This is a pre-publication version for consultation only. Please do not cite this. Consult the printed edition which is the official text. © D Instone-Brewer 2004
James as a Sermon on the Trials of Abraham Summary
The writings alluded to in this epistle suggests that the author and probably its recipients were Hellenistic Jews who were familiar with the re-tellings of biblical stories as preserved in Jubilees and related Jewish Hellenistic literature. When this epistle is read with the background of this literature, it appears to be a sermon based on the Trials of Abraham (a widely known series of stories in 1st century Judaism) with the over-arching message that faith should be evidenced during this lifetime by good works.
Introduction
James appears to be a collection of short treatises concerning a handful of themes,1 though there have been several attempts to find a single over-arching structure. Some, like Davids,2 construct careful schemes where individual themes run in parallel occasionally interacting with each other, while other like Moo3 content themselves with identifying repeated themes. The most successful attempts at identifying an overall structure are probably Wall, who find three neat points (‘Quick to Hear’ 1.22—2.26, Slow to Speak 3.1-18, Slow to Anger 4.1—5.6)4 or Cabaniss who thinks that James addressed different strata in the church (Bishops 1.2-27, Deacons 2.1-26, Teachers 3.1-18, widows 4.1-10, penitents 4.11—5.12, and the faithful 5.13-20).5 Forbes suggested that the epistle was written in two halves to be read out loud in two sessions because themes are repeated6 while Gertner linked various themes to Psalm 12 by means of midrashic techniques.7 Johnson, who has a useful analysis of these and other attempts at finding a structure, concludes that the best one can hope to find is “an important organizing (and selecting) principle” which “undergirds the inclusion and shaping of James material”,8 and this principle is the opposition of friendship with the world and friendship with God.9
All these attempts to discover the structure of James imply that James’ audience10 was at least as cleaver as the scholar who discovered it. This paper will attempt to find a structure which would have been easily identified by a first century Jewish audience without any special skills or knowledge, except that which would have been picked up at Sabbath school and regular listening to sermons.
James as a Hellenistic Jew
One of the surprising finding of historico-literary studies of James is the huge influence on this epistle of Hellenistic literature of various types (Wisdom literature, retold Bible stories and perhaps even secular Greek literature11) and the relatively good Greek style in which this epistle is written. These findings are surprising because church tradition says the author of this epistle is James the brother of Jesus, who was pictured by tradition as the most Jewish of all the church leaders.
His relatively good Greek style is not a problem, because the recent work at Sepphoris and other sites in Galilee have reinforced the conclusions from literary studies that Greek language and culture were fully integrated into Palestine, especially in Galilee.12 It would be unthinkable that James, or his brother Jesus, would be ignorant of Greek. If they had any interest in the world around them, they would have a good knowledge of the Greek language and, if they wished, they had access to the whole world of Greek literature. But is it possible that this James would allude to Hellenistic Jewish works like Testament of Twelve Patriarchs or use the same thought forms as the Sentances of Pseudo-Phocylides?13.
Moo pointed out that the traditional picture of James is based mainly on Hegesippus in the early 2nd century who wanted to describe him as an ultra-orthodox Jew in order to appeal to extreme Jewish-Christian groups.14 The New Testament picture is much more muted, suggesting that although he represented the Jewish believers, he worked in a church which included Hellenistic leaders with Greek names (Act.6.5), and he cited the Septuagint when addressing the Jerusalem Council (Act.15.17f). Therefore the NT picture of James is much more Hellenistic than the later church representation.
This paper will not come to any conclusion about the authorship of the Epistle, and will simply refer to him as “James”. However, it is worth noting that the Hellenistic Jewish character of this epistle does not rule out James the brother of Jesus as its author. Neither will this paper deal with the much-debated relationship between this epistle and the epistles of Paul. The main purpose of this paper is to discover the sub-text of the epistle which would have been in the minds of an average Hellenistic Jewish audience in the first century.
Abraham was, for both Paul and James, the perfect illustration of faith and works. For James, Abraham demonstrated that works were not only a demonstration of faith but they could even be regarded as a proof, because Abraham's faith in Genesis 15.6 was traditionally seen as verified by ten Trials, the last of which was the sacrifice of Isaac in Genesis 22.15 Bauckham lists a multitude of Jewish texts which link Genesis 22 to Abraham’s faith,16 though for James the most significant of these texts is Jubilees because this not only emphasises the concept of faith, but also contains several other details which James alludes to throughout his epistle.
