Looking for Traces of Early Christian Liturgical Praxis at Unexpected Places? A Note on James 2,3

In a warning against partiality, the Epistle of James illustrates in a stereotypical way the treatment of wealthy and poor individuals in a Christian gathering. This essay focuses on the command to the rich person (σὺ κάθου ὧδε καλῶς, Jas 2,3). Καλῶς is rendered either as “good/comfortable” or “in a good spot,” or as “please.” Dale C. Allison cites the proposal of James Hardy Ropes that καλῶς is a „polite idiom in the sense of ‘please,’ ‘pray’” that can be paralleled with the phrase στῶμεν καλῶς, “stand we all fairly” or “please, let us stand” in Greek liturgies. This paper examines this possibility in the light of several Greek and Syriac liturgies (the Liturgy of St. James, the Liturgy of St John Chrysostom, the Liturgy of Antioch and the Liturgy of the Syrian Jacobites, the Syriac Anaphora of James) and argues that such a translation of καλῶς and its connection with liturgical practice cannot be excluded.