James 1 — Clausal Layout (English)

independentparticipialrelativepurposecausecontentconditionalphrase modifierdashed = verbless / suspended

Flush-left = a main (independent) clause. Each dependent line begins directly beneath the word it attaches to in the line above — the anchor word is dotted-underlined, and lights up when you hover its dependent clause; each tag also names the attachment. A dashed border marks verbless, elliptical, or suspended lines. Where a long sentence's staircase runs wider than the page, the diagram scrolls sideways. (In print, or without JavaScript, lines fall back to stepped indent columns.)

The salutation 1:1

James, a slave of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ,independent — the sender — δοῦλος of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ

to the twelve tribes that are in the Dispersion:phrase modifier — dative of address — the diaspora Israel

greetings.independent — the epistolary greeting — the bare infinitive χαίρειν, its verb of saying implied

Trials, endurance, and the wisdom God gives 1:2–8

vv. 2–4 — count it all joy: the sorites from testing to completeness

Consider it all joy, my brothers,independent — the opening imperative — πᾶσαν χαράν fronted

whenever you fall into various trials,conditional — ὅταν — indefinite temporal: whenever, not if

knowingparticipial — causal — the joy is a judgment made in knowledge

that the testing of your faith produces endurance;content — the sorites' first link — τὸ δοκίμιον works ὑπομονή

And let endurance have its complete work,independent — the next link — endurance must be allowed to finish

that you may be perfect and whole,purpose — the ἵνα-goal — τέλειοι καὶ ὁλόκληροι

lacking in nothing.participial — the chain sealed — λειπόμενοι hands the catchword to v. 5

vv. 5–8 — ask in faith: the doubter a wave, the man double-souled

But if any of you lacks wisdom,conditional — protasis — λείπεται picks up λειπόμενοι; leans on the imperative below

let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach,independent — apodosis — the giving God: single-hearted (ἁπλῶς), and no reproaches after

and it will be given to him.independent — the promise — coordinate future

But let him ask in faith,independent — the asking qualified — ἐν πίστει

doubting nothing;participial — manner — μηδὲν διακρινόμενος

for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, driven by the wind and tossed.cause — γάρ — the simile: a wind-raised, whipped-about swell

For that person must not supposeindependent — μὴ γὰρ οἰέσθω — the doubter's expectation cut off

that he will receive anything from the Lord —content — content — nothing from the Lord for the divided

a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.phrase modifier — apposition to ὁ ἄνθρωπος ἐκεῖνος — δίψυχος, the letter's coinage

The lowly and the rich 1:9–11

Let the lowly brother boast in his exaltation,independent — the reversal — the low brother's boast is his height

and the rich in his humiliation,independent — elliptical — καυχάσθω supplied; the rich man's boast is his lowering

because like a flower of the grass he will pass away.cause — ὅτι — the flower of grass (Isa 40:6)

For the sun rises with its scorching heatcause — γάρ — gnomic aorists tell it as one burnt morning

and withers the grass,cause — the grass withered (Isa 40:7)

and its flower fallscause — the ἄνθος fallen

and the beauty of its appearance perishes;cause — its loveliness gone

So also the rich man will fade away in the midst of his pursuits.independent — οὕτως — the application: he wilts mid-journey (ἐν ταῖς πορείαις)

The crown of life, and temptation's true genealogy 1:12–15

v. 12 — the beatitude over the man who holds

Blessed is the manindependent — the beatitude — verbless μακάριος

who endures trial,relative — ὑπομένει — the ὑπομονή of vv. 3–4 personified

because, having stood the test, he will receive the crown of life,cause — the ὅτι promise — δόκιμος echoes δοκίμιον (v. 3)

which he has promised to those who love him.relative — on τὸν στέφανον — pledged to those who love him

vv. 13–15 — not from God: desire conceives, sin matures, death is born

Let no one say when he is tempted,independent — the prohibition — the temporal πειραζόμενος folded into the line

'I am being tempted by God';content — the quoted excuse — direct speech after ὅτι recitativum

for God cannot be tempted by evil,cause — first ground — ἀπείραστος κακῶν

and he himself tempts no one.cause — second ground — αὐτός tempts nobody

But each one is temptedindependent — the true account — the tempter is within

being dragged away and enticed by his own desire;participial — the angler's verbs — ὑπὸ τῆς ἰδίας ἐπιθυμίας read with the participles

Then desire, having conceived, gives birth to sin;independent — the genealogy — ἐπιθυμία the mother, ἁμαρτία the child

and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death.independent — the step down — the child becomes a mother: ἀποκύει θάνατον

Every good and perfect gift 1:16–18

Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers.independent — the hinge — no error about what comes down from God

