James 3:17

ἡ δὲ ἄνωθεν σοφία : the divine character of wisdom is beautifully expressed in Wis 7:25, ἀτμὶς γάρ ἐστιν τῆς τοῦ Θεοῦ δυνάμεως, καὶ ἀπόρροια τῆς τοῦ παντοκράτορος δόξης εἰλικρινής. ἁγνή : in Wis 9:10, the prayer is uttered that God would send forth wisdom “out of the holy heavens …”; of that which is thus holy the first characteristic would be purity, the two ideas are inseparable; it is also possible that in the mind of the writer there was the thought of the contrast between purity and the sin which he knew some of his hearers to be guilty of (see above, the notes on James 1:12 ff., James 4:3-4). εἰρηνική; only elsewhere in the N.T. in Hebrews 12:11; cf. Proverbs 3:17, where it is said of wisdom that “all her paths are peace”. The word is evidently chosen to emphasise the strife referred to in an earlier verse. ἐπιεικής : the word is meant as a contrast to unfair, unreasonable argument, cf. Pss. of Song of Solomon 5:14. εὐπειθής : this word, again, implies a contrast to the unbending attitude of self-centred controversialists; it does not occur elsewhere in the N.T. μεστὴ ἐλέους καὶ καρπῶν ἀγαθῶν : the exact reverse of the cursing and bitterness of which some had already been convicted; in Wis 7:22-3, wisdom is spoken of as having a spirit which is: φιλάγαθον … φιλάνθρωπων. ἀδιάκριτος : Cf. διακρίνομαι above (James 1:6; James 2:4) which, as Mayor points out, makes it probable that we must understand the adjective here in the sense of “single-minded”; perhaps one might say that here it means almost “generous,” in contrast to the unfair imputations which might be made in acrimonious discussion; the word occurs here only in the N.T. ἀνυπόκριτος : Cf. 1 Peter 1:22; “genuine,” as contrasted with the spurious “earthly” wisdom.