Jubilees originated in the 1st or 2nd century BCE probably in Palestine and was particularly popular among Jews of the 1st and 2nd century CE – as evidenced by the fragments from 15 separate copies spread over five caves at Qumran (in the original Hebrew), and its translation into Greek (though only a very few fragments survive). It remained popular and was translated into Latin, Syriac and Ethiopic (which is the only version in which the whole text has survived). It is cited in the Damascus Document (CD.16.2-5) and it may be a source for the Genesis Apocryphon.17
Jubilees consists largely of a retelling of the stories of Genesis and Exodus by an angel to Moses during his forty days on Mt. Sinai. This retelling summarises some events, expands others and inserts a few events which are not found in the Torah. In some places Jubilees is content simply to paraphrase Genesis, such as its first reference to Abraham’s faith:
He believed the Lord and it was counted for him as righteousness. (Jub.14.6f // Gen.15.6)18
The concept of Abraham’s faith is very important to the author of Jubilees because he inserts another reference to it which is not found in Genesis:
Abram rejoiced and he told all of these things to Sarai, his wife. And he believed that he would have seed. (Jub.14.21f – inserted between the account of Genesis 15 & 16)19
A very large insertion of non-Biblical material in Jubilees occurs just before the Trial concerning Isaac, and this too concentrates on Abraham’s faith:
Words came in heaven concerning Abraham that he was faithful in everything which was told him and he loved the Lord and was faithful in all affliction. And Prince Mastema [the lord of evil spirits, cf. Jub.10.7f] came and he said before God, “Behold, Abraham loves Isaac, his son. And he is more pleased with him than everything. Tell him to offer him (as) a burnt offering upon the altar. And you will see whether he will do this thing. And you will know whether he is faithful in everything in which you test him.”
And the Lord was aware that Abraham was faithful in all of his afflictions because he tested him with his land, and with famine. And he tested him with the wealth of kings. And he tested him again with his wife, when she was taken (from him), and with circumcision. And he tested him with Ishmael and with Hagar, his maidservant, when he sent them away. And in everything in which he tested him, he was found faithful. And his soul was not impatient. And he was not slow to act because he was faithful and a lover of the Lord. (Jub.17.15-18)
The tenth trial of Abraham’s faith came when Sarah died, where Jubilees adds that this was a Trial of Abraham’s “patience” or “self-control”:20
And Abraham went to weep for her and bury her. And we were testing him whether he would exercise self-control. And he was not impatient with the words of his mouth and he was found self-controlled in this also and he was not filled with anxiety because with the self-control of his spirit he spoke with the sons of Heth [Gen.23.3]…
This is the tenth trial with which Abraham was tried. He was found faithful, controlled of spirit. (Jub.19.3f, 8f).
Abraham, as a result of these tests, was a model of good works. At the end of his life Jubilees adds a touching funeral scene which includes the tribute that:
Abraham was perfect in all of his works with the Lord, and was pleasing through righteousness all the days of his life. (Jub.23.10)21
These portions of Jubilees have not survived among the Qumran fragments in the original Hebrew, so the nearest we have is the Ethiopic translation of a Greek translation. The exact wording is therefore lost, but the emphasis on “faith” in Jubilees is clear. The material which is additional to Genesis is very interesting in that it contains both a reference to faith as mental assent (“he believed that he would have seed”), and to faith as verified by works (testing whether he would “do this command” as well as the conclusion that he was “perfect in all his works”). All this is ideal for James who wants to show that Abraham’s faith in Genesis 15.6 was merely the start of his life of faith which was evidenced through his works.
When James linked Genesis 15 with chapter 22 he was merely following the traditional link which is found throughout Jewish literature.22 In contrast, Paul was being innovative when he pointed out the chronological distance between Abraham being declared ‘righteous’ (in Gen.15.6 and the first ‘work’ of circumcision (in Gen.17.10-14). Paul did not deny the value of works, but he brought faith to the fore and said that works follow faith (Rom.4.9-12). Paul denied that ‘works of the law’ had any role in salvation (Rom.4.2-3), though we will see that James also denied this. For James and his audience it was self-evident that believers had faith which was evidenced by works, but James felt that many had neglected the latter, so he used the story of Abraham’s Trial concerning Isaac to remind them.
