James 1 - Introduction
CHAPTER 1 _Title_. ἸΑΚΏΒΟΥ ἘΠΙΣΤΟΛΉ, as in BK and in the subscription of. א, which has no title, and of A where the title is lost. In C both title and subscription are lost.... [ Continue Reading ]
CHAPTER 1 _Title_. ἸΑΚΏΒΟΥ ἘΠΙΣΤΟΛΉ, as in BK and in the subscription of. א, which has no title, and of A where the title is lost. In C both title and subscription are lost.... [ Continue Reading ]
CH. James 1:1. INTRODUCTORY ADDRESS 1. ΘΕΟΥ͂ ΚΑῚ ΚΥΡΊΟΥ ἸΗΣΟΥ͂ ΧΡΙΣΤΟΥ͂. καὶ is here disjunctive. James (or Jacob) is the δοῦλος of God and also of the Lord Jesus Christ. Grammatically it would be possible to regard θεοῦ καὶ κυρίου as a joint qualification of Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ, but the usage of the N.T... [ Continue Reading ]
ΠΑ͂ΣΑΝ ΧΑΡΆΝ, ALL JOY, nothing but joy, all that constitutes joy—_merum gaudium_. Comp. ἐν πάσῃ ὑπομουνῇ, 2 Corinthians 12:12. μετὰ πάσης προθυμίας, Acts 17:11. πᾶν κέρδος ἡγοῦ ζημιουμένη φυγῇ, Eur. _Med._ 454, ‘pure gain.’ For the use of πᾶσαν compare also χάριν σοι ἔχω πᾶσαν, Arrian _Epict._ III.... [ Continue Reading ]
2–18. (_a_) TEMPTATION FROM WITHOUT, 2–4; (1) WISDOM, PRAYER, STEDFASTNESS, THE DIVINE HELPS IN TEMPTATION, 5–8; (2) A SPECIAL FORM OF TEMPTATION—OPPRESSION BY THE RICH—THE OLD TESTAMENT PROBLEM OF THE PROSPERITY OF THE WICKED, 9–12; (3) VICTORY OVER TEMPTATION, 13. (_b_) TEMPTATION FROM WITHIN—MO... [ Continue Reading ]
ΓΙΝΏΣΚΟΝΤΕΣ. The part. has a causal force giving the reason for πᾶσαν χαρὰν ἡγήσασθε, ‘inasmuch as ye recognise’ &c. The tense implies a constantly recurring recognition. ὍΤΙ ΤῸ ΔΟΚΊΜΙΟΝ, κ.τ.λ. Πίστις, here assured belief in Jesus Christ, is the supreme energizing principle of the Christian life.... [ Continue Reading ]
4. ἜΡΓΟΝ ΤΈΛΕΙΟΝ, A PERFECT RESULT, that result which is the τέλος of ὑπομονή, its final cause; _opus consummatum_ O.L., _o. perfectum_ 5. The character that repels and quenches evil results in perfectness and completeness. Each act of resistance strengthens character and developes new force, so com... [ Continue Reading ]
The clauses are connected, λειπόμενοι … λείπεται. ΣΟΦΊΑΣ, a term far wider in signification than the Greek conception of σοφία. A whole cycle of Hebrew literature is devoted to the praise and definition of Wisdom. According to the author of the Wisdom of Solomon σοφία is the most perfect principle o... [ Continue Reading ]
ἘΝ ΠΊΣΤΕΙ. πίστις here, reliance on a promise, trust in the character of God, the faith which was the necessary condition of a miracle. ΔΙΑΚΡΙΝΌΜΕΝΟΣ. In middle voice διακρίνεσθαι=to get a thing decided, to decide for oneself, to set two issues before oneself; so to doubt, to be in a critical state... [ Continue Reading ]
ΓΆΡ. See Winer, LIII. 3. The ἄρα in γάρ draws the inference, the γε corroborates it. ‘Let not then that man,’ &c.... [ Continue Reading ]
ΔΊΨΥΧΟΣ. Not classical, and here only in N.T.; it does not occur in LXX.; possibly a word coined by St James himself. (In Psalms 119:113 the Hebr. for ‘them that are of a double mind’ is vaguely rendered παρανόμους in the LXX.) ψυχή is regarded as the seat of desires, volition; hence δίψυχος, one wh... [ Continue Reading ]
