write Greek with a great deal of ease and skill. He was in no sense a littérateur. He was no Atticist in his style and did not try to imitate the classical Greek writers, whom he probably never read. Deissmann[7] does call the Epistle of James “a little piece of literature,” but he means a product of popular literature. Certainly there is nothing artificial in content and style. Is it mere fancy to think that the same poetic beauty shown in Mary’s Magnificat (Luke 1:46-55) appears in the Sermon on the Mount and in the Epistle of James? At least the rich acquaintance with the Old Testament exists in all three. The author of the epistle is gifted with imagination and shows knowledge of the apocryphal books, especially the wisdom literature of the Jews. But he is a thorough Jew in his outlook and literary method,[8] so much so indeed that it is contended by some that James wrote the epistle originally in Aramaic,[9] an unlikely supposition. The widespread diffusion of Greek in Palestine amply accounts for the author’s grasp of the language.[10] The epigrammatic and picturesque style is due to the writer’s individuality, his environment, and his reading. His vocabulary is rich in words about fishing, husbandry, and domestic life, as one would expect.[11] A man of the force and position of James could easily broaden his acquaintance with the Greek tongue as the years went by. The Greek is pure _Koine_, with few Hebraisms, though the tone is distinctly that of the Old Testament.[12] He speaks like a prophet of old in the service of Christ. There is no doubt that James came to be a man of culture in a real sense. He probably married early, as it was the custom of the Jews for men to marry at the age of eighteen.[13] Paul expressly states that the brothers of the Lord were married (1 Cor. 9:5). We do not know, of course, the age of James when Jesus began his ministry. In all probability he had already married and had a home of his own in Nazareth. The sisters probably married and settled in Nazareth also (Mark 6:3). We have no mention of the rest of the children going to Jerusalem when the boy Jesus was taken (Luke 2:41-52). Indeed, it is rather implied that they were not in the company, but this does not mean that James did not have his turn to go at the age of twelve and afterward.