But this was not the only Trial of Abraham which he referred to in this epistle. James only referred to Abraham directly at 2.21-24, which concerns the sacrifice of Isaac, but he spoke about the “works of Abraham” (i.e. more than one “work”) by which “his faith was made complete” (2.22) – implying that he was also thinking about other incidents in Abraham’s life where an action demonstrated his faith. We will see that James alluded at several points to incidents which are recorded in Jubilees.
A sermon on the Trials of Abraham
The parallels between James and the section of Jubilees concerning the Trials of Abraham provides the clue that this epistle was a sermon based on this material or something similar to it. As well as those mentioned above, there are other minor parallels,23 and when these are all considered together they indicate that James and his audience had something like Jubilees in mind.24 James could assume that his audience was familiar with the collection of stories about the Trials of Abraham because these were widely known. They are alluded to in many types of Jewish literature including Philo,25 Josephus,26 other Hellenistic works,27 the New Testament,28 and Rabbinic traditions.29 The only full accounts of these stories dating from New Testament times is found in Jubilees,30 though they may have occurred in other literature which has not survived. The wide number of allusions to them suggests that these stories were so well known that it was unnecessary to retell them in most circumstances because the majority of his audience would be very familiar with them.
Most Jews would have known these stories from regular Sabbath preaching, rather than from literature. They did not need to be reminded of them, any more than a modern congregation needs to be told the parable of the Good Samaritan. What would make a congregation take notice is any variation in a well known story; so if a preacher said that “a tax collector and a Roman passed by” instead of “a priest and a levite”, the congregation would correctly wonder about the reason for this change. By this method a preacher can give his own emphasis while using a familiar story and we will see that James used this method on a couple of occasions in this epistle.
The epistle opens by saying that the subject is “trials” (1.2-4) and some of his audience might have identified the well-known theme of the ‘Trials of Abraham’ simply from this reference. Their hunch would be confirmed when James turned immediately to the subject of “wisdom” (1.5) for which Abraham was famous31 and then to “doubt” (1.6-8) which was the subject of Abraham’s tenth Trial.32 By the time that James says “God tempts no-one”, all of his audience would recognise the allusion to the story of Satan testing Abraham with regard to Isaac.33 There was no need to tell this story, because a Jewish audience was familiar with this homiletic expansion of Genesis 22, which they had heard in countless sermons. We are fortunate to have a full account of the story in Jubilees, because on other occasions the story is simply alluded to rather than narrated.34 This story was probably popular because it helped to avoid the suggestion that God would demand human sacrifice, by saying that the temptation came from Satan and not from God.
When James alluded to this story, he introduced a variation which would have made a Jewish audience take notice. Instead of referring to a temptation from Satan James said that temptation comes when someone “is lured and enticed by his own desire”. James did not reject the concept of a personal devil (cf. Jam.4.6), and he could not have meant that Abraham was incited by his own desire to sacrifice Isaac, so he could not be attempting to change the story. If he was not changing the story, then he was changing the application which the audience would draw from it, by making a startling change in emphasis. But what was his new application?
Without having yet answered this question, James turned the story round. He has already likened believers to Abraham when he was tested, and now he likens believers to Isaac, the product of a promise. God “gave us birth through the word of truth” (1.18) which is like the promise made to Abraham by the “Father of heavenly lights” (1.17)35 - a promise that he would have a son whose descendants would be as numerous as the stars (Gen.22.17; Jub.18.15). James called Isaac “a kind of firstfruits” (1.18) of all those promised children, so that believers are firstfruits “of all he created” (1.18).
The Festival of Firstfruits is very important in Jubilees, especially in the stories of Abraham who is almost regard as the patron of this particular festival.36 Firstfruits were very important to Diaspora Jews (to whom this letter is addressed) because these were the only personal offerings which they could send to Jerusalem each year even if they could not attend themselves. Representatives of each town brought a collection of the Firstfruits of their community, often forming a procession led by a sacrificial ox decorated with a crown of leaves between its horns.37 James may be alluding to this popular image when he says that, believers wear a “crown of life” (1.12).
