James 1:27

θρησκεία καθαρὰ … αὕτη ἐστίν …: As illustrating this, Dr. Taylor (Expos. Times, xvi. 334) quotes the Ποίμανδρος of Hermes Trismegistos: καὶ τοῦτό ἐστιν ὁ θεός, τὸ πᾶν … τοῦτον τὸν λόγον, ὦ τέκνον, προσκύνει καὶ θρήσκευε. θρησκεία δὲ τοῦ Θεοῦ μία ἐστί, μὴ εἶναι κακόν. Cf. too, the following from the Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs, Jos. iv. 6: “The Lord willeth not that those who reverence Him should be in uncleanness, nor doth He take pleasure in them that commit adultery, but in those that approach Him with a pure heart and undefiled lips”. ἐπισκέπτεσθαι ὀρφανοὺς καὶ … αὐτῶν : this was reckoned among the גמילות חסדים “practice of kindnesses,” which are constantly urged in Rabbinical writings, e.g., Nedarim, 39 b, 40 a; Ket., 50 a; Sanh., 19 b. Cf. too, Sir 4:10, γίνου ὀρφανοῖς ὡς πατήρ, καὶ ἀντὶ ἀνδρὸς τῇ μητρὶ αὐτῶν. In the Apoc. of Peter, § 15, occur these words: οὖτοι δὲ ἦσαν οἱ πλουτοῦντες καὶ τῷ πλούτῳ αὐτῶν πεποιθότες καὶ μὴ ἐλεήσαντες ὀρφανοὺς καὶ χήρας, ἀλλʼ ἀμελήσαντες τῆς ἐντολῆς τοῦ Θεοῦ. Cf. also the Apoc. of Paul, § 35.