James 2:15

In accordance with the very practical nature of the writer, he now proceeds to give an illustration of his thesis which is bound to appeal; he must have been a telling preacher. ἐὰν : the addition of δέ is fairly well attested, but the reading of [56]

[57] where it is omitted is to be preferred. ἀδελφή : the specific mention of “sister” here is noteworthy; it is the one point in this passage which suggests distinctively Christian influence. This is apparently the only place in the Bible in which “sister” is mentioned in this special connection. γυμνοί : Cf. Test. of the Twelve Patriarchs, Zeb. xii. 1 3: “I saw a man in distress through nakedness in winter-time, and had compassion upon him, and stole away a garment secretly from my father's house (another reading is ‘my house'), and gave it to him who was in distress. Do you, therefore, my children, from that which God bestoweth on you, show compassion and mercy without hesitation to all men, and give to every man with a good heart. And if you have not the wherewithal to give to him that needeth, have compassion for him in bowels of mercy” (Charles). Of course it is not literal nakedness that is meant in the passage before us; in the case of men the Hebrew ערום (= γυμνός), while often used in a literal sense, is also frequently used in reference to one who was not wearing a כתנת (= χιτών) and thus appeared only in סדינים, “under-garments,” see Amos 2:6; Isaiah 20:2 f.; Job 22:6; Job 24:7-10. In the case of women, the reference is likewise to the כתנת, though in this case the garment was both longer and fuller than that of men; at the same time, it is improbable that the “sister” would have appeared without a veil, unless, indeed, we are dealing with a venue which is altogether more Western; this is a possibility which cannot be wholly excluded. λειπόμενοι : must be taken with ὑπάρχωσιν as the addition of ὦσιν is poorly attested. ἐφημέρου τροφῆς : “the food for the day”; the words express the dire necessity of those in want. Cf. Matthew 6:11, Τὸν ἄρτον ἡμῶν τὸν ἐπιούσιον δὸς ἡμῖν σήμερον, and Nestle's note on ἐπιούσιος in Hastings' D.C.G., ii. 58 a. ἐφήμερος does not occur elsewhere in the N.T. or the Septuagint.

[56] Codex Vaticanus (sæc. iv.), published in photographic facsimile in 1889 under the care of the Abbate Cozza-Luzi.

[57] Codex Sinaiticus (sæc. iv.), now at St. Petersburg, published in facsimile type by its discoverer, Tischendorf, in 1862.