Καυχάσθω δὲ ὁ�.τ.λ. The transition to the contrast between rich and poor is quite natural here. For the problem of the prosperity of the wicked and the suffering of the righteous is one with which the Wisdom literature occupied itself more anxiously than with any other. It is, for instance, the them... [ Continue Reading ]
ὩΣ ἌΝΘΟΣ ΧΌΡΤΟΥ. Comp. πᾶσα σὰρξ χόρτος, καὶ πᾶσα δόξα�· ἐξηράνθη ὅ χὁρτος καὶ τὸ ἄνθος ἐξέπεσεν. Isaiah 40:7-8. ὥσπερ ἄνθες�, Job 14:2. ἄνθρωπος ὡσεὶ χόρτος αἱ ἁμέραι αὐτοῦ, ὡσεὶ ἄνθος τοῦ�, Psalms 103:14. See also Psalms 37:2. The whole Psalm is parallel in thought to this passage. ΧΌΡΤΟΣ. See not... [ Continue Reading ]
ἈΝΈΤΕΙΛΕΝ … ἘΞΉΡΑΝΕΝ … ἘΞΈΠΟΣΕΝ … ἈΠΏΛΕΤΟ. The use of the aorist here is to express the instantaneous effect produced by the καύσων. In English the present tense would be used to express this point of time; but the greater exactness of Greek thought and language places the events in the past. They a... [ Continue Reading ]
The T.R. inserts ὁ κύριος with KLP (C has κύριος) as subject to ἐπηγγείλατο against the leading uncials אAB. This reading is clearly a gloss, as is partly evidenced by the variant ὁ θεός, which appears in some cursives, the Vulgate and other versions. 12. This verse closes the paragraph which begin... [ Continue Reading ]
ΠΑΡΑΖΌΜΕΝΟΣ, WHILE TEMPTED, in the course of temptation. Such a primitive form of error may have arisen from a perverted inference from the petition in the Lord’s Prayer: μὴ εἰσενέγκῃς ἡμᾶς εἰς πειρασμόν, Matthew 6:13. St James’ words reveal the secret of temptation. However external the inducements... [ Continue Reading ]
A parable of sin and death. ὑπό implies direct personal agency. Man is regarded as tempted by his own lust or desire, here personified. The offspring of this union is sin; sin when mature becomes the mother of death. Comp. for the thought generally: τὰ γὰρ ὀψώνια τῆς ἁμαρτίας θάνατος, τὸ δὲ χάρισμα... [ Continue Reading ]
ἈΠΟΤΕΛΕΣΘΕΙ͂ΣΑ, PERFECTED, OF FALL AGE, MATURE. Comp. _jam matura viro, jam plenis nubilis annis_, Verg. _Aen._ VII. 53. ἈΠΟΚΎΕΙ, brings forth, R.V.... [ Continue Reading ]
א*B have the curious error τροπῆς�. 17. ΠΑ͂ΣΑ ΔΌΣΙΣ, κ.τ.λ. Note the hexameter rhythm here, πᾶσα … τέλειον; for similar instances see Hebrews 12:13; John 4:35. ΔΌΣΙΣ, strictly an act of giving. Comp. Philippians 4:15 οὐδεμία μοι ἐκκλησία ἐκοινώνησεν εἰς λόγον δόσεως καὶ λήψεως, where, as Bp Light-f... [ Continue Reading ]
ΒΟΥΛΗΘΕΊΣ, OF HIS OWN WISH, denoting absolute freedom from necessity or external cause of any kind. βούλομαι and βούλησις are strictly used of the end, not of the means to the end: εἰ δή τι τέλος ἔστι τῶν πρακτῶν ὃ διʼ αὑτὸ βουλόμεθα, Arist. _Eth. N._ I. 2. 1; ἡ μὲν βούλησις τοῦ τέλους ἐστὶ μᾶλλον,... [ Continue Reading ]
ἼΣΤΕ. So אcABC and old Latin (_scitote_) and Vulgate (_scitis_). KLP have ὤστε. The change from ἴστε to ὤστε was probably the correction of an expert who inferred some error from the occurrence of the Attic syncopated form ἴστε (from ἴσημι), a form not elsewhere found in the N.T. 19. ἼΣΤΕ. For the... [ Continue Reading ]