James then introduced one of the major themes in this epistle - controlling the tongue. This theme is found both in Abraham’s Trial concerning Isaac and in his tenth Trial concerning Sarah’s death – two trials which are closely linked in Jubilees.38 When Sarah died, Abraham had to control what he said and speak graciously to the sons of Heth who were employing all the cunning stratagems of oriental haggling to get the best price for her grave. In Jubilees the angel tells Moses that:
“… we were testing him whether he would exercise self-control. And he was not impatient with the words of his mouth (Jub.19.3).
This is similar to the trial concerning Isaac which was a test to show that “his soul was not impatient. And he was not slow to act” (Jub.17.18). This description appears to be contradictory unless the “not impatient” refers to speaking, which is what the Trial concerning Sarah suggests, so we should read “not impatient [to speak] and not slow to act”. He was “not slow to act” because as soon God called, he answered, and when he was told what to do, “he arose while it was still dark” to obey God without saying or asking anything more (Gen.22.3; Jub.18.3). He was “quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to become angry” (Jam.1.19), even when asked to sacrifice his son, and he did not “merely listen to the word” but immediately went to “do what it says” (Jam.1.22).
After exploring these issues, the epistle leaves the story of Genesis 22 and moves on to criticising the favouritism which was shown to wealthy visitors and the comparative rejection of the poor (Jam.2.1-13). There are no clear allusions to stories of Abraham in this section, though the thoughts of his audience would most likely turn to the story of Abraham’s hospitality.
Abraham gave hospitality to three strangers who turned out to be angels in disguise (Gen.18) which made Abraham into an exemplar of hospitality in Judaism.39 Unfortunately this incident is not retold in any early sources,40 so we do not now know how the story was preached in 1st century Judaism and it is therefore possible that there are allusions to the story in this section which we cannot recognise. We do know one way in which it was preached because it was used in Hebrews 13.2 to teach hospitality to strangers, which presumably meant ‘poor strangers’ because no-one needed encouragement to give hospitality to rich strangers. Although it is possible that Hebrews contains a unique application of this story, it is much more likely that the story of Abraham’s hospitality was often applied in this way in synagogue teaching. This means that James’ audience would have recognised his section on welcoming the poor as well as the rich as an application of the story of Abraham’s hospitality. Once this link is made, then James’ conclusion that “mercy triumphs over judgement” (Jam.2.13) becomes an allusion to the conclusion of Abraham’s prayer for Sodom (which arises from his talk with the angels): “Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?” (Gen.18.25). James said to those who discriminated against the poor that “you have become judges with evil thoughts” (Jam.2.4), as an appeal to them that they should judge like God does.
James then turns to the matter of faith and works, which is at the centre of the story of Abraham’s trials, and especially his trial concerning Isaac (Jam.2.14-26), as outlined above. To emphasise that this combination of faith and works did not only apply to Abraham, James adds the example of Rahab “who was considered righteous for what she did” (Jam.2.25). Wall41 has pointed out that the language used of Rahab has linguistic links to the story of Abraham’s hospitality – like a good host she ‘lodged them’ (hupo…) then ‘sent them’ on their journey (ekballo); and her guest are even called ‘angels’ or ‘messengers’ (angelos). This helps to confirm that James was also alluding to Abraham’s hospitality in 2.1-13.
Exhortations arising from the theme
All of the themes which are derived from the Trials of Abraham in the first half of James’ sermon are applied in very personal and direct ways in the second half. They are stated in personal terms, unlike the first half of the epistle which is almost all in the third person. In chapter 1 James talked about “one who doubts” (1.6), “one who is rich” (1.10), “one who is tempted” (1.13), “one who listens to the word but does not do what it says (1.22) etc. In chapter 2 he talked to them, but only hypothetically: “if a man comes in to your synagogue” (2.1), “if you really keep the royal law” (2.8); and then he goes back to the third person, “if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds” (2.14). In the second half everything becomes very personal: “we who teach” (3.1), “we all stumble” (3.2), “with the tongue we praise… or we curse” (3.9), “who is wise and understanding among you?” (3.13), “what causes fights and quarrels among you?” (4.1). The epistle ends with direct personal criticisms and direct calls to repentance: “you adulterous people” (4.4), “submit yourselves to God” (4.7), “do not slander one another” (4.11), “you rich, weep and wail” (5.1), “be patient till the Lord’s coming” (5.7).