Every good gift and every perfect presentindependent — a near-hexameter, perhaps proverbial — the subject suspended

is from above,independent — the predicate — ἄνωθεν

coming down from the Father of lights,participial — καταβαῖνον — the giving keeps descending

with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.relative — παρ’ ᾧ — no solstice, no eclipse-shadow, in the Father of lights

Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth,independent — βουληθείς — deliberate begetting; ἀπεκύησεν answers v. 15's ἀποκύει

that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.purpose — εἰς τό + infinitive — ἀπαρχή of the new creation

Quick to hear: receive the implanted word 1:19–21

Know this, my beloved brothers.independent — ἴστε — read as imperative 'know this' (some take it indicative)

And let every person be quick to hear,independent — the triad opens — swift toward hearing

slow to speak,phrase modifier — elliptical — the second member

slow to anger;phrase modifier — elliptical — the third member

for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God.cause — γάρ — why slow to anger: ὀργή works no δικαιοσύνη θεοῦ

Therefore, putting away all filthiness and rampant wickedness,participial — διό — the aorist participle before its imperative; leans on δέξασθε below

receive with meekness the implanted wordindependent — the imperative — ἐν πραΰτητι, welcome the ἔμφυτος λόγος

which is able to save your souls.participial — attributive — the word with power to save

Doers of the word, not hearers only 1:22–25

But be doers of the word, and not hearers only,independent — the thesis imperative — ποιηταί, not ἀκροαταί

deceiving yourselves.participial — παραλογιζόμενοι — the self-swindle of mere hearing

For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer,conditional — ὅτι + εἰ — the ground opens as a protasis; leans on the apodosis below

he is like a man who looks at his natural face in a mirror;cause — apodosis, carrying the ὅτι — the mirror-glancer

For he looks at himselfcause — γάρ — the vignette, in gnomic aorists: one look

and goes awaycause — and he is gone

and at once forgetscause — εὐθέως — the forgetting is immediate

what he was like.content — indirect question — ὁποῖος ἦν

But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres,independent — casus pendens — παρακύψας καὶ παραμείνας: the stoop-and-stay reader

being no forgetful hearer but a doer who acts,participial — apposition — not the hearer-who-forgets but the work's doer

he will be blessed in his doing.independent — the resumption — οὗτος: μακάριος in the very doing

Religion pure and undefiled 1:26–27

If anyone thinks he is religiousconditional — protasis — the self-assessed θρησκός; leans on the verdict below

while not bridling his tongueparticipial — the giveaway — an unbridled tongue

but deceiving his heart,participial — the deeper fault — a heart deceived

this person's religion is worthless.independent — the verdict — verbless: μάταιος ἡ θρησκεία

Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this:independent — the definition — θρησκεία as the God and Father judges it

to visit orphans and widows in their affliction,content — epexegetic infinitive — the orphan and the widow, God's own clients (Ps 68:5)

and to keep oneself unstained from the world.content — epexegetic infinitive — ἄσπιλος from the κόσμος

Analysis. James is aphoristic where Ephesians is periodic, and the shape shows it: purple main lines keep returning to the margin — nearly every unit opens with a fresh imperative (ἡγήσασθε, αἰτείτω, καυχάσθω, μὴ πλανᾶσθε, ἴστε, δέξασθε, γίνεσθε) — and the dependents hang shallow, never more than three steps deep. What chains here is not syntax but catchword: λειπόμενοι seals v. 4 and λείπεται opens v. 5; the sorites of vv. 3–4 (testing → endurance → its perfect work) and the dark genealogy of v. 15 (desire → sin → death, one coordinate line stepped beneath ἁμαρτίαν) are each a two-step staircase; and ἀπεκύησεν (v. 18) deliberately answers ἀποκύει (v. 15) — the Father's birthing set against desire's. Olive protases lean forward on their apodoses three times (vv. 5, 23, 26), and the similes ground their lines in green γάρ chains: the wind-whipped wave under διακρινόμενος, the scorched flower under παρελεύσεται, the mirror-glancer's three gnomic aorists under ἀνδρί. Choices the layout takes a side on: ἴστε (v. 19) is read as an imperative; the ὅτι of v. 23 is carried by the apodosis while the εἰ-clause leans forward as a normal protasis; ὑπὸ τῆς ἰδίας ἐπιθυμίας (v. 14) is read with the participles ἐξελκόμενος καὶ δελεαζόμενος; the hexameter-shaped πᾶσα δόσις line (v. 17) is set off as a suspended (possibly quoted) subject with ἄνωθέν ἐστιν as its predicate; and ἀνὴρ δίψυχος (v. 8) is apposition to ὁ ἄνθρωπος ἐκεῖνος of v. 7, not a new sentence.