James 4:4

James 4:4 moicali,dej {A}

In scriptural imagery, moicali,j (“adulteress”) is used figuratively of Israel as the unfaithful spouse of Jehovah (cf. Psalms 73:27; Isaiah 54:5; Jeremiah 3:20; Ezekiel 16:1 and Ezekiel 23:1; Hosea 9:1; and similarly in the New Testament Matthew 12:39; Matthew 16:4; Mark 8:38). When copyists, however, understood the word here in its literal sense, they were puzzled why only women were mentioned and therefore considered it right to add a reference to men as well. The shorter reading is strongly testified by both Alexandrian and Western witnesses (a* A B 33 81 1241 1739 it^ff vg syr^p cop^{sa, bo} arm eth).