The exhortatory second half of the sermon is based largely on the themes which were derived in the first half from stories of the Trials of Abraham: self-control of the tongue (3.1-12; cf 1.19-21); wisdom and humility (3.13—4.10; cf. 1.5-12); slander, favouritism and wealth (4.11—5.6; cf. 2.1-7). Consequently there are few references to Abraham in the second half, except when new sub-themes are introduced – quarrels at 4.1-7 and warnings about riches at 5.1-6.
Quarrels, says James, are evidence that they are spiritually “adultererous”, because they practise “friendship with the world” (4.4) and they should “submit to God” instead. James 4.5 apparently contains a citation, though it is impossible to identify, because it does not match anything in the Old Testament or any extra-Biblical texts which have survived.42 However, the theme of jealousy is clear in this citation, and the subject God’s jealousy due to spiritual adultery is a common theme in the Old Testament prophets, who likened idolatry to adultery and the exile of Israel to a divorce by a jealous husband.43
The theme of spiritual adultery would therefore remind a 1st century Jewish audience about the first Trial of Abraham which concerned his rejection of idols. This extra-Biblical story, which is very important in Jewish literature, is recorded at length in Jubilees which includes a long poetic appeal to Terah, on the lines of an Isaianic complaint about the vanity of idols (Jub.12.2-5), as well as the story of burning the idols of Ur (Jub.12.12-14). The conclusion to this story is Abraham’s discovery of monotheism (Jub.12.16-21), which James may be alluding to when James said that even demons believe that “God is one”.
James’ conclusion in 4.7 that one should “submit to God; resist the Devil and he will flee” is similar to a detail from the story of Abraham’s circumcision which is found in the Damascus Document where it appears to cite a passage from the book of Jubilees which is not found in any surviving version.44 It says that the following was found in “The book of the divisions of the periods according to their Jubilees and their weeks”:
“And on the day on which the man has pledged himself to return to the law of Moses, the angel Mastema [the lord of evil angels] will turn aside from following him, should he keep his word. This is why Abraham circumcised himself on the day of his knowledge.” (CD 16.4f).45
This suggests that at least some versions of Jubilees contained this application to the story of Abraham’s circumcision and that his obedience of this precept was regarded as the key to his protection from Satan (Mastema). James’ version at 4.7 is clearly different, because he has replaced submission to the Law of Moses with submission to God. This is probably a deliberate variation by which he would capture his audience’s attention, like he did at 1.13f where he replaced Satan with human desires. As on that occasion, James does not state his reasons for doing so, at this point in the sermon.
The second new sub-theme, the warnings about riches at 5.1-6, has a tenuous link to Abraham’s Trial of Riches of Kings (Jub.17.17). Perhaps James felt that it was not necessary at this stage in the sermon to flag his allusions more clearly, because his audience would be looking out for them. Jubilees does not clearly state what the “Trial of Riches of Kings” was, but it is most likely a reference to the offer by the King of Sodom to keep the war booty in return for the people (Jub.13.28f//Gen.14.21-24). This explains James’ otherwise extreme words, “you fatted yourselves in a day of slaughter” (Jam.5.5).
The end and the aim of the sermon
The sermon ends at 5.11, with a final reminder that the Lord’s coming is near (5.7-9) and with a return to the opening theme of Abraham’s patience in his trials (5.11; cf. 1.2f). He links this theme with the story of Job, which was clearly the model for the story in Jubilees about the debate in heaven concerning the sacrifice of Isaac in (Jub.17.15-18). The final words of the sermon are “The Lord is full of compassion and mercy” so that, like a model sermon of early Judaism, it ends with a word of consolation.46
This ending tells us that the ‘text’ of the sermon was the story of Job. The ‘text’ of a sermon in early Judaism was typically only referred to at the end and sometimes at the beginning, while the main body of a sermon was based on a series of incidents which could be verbally or thematically linked to this text.47 Now that the ‘text’ is revealed, we can see the rationale behind the choice of the main themes which he picked out of the Trials of Abraham – they were all themes which are also found in Job: gaining wisdom through trials, the transientness of riches, listening rather than speaking and the danger of the tongue.48
The last few verses (5.12-20) are a the final exhortations and advice which were added when the sermon became an epistle. This is similar to the final exhortations which are found in other NT epistles.49 Although the sermon is over, the themes of Abraham and Job are carried over into this codicil. The teaching on swearing was probably prompted by the Lord saying “I swear by myself…” immediately after the Trial concerning Isaac,50 and although Elijah is named as someone who prayed with faith, it was Abraham and not Elijah who prayed for the healing of an illness caused by sin.51 Job also contains both the themes of swearing52 and healing through prayer.53
The aim of the sermon should not be sought so much in the text or the other sources which he has used (which may have been determined by a lectionary or by tradition) but by the ways in which James has departed from his sources – themes which were not present in the sources or themes which he has ignored, and variations which he has introduced to the traditional stories. His use of these traditional stories does not mean that he believes in their historicity or puts them on par with Scripture, but he is able to use them as illustrations in a sermon in much the same way as a modern preacher might refer to the life of a saint. The variations which he introduces are not intended to be corrections, but a different emphasis or a different application which stands out simply because it is different.
