James 1:13

Μηδεὶς πειραζόμενος λεγέτω : In view of the specific doctrine which is being combated in these verses, it is probable that the verb πειράζω is here used in the restricted sense of temptation to lust, and not in the more general sense (πειρασμοῖς ποικίλοις) in which πειρασμός is used in James 1:2. This view obtains support from the repeated mention of ἐπιθυμία in James 1:14-15. The tendency to a sin which was so closely connected with the nature, the lower nature, of man (cf. Romans 7:23) would, on this very account, be regarded by many as in the last instance referable to the Creator of man; that this belief was held will be seen from the authorities cited in the Introduction IV., § 1. On this view πειραζόμενος refers to temptation of a special kind, ἐπιθυμία; cf. Matthew 5:28, πᾶς ὁ βλέπων γυναῖκα πρὸς τὸ ἐπιθυμῆσαι …; 1 Peter 2:11, Ἀγαπητοί, παρακαλῶ … ἀπέχεσθαι τῶν σαρκικῶν ἐπιθυμιῶν αἵτινες στρατεύονται κατὰ τῆς ψυχῆς; James 4:2-3 … εἰς τὸ μηκέτι ἀνθρώπων ἐπιθυμίαις ἀλλὰ θελήματι Θεοῦ.… ὅτι : Cf. the parallel use of כי in Hebrew. ἀπείραστός ἐστι κακῶν : “Untemptable of evil”; see Mayor's very interesting note on ἀπείραστος; the word does not occur elsewhere in N.T., nor in the Septuagint. If the interpretation of this passage given above be correct, the meaning here would seem to be that it is inconceivable that the idea should come into the mind of God to tempt men to lust; the “untemptableness” has perhaps a two-fold application: God cannot be tempted to do evil Himself, nor can He be tempted with the wish to tempt men. The word in its essence is really an insistence upon one of the fundamental beliefs concerning the Jewish doctrine of God, viz., His attribute of Holiness and ethical purity; the teaching of many centuries is summed up in the third of the “Thirteen Principles” of Maimonides: “I believe with perfect faith that the Creator, blessed be His name, is not a body, and that He is free from all the accidents of matter, and that He has not any form whatsoever”. The Peshiṭtâ rendering of this clause, from which one might have looked for something suggestive, is very disappointing and entirely loses the force of the Greek. πειράζει, etc., see Introduction IV., § 1.