19–27. THE CHRISTIAN LIFE, CHARACTER AND WORSHIP This theme incidentally arises from the thought of temptation, as moral or religious error, and is immediately connected with the expression ἀπαρχήν τινα τῶν αὐτοῦ κτισμάτων, James 1:18. It is a description of the life in union with Christ on the pr... [ Continue Reading ]
ΟΥ̓Κ ἘΡΓΆΖΕΤΑΙ with אABCz and many cursives, against C*KLP and others, which have οὐ κατεργάζεται. There is a tendency in language towards the use of strengthened forms. 20. ὈΡΓῊ ΓᾺΡ� κ.τ.λ. There is a suggestion of irony in this expression. ὀργή, primarily ‘passionate impulse,’ is as far as possib... [ Continue Reading ]
ἈΠΟΘΈΜΕΝΟΙ, of putting off a garment, τὰ ἱμάτια, Acts 7:58; a burden, ὅγκον, Hebrews 12:1. More frequently figuratively, Romans 13:12 τὰ ἔργα τοῦ σκότους. Ephesians 4:22; Ephesians 4:25 τὸν παλαιὸν ἄνθρωπον … τὸ ψεῦδος. Colossians 3:8 τὰ πάντα, ὀργήν, θυμόν, κ.τ.λ. 1 Peter 2:1 πᾶσαν κακίαν. The tens... [ Continue Reading ]
ΠΟΙΗΤΑῚ ΛΌΓΟΥ. ποιητής is a characteristic word of St James, occurring four times in this Epistle, elsewhere in N.T. once in Romans 2:13 ποιηταὶ νόμου, and in Acts 17:28, where it bears the classical sense of ‘poet,’ τινες τῶν καθʼ ὑμᾶς ποιητῶν. In Titus 1:12 St Paul uses the word προφήτης of a poet... [ Continue Reading ]
ἈΚΡΟΑΤῊΣ ΛΌΓΟΥ, ‘he who only hears the word,’ is compared to a man who by looking into a mirror observes (κατανοεῖ) the face of his γένεσις—his true individuality—the real meaning of himself (κατενόησεν γὰρ ἑαυτόν), but who instantly departing forgets what manner of man he was. That is, if a man lis... [ Continue Reading ]
ἈΠΕΛΉΛΥΘΕΝ ΚΑῚ ΕΥ̓ΘΈΩΣ ἘΠΕΛΆΘΕΤΟ ὉΠΟΙ͂ΟΣ ἯΝ. The tenses are used with great exactness: the perfect denotes immediate succession and enduring result, ‘he has gone and is still away’; comp. _terra tremit, fugere ferae_, Virg. _Georg._ 1. 330. The aorist denotes the single instantaneous act of forgetti... [ Continue Reading ]
ΠΑΡΑΚΎΨΑΣ. First of stooping or inclining to one side (not stooping _down_), either with a verb of looking, or absolutely as here: παρακύψας βλέπει τὰ ὀθόνια, Luke 24:12; παρακύψας βλέπει κείμενα τὰ ὀθόνια, John 20:5; ὡς οὖν ἔκλαιεν παρέκυψεν εἰς τὸ μνημεῖον, ib. 11; εἰς ἃ ἐπιθυμοῦσιν οἱ ἄγγελοι παρ... [ Continue Reading ]
ΕἼ ΤΙΣ ΔΟΚΕΙ͂, is thought to be, has the reputation (δόξα) of being. ΜῊ ΧΑΛΙΝΑΓΩΓΩ͂Ν. μή not οὐ, because the sentence is hypothetical, ‘if he does not bridle &c.’ It may be noticed however that in Modern Greek μή is invariably used with participles, and that there is a tendency to this use in the N.... [ Continue Reading ]
ΘΡΗΣΚΕΊΑ. ἄπ. λεγ. in N.T. _Cultus_, religion in its external aspect, the outward observance of religious rites as opposed to εὐσέβεια or piety. “St James is not here affirming, as we sometimes hear, these offices to be the sum total, nor yet the great essentials of true religion, but declares them... [ Continue Reading ]