We noted two departures where he varied from the familiar stories: firstly he replaced temptation by Satan with temptation by internal desires (1.13f) and secondly he talked about submission to God instead of submission to the Law (4.7). The first variation would have stood out very obviously to his audience because the story of Satan’s request to test God’s saint was so well known both in the Trials of Abraham and at the beginning of Job. The second variation may have been less obvious because the tradition it is based on may have less familiar – the circumcision of Abraham is recorded in only one surviving source. James does not spell out the reason for either variation, so presumably the messages he wants to derive from them must be found elsewhere in his sermon.
The second variation involves a de-emphasises of submission to the Law, which concurs with another way in which James departs from his sources – he never speaks about keeping the ceremonial law, whereas Jubilees considers it to be very important. Jubilees tries to show that Abraham obeyed all of that law which was later called the Law of Moses. Abraham paid tithes of everything “to his priests” (Jub.13.25-27), offered his Firstfruits of crops and herds on the correct date (Jub.15.1f; 22.4),54 circumcised his household (Jub.15.11-14, 23-34 – an expansive enlargement of the Biblical text), kept the Festival of Booths by building a Booth of branches and making all the correct offerings (16.20-31; 22.1-4), and on his deathbed he gave detailed prescriptions about how to make sacrifices in accordance with Leviticus 3.7-11 which he found written “in the books of my forefathers, and in the words of Enoch and in the words of Noah” (Jub.21.6-10). None of this emphasis is found in James.
James repeatedly reminds his audience about the value of “works”, but the works described and called for by James are all moral good works, in stark contrast to Jubilees which is mainly concerned with what Paul calls “works of the Law”. This makes James’ ethical teaching stand out vividly against the background of the sources with which he and his audience were familiar. This is the same contrast which we find in Paul, who commented negatively about “works of the Law’ but who commented three times as often about the positive value of ‘works’ (i.e. morally good works).55
The message implied by the first variation, which de-emphasised Satan, is probably related to this. As pointed out above, James was not trying to change the story, but was presenting a different application of the story. Presumably he was warning his audience against applying the story of Abraham’s Trial in the wrong way – i.e. by concluding that temptations generally come from the Devil. This type of mis-application provides people with an excuse for evil, by saying that ‘the Devil made me do it’. James’ reply to them is that “each one is tempted… by his own evil desire”. He wanted to emphasise that they should make a conscious effort to avoid evil works in the same way that they should strive to do good works.
In conclusion, James’ message is a call to a moral lifestyle – they should do good works and they should not do evil deeds. He illustrated this by the Trials of Abraham in order to emphasise that their faith was on trial, and the evidence presented in this trial is based on their works. This conclusion is confirmed if we collect the direct personal statements and imperatives which are found in the epistle: “do not show favouratism” (2.1); “you have insulted the poor” (2.6); “speak and act as those who are going to be judged by the law of freedom” (2.12); “you adulterous people” (4.4); “wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts you double-minded” (4.8); “do not slander” (4.11); “you boast and brag” (4.16); “you rich, weep and wail” (5.1); “be patient… until the Lord’s coming (5.7f).
James’ overall teaching is therefore that believers are tested in this lifetime like Abraham and Job were. Like Abraham and Job, it is not their works which are on trial, but their faith as evidenced by their works.
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