James 1:15

εἶτα : continuing the description of the method of the working of ἐπιθυμία. ἡ ἐπιθυμία συλλαβοῦσα τίκτει ἁμαρτίαν : With this idea of personification, cf. Zechariah 5:5-11, where the woman “sitting in the midst of the ephah” is the personification of Wickedness; and for the metaphor see Psalms 7:15 (Sept.), ἰδοὺ ὠδίνησεν ἀνομίαν, συνέλαβεν πόνον καὶ ἔτεκεν ἀδικίαν. Since ἐπιθυμία is represented as the parent of ἁμαρτία it can hardly be regarded as other than sinful itself; indeed, this seems to be taught in the Targum of Jonathan (a Targum which had received general recognition in Babylonia as early as the third century A.D., and whose elements therefore go back to a much earlier time) in the paraphrase of Isaiah 62:10, where it says that the imagination of sin is sinful, cf. Jer. Targ. 1 to Deut. xxiii. 11; this is evidently the idea in the words before us. ἀποτελεσθεῖσα : this word does not occur elsewhere in the N.T., and only very rarely in the Septuagint, cf. Esther 5:7; Esther 5:7, ἀπεκώλυσαν τοῦ ἀποτελεσθῆναι (A reads ἐπιτελεσθ.) τὴν οἰκοδομήν; 2Ma 15:39.… οἶνος ὕδατι συνκερασθεὶς ἤδη καὶ ἐπιτερπῆ τὴν χάριν ἀποτελεῖ …; it refers here to sin in its full completeness, Vulg., cum consummatum fuerit. The passage recalls Romans 6:23, τὰ γὰρ ὀψώνια τῆς ἁμαρτίας θάνατος. Mayor quotes the appropriate passage from Hermas, Mand., iv. 2. ἡ ἐνθύμησις αὕτη θεοῦ δούλῳ ἁμαρτία μεγάλη · ἐὰν δέ τις ἐργάσηται τὸ ἔργον τὸ πονηρὸν τοῦτο, θάνατον ἑαυτῷ κατεργάζεται. Just as ἐπιθυμία and θάνατος belong together, and the latter testifies to the existence of the former, so πίστις and ἔργα belong together, and the latter proves the existence of the former; see James 2:22, ἐκ τῶν ἔργων ἡ πίστις ἐτελειώθη. ἀποκύει : only here and in James 1:18 in the N.T., it only occurs once in the Septuagint, 4Ma 15:17, ὦ μόνη γύναι τὴν εὐσέβειαν ἁλόκληρον ἀποκυήσασα. θάνατον : in Tanchuma, Bereshith, 8, it is taught that Adam's sin was the means of death entering into the world, so that all generations to the end of time are subject to death; this teaching is, of course, found in both early and late Jewish literature; but it probably is not this to which reference is made in the passage before us. In seeking to realise what the writer meant by death here one recalls, in the first place, such passages as Romans 5:21 : As sin reigned in death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord; cf. Romans 6:21; Romans 7:24; John 5:24 : He that heareth my word, and believeth him that sent me, hath eternal life, and cometh not into judgement, but hath passed out of death into life; cf. John 8:51-52; 1 John 3:14 : We know that we have passed from death unto life : see also Romans 7:24; 2 Corinthians 1:9-10; 2 Timothy 1:10; and James 5:20, … shall save a soul from death …; it seems clear that in passages like these death is not used in its literal sense, and probably what underlies the use of the word is that which is more explicitly expressed in Revelation 2:11, He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death; Revelation 20:6 … Over these the second death hath no power; Revelation 21:8, But for the fearful, and unbelieving, and abominable, and murderers, and fornicators … their part shall be in the lake that burneth with fire and brimstone; which is the second death. But there is another set of passages in which death is used in its literal sense; these should be noted, for it is possible that they may throw light on the use of θάνατος in the verse before us: Matthew 16:28, Verily I say unto you, there be some of them that stand here, which shall in no wise taste of death, till they see the Son of Man coming in his Kingdom, almost the identical words occur in Mark 9:1; Luke 9:27; the belief in the near advent of Christ witnessed to by such passages as 1 Corinthians 11:26; 2 Thessalonians 2:1, etc., shows that the possibility of not dying, in the literal sense of the word, was entertained; for those who were living would know that when Christ, who had overcome death, should be among them again, there could be no question of death. The belief in the abolition of death when the Messiah should come was held by Jews as well as by Christians, see e.g., Bereshith Rabba, chap. 26, Wajjiḳra Rabba, chap. 30. The possibility may therefore be entertained that the writer of this Epistle is contemplating death in its literal sense, which those Christians will not escape in whom ἐπιθυμία holds sway, but which they are able to escape if they remain faithful until the return of Christ; that this is expected in the near future is clear from James 5:7, Be patient, therefore, brethren, until the coming of the Lord … stablish your hearts; for the coming of the Lord is at hand. μὴ πλανᾶσθε : i.e., as regards the false teaching concerning the cause of sin in their hearts. The affectionate ending, “My beloved brethren” witnesses to the earnestness of the writer's feelings.