James 4:1

ff. These verses reveal an appalling state of moral depravity in these Diaspora congregations; strife, self-indulgence, lust, murder, covetousness, adultery, envy, pride and slander are rife; the conception of the nature of prayer seems to have been altogether wrong among these people, and they appear to be given over wholly to a life of pleasure. It must have been terrible for the writer to contemplate such a sink of iniquity. On the assumption, therefore, of unity of authorship for this Epistle, it is absolutely incomprehensible how, in view of such an awful state of affairs, the writer could commence his Epistle with the words: “Count it all joy, my brethren, when ye fall into manifold temptations”. It is held by some that the writer is, in part, using figurative language; thus, Mayor and Knowling do not think that the adultery referred to is meant literally; but in view of the mention of the “pleasures that war in your members,” and of the injunctions “Cleanse your hands,” “Purify your hearts,” it is difficult to believe that the writer is speaking figuratively. Is one to regard the words in James 2:11 (“For he that saith, Do not commit adultery, said also Do not kill …”) as figurative also? And James 1:14-15 ? Cf. Acts 15:20; Acts 15:29. Moreover, it is one of the characteristics of the writer that he speaks straight to the point. It is true that in the O.T. adultery is sometimes used in a figurative sense, meaning unfaithfulness to Jahwe; but it is well to remember that such a use is quite exceptional; out of the thirty-one passages in which adultery is spoken of, in only five is a figurative sense found. In the N.T. there are only two possible cases of a figurative use apart from the verse before us (Matthew 12:39 = Matthew 16:4; Mark 8:38). The word “to commit fornication” (זנה) occurs oftener, in the O.T., in a figurative sense; but in comparison with the vastly larger instances of a literal sense, the former must be regarded as exceptional. But even granting that this particular word is figuratively used, there is still a terrible list of other sins, the meaning of which cannot be explained away; these are more than sufficient to bear witness to the truly awful moral condition of those to whom the Epistle is addressed. On the assumption of an early date for our Epistle, the low state of morals here depicted is extremely difficult to account for. In a community which had recently received and accepted the new faith, with its very high ideals, one would naturally look for some signs of new-born zeal, some conception of the meaning of Christianity, some reflex of the example of the Founder; religious strife, owing to a mistaken zeal, one can understand; isolated cases of moral delinquency are almost to be expected; but the collective wickedness of a newborn Christian community, this would be quite incomprehensible; and it is clear from the verses before us that the writer is not singling out exceptions. In a second or third generation the community living among heathen surroundings might conceivably become so contaminated as to have lost its genuinely Christian character; with the lapse of years there is an inevitable tendency to deteriorate, until a new spirit of discipline is infused. It seems more in accordance with known facts, and with commonsense, to regard the people to whom this Epistle (or part of it) was addressed as those who had deteriorated from the high ideal set by their fathers and grandfathers, and to see in the writer one who sought to inspire a new sense of discipline and morals into the hearts of his Jewish-Christian brethren.

James 4:1-10 form a self-contained whole, dealing with the general state of moral depravity in the community (presumably the writer has more particularly one community in view), and ending with a call to repentance. James 4:11-12 form another independent section, belonging in substance to James 2:1-13.James 4:13-17; James 4:13-17 form again a separate section without any reference to what precedes or follows.

James 4:1. πόλεμοι καὶ μάχαι : the former refers to the permanent state of enmity, which every now and then breaks out into the latter; like war and battles. ἐν ὑμῖν : comprehensive. ἐντεῦθεν : lays special stress on the place of origin, which is seen in the following words: ἐκ τῶν ἡδονῶν ὑμῶν : ἡδοναί is sometimes used of the lusts of the flesh, e.g., in the Letter of Aristeas (Swete, Intro. to O.T. in Greek, p. 567), in answer to the question: “Why do not the majority of men take possession of virtue”? it is said: “ Ὅτι φυσικῶς ἅπαντες ἀκρατεῖς καὶ ἐπὶ τὰς ἡδονὰς f1τρεπόμενοι γεγόνασιν. Cf. 4Ma 6:35; Luke 8:14; Titus 3:3; 2 Peter 2:13. τῶν στρατευομένων ἐν τοῖς μέλεσιν ὑμῶν : the same thought is found in 1 Peter 2:11, παρακαλῶ ἀπέχεσθαι τῶν σαρκικῶν ἐπιθυμιῶν αἵτινες στρατεύονται κατὰ τῆς ψυχῆς, cf. Romans 7:23; 1 Corinthians 9:7.