James 4:5

ἡ γραφὴ λέγει πρὸς φθόνον …: this attributing of personality to Scripture is paralleled, as Lightfoot points out (Galatians 3:8), by the not uncommon Jewish formula of reference מה ראה “Quid vidit”. According to Lightfoot the singular γραφὴ in the N.T. “always means a particular passage of Scripture; where the reference is clearly to the sacred writings as a whole, as in the expressions, ‘searching the Scriptures,' ‘learned in the Scriptures,' etc., the plural γραφαί is universally found, e.g., Acts 17:11; Acts 18:24; Acts 18:28.… Ἡ γραφὴ is most frequently used in introducing a particular quotation, and in the very few instances where the quotation is not actually given, it is for the most part easy to fix the passage referred to. The biblical usage is followed also by the earliest fathers. The transition from the ‘Scriptures' to the ‘Scripture' is analogous to the transition from τὰ βιβλία to the ‘Bible' ” (ibid., pp. 147 f.). In the present instance the “Scripture” is nowhere to be found in the O.T.; it is, however, reflected in some Pauline passages, Galatians 5:17; Galatians 5:21, and cf. Romans 8:6; Romans 8:8; 1 Corinthians 3:16 : ἡ γὰρ σὰρξ ἐπιθυμεῖ κατὰ τοῦ πνεύματος, τὸ δὲ πνεῦμα κατὰ τῆς σαρκός (Galatians 5:17); τὸ πνεῦμα τοῦ Θεοῦ οἰκεῖ ἐν ὑμῖν (1 Corinthians 3:16). It is difficult not to see a Pauline influence in our passage; and what is certainly noteworthy is the fact that the two Agrapha which the Epistle contains (James 1:12 and the one before us) are both closely connected with St. Paul, James 1:12 = 2 Timothy 4:8; 2 Timothy 4:5 = Galatians 5:17. But that which is conclusive against the “Scripture” here referring to the O.T. is the fact that the doctrine of the Spirit is not found there in the developed form in which it is represented here; the pronounced personality of the Spirit as here used is never found in the O.T. The reference here must be to the N.T., and this is one of the many indications which point to the late date of our Epistle, or parts of it. As early a document as the Epistle of Polycarp (110 A.D.) refers once to the N.T. quotations as “Scripture”; and in the Epistle of Barnabas (about 98 A.D. according to Lightfoot, but regarded as later by most scholars) a N.T. quotation is prefaced by the formula “It is written”. πρὸς φθόνον ἐπιποθεῖ …: on this very difficult text see, for a variety of interpretations, Mayor's elaborate note; the best rendering seems to be that of the R.V. margin: “That Spirit which he made to dwell in us yearneth for us even unto jealous envy”. The words witness to the truth that the third Person of the Holy Trinity abides in our hearts striving to acquire the same love for Him on our part which He bears for us. It is a most striking passage which tells of the love of the Holy Spirit, as (in one sense) distinct from that of the Father or that of the Son; in connection with it should be read Romans 8:26-28; Ephesians 4:30; 1 Thessalonians 5:19.